Wheels keep turnin’

Farm Collector is a lot like the old tractors found each month between its glossy covers. No matter who’s in the driver’s seat, the engine fires up season after season and those wheels keep endlessly turning across the fields.

My intent as the new editor of this well-read magazine is to ensure those wheels never stop. Since August 1998, Farm Collector has brought memories of rural life to your mailbox every month. From hog oilers to Farmalls, lightning rods to lye soap, we’ve provided stories and photographs found only in our pages. That’s what readers expect from Farm Collector, and that’s just what we plan to keep delivering.

Even though I’m not an old iron collector, my background makes me a nice fit for the magazine. My family farmed the rugged Ozark Mountains for five generations, and their recollections paint vivid pictures in my mind.

Like many hill farmers, they never had enough money to buy a tractor. Instead of steam traction or fuel power, my family farmed with oat-driven horsepower until World War II called the boys overseas. While most of those folks are gone, they made a big impression on me, and I’m lucky enough to carry some of their memories about life on the farm.

Aside from my rural heritage, I basically grew up in the antique business. From my earliest days, I spent summers helping my grandmother in her antique store. With her wisdom to guide me, I learned that the paraphernalia leftover from the past is both important and fascinating, a lesson that never fades.

Perhaps because of that early introduction to preservation, I’m also passionate about unearthing hidden histories. That’s why I studied both archeology and history in college. As a result, I bring years of experience from my work as a curator, researcher and historian to these fine pages.