Four happy faces
Sincere thanks for the great honor of choosing a photo I took for the February cover of Farm Collector! It was the most amazing surprise and will be the special memory for this year. Richard Hembrough texted us to say that he had just talked to his friend Victor, who had just gotten his Farm Collector with “four smiling faces on the cover,” and my heart skipped a beat! Seeing the photo I took of Mike and the Hembroughs (AKA “four happy faces”) was the moment I realized I was blessed with my third cover with Best in Show.
Mike is also very excited and honored that he is on the cover with his good friends Kevin, Richard and Ryan and with his No. 1 Quincy Engine!
Thank you, too, for the photos you posted of mine in the magazine! It means so much.
Loved the photos of Kenzie’s that were selected to be in this issue. They are priceless!
Thanks again!
Mike and Janet Healy, Fulton, MO
We certainly appreciate your contributions to Farm Collector! Spreading the joy of the Old Iron community is one of the best parts of this magazine. Thank you for helping us accomplish that with your stunning photos and interesting letters.
– Ed
Ice-harvesting history
I would guess that I witnessed the end of the era of ice harvesting. I was born in 1934 in Southwestern Minnesota. It was probably the 1940/41 winter. My father borrowed a friend’s iceboat and we went for a lake for a fast ride on a cold day. The lake was adjacent to Worthington, Minnesota. We went there in our Model T Ford from our home in Brewster, Minnesota.
There was a group of men cutting slabs of ice with what I would call a “gang saw,” powered by a gasoline engine. There was a railroad siding along the side of the lake. I do not remember the method of elevating the ice onto the railroad cars, but I do recall horses were involved in the whole process. Being very cold with a strong wind, we passed the scene very quickly.
The next time I saw that ice, it was in the bed of a Model T pickup truck. This was in the summer and the ice deliveryman was making deliveries around town. He would stop in front of the customer’s house, pull a slab of ice to the rear of the truck and skillfully separate it with an ice pick. Then he would pick the amount that would fill the ice compartment of the customer’s icebox. In the process, slivers of ice ended up where we kids could get to them in the bed of truck; we then headed home with a cold treat. At times, I think he intentionally shaved larger pieces for us.
The ice was stacked in a large old barn, which in earlier years had been a livery stable. Its location was a block from the main street. The ice was insulated from the warmer temperature by covering it with sawdust. These are memories of a 90-year-old person.
John Ensign, Peru, Indiana
Inspiration from up north
I thoroughly enjoyed the North of the Border article. That must have been a wonderful experience for the U.S. farm collectors who went. I appreciated all the photos but especially the one of 23 Massey-Harris and Ferguson combines. Wow! I’ve never seen such a huge collection of combines before. Actually, I’ve never seen any collection of combines. I dug out my magnifying glass to see if I could identify a Massey-Harris 27, which is what my dad used on our southern Minnesota farm back in the 1950s to the 1970s. I had some trouble with that, so I googled the original owner’s name and found sale information following his passing. There was the MH 27! I’m not sure if his entire collection stayed together or if anything was sold off independently. But, what a collection it is! I hope it stays together so more people can see it.
Colleen Hondl Gengler, Iona, Minnesota
