Harvesting Heritage

Those who treasure the past know the challenge: It’s one thing to find relics from another era; altogether another to learn their story. But old iron remains almost defiantly mute, and those with firsthand knowledge to impart are fast disappearing. Solid resources are hard to come by, which is why we are particularly pleased to present a special edition containing a retrospective of Sam Moore’s columns for Farm Collector.

With us almost from the beginning of the magazine in 1998, Sam has written on a stunningly diverse array of topics. Impeccably researched and richly detailed, his columns breathe life into traditional farm practices long forgotten, fill in gaps on long defunct manufacturers and clear the fog surrounding actual use of long forgotten machinery, implements and devices. (He’s also a prolific blogger: Check out Sam’s blogs at www.FarmCollector.com.)

The product of a four-generation family farm in Beaver County, Pa., Sam has been an apt student of farm life. I like to picture him as a boy, doing chores on the farm, knowing when to keep out of the way and when to get in the middle of things, asking questions and filing away the answers for future reference.

Sam left the farm after high school and found a life’s career elsewhere, but his passion for farm life never faded. In addition to a modest collection of tractors and implements, he’s built an enormous reference library of books and publications, catalogs and sales literature, vintage magazines and manuals. Those form a sturdy foundation for the columns he writes monthly for Farm Collector – a selection of which is showcased in Harvesting Heritage: 150 Years on the American Farm.