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One Hot Item:
Popularity of Farm Thermometers Rising Like Mercury on a Summer Day
By Gary Van Hoozer
One of the most used items on the farm is now a hot collectible: the lowly thermometer. Many are mounted outside the kitchen window for a fast check of outside temperatures, while others are nailed to walls of the shop, barn or other outdoors sites.
Knowing their importance on the farm, agribusiness concerns have used thermometers as advertising vehicles for years. Feed, seed, fertilizer, chemical and machinery dealers are familiar names on thermometers. Those advertisers know that farmers will use that give-away for decades, until the printing is faded or the glass tube breaks.
Thermometers with coils - made with spring-like metal that expands or contracts with temperature changes, linked to a pointer over a dial - are less common than mercury-tube models. Coils can also turn a round dial with a scale that can be read through a small window. Those are likely the rarest of collectible thermometers.
"I have Pioneer, Acco, Super Crost, Trojan and FS," he says. "These will vary in size from about 12 inches, up to about 20 inches in diameter, with bodies made of light metal covered with enamel paint."
DeWayne branched off into collecting thermometers after beginning with other farm advertising collectibles. Friends, relatives and other collectors find thermometers for him, and he keeps an eye open at antique malls, flea markets and auctions.
"Like the signs, pencils and other ad items, thermometers in good condition - especially the older and rarer ones - have been increasing in price," he says. "Also, many collectors now have them, so you're seeing them for sale less often.
"I paid $35 for my Pioneer round thermometer at an antique mall," he says. "While some round ones may sell for somewhat higher, after looking around, you can probably still find cheaper ones."
The mercury tube "uprights" also have a fairly wide price range, DeWayne says, depending on condition, scarcity and size. Many uprights of 12 inches or less sell for $15-20, he says.
"In the southwest Iowa area, some mercury thermometers still sell in the $7-15 range," says auctioneer Wade Rubey, Red Oak, Iowa. "Old or out-of-business seed company thermometers from the area, such as Earl May and Henry Field, are very popular with collectors.