While going through our files, we found this photo of the
‘Case Special’ train heading for Oklahoma with a full load,
who worked so tirelessly in promoting Case heritage with his wife
Helen Case Brigham. Here is a brief description he had enclosed,
which had been supplied by David Brukhardt, then director of
communications and public affairs for the J. I. Case Company. (The
headquarters in Racine, Wisconsin):
From 1898 to 1910, the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company
moved its products to customers and dealers throughout the U.S. in
long Case Special trains.
Gaily decorated with flags and red, white and blue paint, the
Specials moved slowly through the countryside, often stopping on
route to entertain local towns people with music from a mighty
steam calliope on board the train. At every stop Case employees
handed out sales literature, farmer’s almanacs, and promotional
buttons with the Case eagle and globe trademark, as the people
marveled at the powerful threshers and steam engines.
The two photographs, from the estate of James Coy Hood of Racine
were donated to the J. I. Case Company archives by Ed Langlois, SPS
division, Racine. They show a Case Special train on its way to
Oklahoma (above), and another train arriving in Dallas, Texas,
about 1901.
