Leafing Through an Old Farm Magazine

Reader Contribution by Sam Moore
Published on December 5, 2017
1 / 2
2 / 2

I like to go through old magazines to see what was going on in the country at the time. Not only that, but if I’m stuck for a subject to write about, I can sometimes find a column (such as this one) in an old magazine. Seventy one years ago, Farm Journal readers, like my father and grandfather (and me as a 13-year-old), saw the following when they leafed through their December 1946 issue of Farm Journal magazine.

Allis-Chalmers looked ahead to summer with a full-color ad featuring a Model C tractor cultivating two rows of contoured, foot-high corn, as did IH with a Farmall M plowing down sod with a 3-bottom Little Genius plow. Willys-Overland touted their Universal Jeep as “a truck, light tractor, runabout, (and) mobile power unit.”

Car-hungry farmers were treated to ads for the shiny new 1946 Buick, Plymouth and Dodge cars, while farm wives were tempted by Westinghouse radios, Pyrex Flameware, Frigidaire and Hotpoint electric refrigerators, Perfection oil heaters, and Gem Dandy electric churns.

Kate Smith, on CBS radio every Monday through Friday at 12 noon CST, advertised Post’s 40% Bran Flakes – “And what could be more delicious Christmas morning than a luscious batch of hot, oven-fresh Post’s Bran Muffins?” Film actress Hedy Lamarr assured us that Lipton Tea’s “… brisk flavor is top drawer with me,” while another Hollywood beauty, Anne Baxter, is shown glamorously snoozing on a Simmons Beautyrest mattress.

Prices being paid for farm products were dropping sharply after initial post-war highs, and FJ told farmers: “You take a grave risk when you hold products on a down market. Sell crops and livestock when ready for market, even though you don’t get the top dollar.”

Online Store Logo
Need Help? Call 1-866-624-9388