LETTING OFF STEAM
By Richard Backus
A purely unscientific polling of the 2003 Farm Collector Show Directory bears out some interesting facts about our hobby.
Using the Directory as a guide, there are no fewer than 12 shows celebrating 50-plus years of steaming and threshing, with some heading fast for 60. For example, the National Threshers Association (NTA) will hold its 59th annual show this year in Wauseon, Ohio, June 26-29, and Pioneer Engineers will have its 55th annual show in Rushville, Ind., Aug. 1-3, as will Central States Threshermen in Pontiac, Ill., Aug. 28-Sept. 1.
This is pretty amazing if you think about it for a moment, because we're talking about organizations and shows celebrating equipment and traditions that are little more than a memory for even a small percentage of the American population. And yet the memory not only survives, it quite clearly thrives, and all because of the dedication of steamers and threshers around the country and in Canada.
There's a lot to celebrate, of course. For one, there's the machinery; this year sees the NTA celebrating 150 years of Rumely products, while the Eastern Shore Threshermen in Maryland will celebrate 150 years of Frick.
For the old guard, it's amazing how fast the years have rolled by and how many shows have come and gone. For newcomers to the steam community it's amazing how long the tradition extends and how many shows are being held around the country. The dozen or so shows celebrating 50-plus years represent a mere fraction of the total, and the number of shows celebrating 20 to 45 years of operation is nothing short of amazing. If you have any kind of time under your belt, 25 years is the blink of any eye, but it's demonstrative of a community with both staying power and appeal.
The appeal is readily evident to those of us in the community. The challenge is extending the appeal to an even wider audience and feeding an interest in America's agricultural heritage. Building the community is problematic, but if our track record says anything, it says we're here to stay.