The Advance Thresher Banner Boy Ad

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Shown in the clouds at the center of this promotional piece is Advance's trademark "banner boy".   Illustration Courtesy David Schnakenberg

Scenes of daily life on the farm are showcased in this chromolithograph poster dating to about 1900. Created as a promotional piece for Advance Thresher Co., Battle Creek, Mich., the poster illustrates a threshing scene of the day. Shown in the clouds at the center is an image of Advance’s trademark “banner boy” waving the Advance flag.

Advance produced at least three different chromolithograph posters, each featuring the banner boy. The company was known for colorful advertising items including needle holders, playing cards, checkerboards, trade cards and catalogs.

Advance Thresher Co. was founded in 1881 in Battle Creek, Mich., to manufacture wood-sided threshing machines. The company began manufacture of steam traction engines in 1884. Dr. Edward Rumely of M. Rumely Co. purchased Advance in December 1911 (Rumely also bought Gaar-Scott Co. that year). From 1881 to 1911, Advance manufactured 13,000 steam engines and 22,000 separators. A detailed history of the company can be found in the October 1956 edition of Iron-Men Album, authored by Marcus Leonard, who worked for Advance as a young man. FC 

Grateful acknowledgement is given to David Schnakenberg, who contributed this image from his collection of pre-1910 chromolithographs of farm machinery advertising.  

For more information, contact him at 10108 Tamarack Dr., Vienna, VA 22182; (703) 938-8606; dschnakenberg@verizon.net; view the Schnakenberg Collection.