Ira Wertman, a farmer in Andreas, Pennsylvania, raised fruits and vegetables and peddled them with this truck to retired coal miners near Allentown. He also used the truck to take produce to market and haul supplies from town to the farm. Pickup trucks have been versatile aids to a wide range of agricultural, personal, and business activities. Early pickup trucks were modified automobiles, but postwar models were larger, more powerful, and able to carry heavier loads. Some postwar pickups were used in building suburban communities. Others were used for recreational purposes such as camping, hunting, and fishing. By the 1990s, many people purchased pickups for everyday driving.
This shipping crate side contained Swift’s Premium Corned Beef that was packed and distributed by Swift & Company during the early 20th century. The crate contained two dozen tins of corned beef. Swift and Company was founded by Gustavus Franklin Swift, and was incorporated in 1885. Swift and Company was part of the large meatpacking industry in Chicago that used refrigerated cars to ship their meat all across the country.
This jacket was worn by Mary Louise Reynnells as the Pacific High School FFA chapter sweetheart in San Bernadino, California in 1977. Prior to 1969, the Future Farmers of America excluded females from membership, and being a chapter sweetheart was the only way for women to be involved. After membership was opened to all, chapter sweetheart was an honorary title elected by the chapter who wore a special white jacket when she served as chapter hostess for visitors or at events. The white jacket has the seal of the FFA on the left breast with a small yellow patch underneath that reads “Chapter Sweetheart.” The right breast is embroidered "Louise Rogers / 1977 / Pacific / San Bernardino" in blue script. In 1978 Reynells was elected chapter president, and received the Bank of America Achievement award in Agriculture.
The FFA was founded in 1928 to engage youngsters with agriculture and prepare young farmers for the future challenges of farming. In 1933 the band from the Fredericktown chapter of the FFA wore the blue corduroy jacket to the sixth annual convention, where the delegates became so enamoured with the jacket that it was adopted by the organization as its official dress.
In its search to develop electric power through chemical reactions, Allis-Chalmers in 1951 began research on fuel cells. In October 1959 near West Allis, Wisconsin, this fuel cell tractor plowed a field of alfalfa with a double-bottom plow. Fuel cells produce electrical power directly through a chemical reaction, without heat, smoke, or noise. Unlike standard batteries, fuel cells do not store energy but convert chemical energy to electric energy.
This tractor has 1,008 fuel cells joined in 112 units of 9 cells each arranged in four banks that produced power to run a standard Allis-Chalmers 20 horsepower dc motor. Using a fuel cell to produce power was not a new idea in the 1950s. Over a century earlier, Sir William Grove originated the idea of a fuel cell that would run on hydrogen and oxygen. Over the years inventors experimented with a number of fuels and configurations. The search for an efficient and economical fuel cell unit continues.
This model accompanied the patent application for William N. Whiteley’s improvement in harvesters that received patent number 197,192 on November 13, 1877. The combined reaper and mower had a single large wheel with a driver’s seat to steer the horses and manipulate the mower, reaper, or rake attachments This harvester model was manufactured under the brand name “Champion.” The Champion was sold by a variety of company’s across the country from its home in Springfield, Ohio which is still known as the “Champion City.”
A reaper is a machine for harvesting grain crops, especially wheat. Drawn by horses (or a tractor), a reaper uses a large blade to cut wheat stalks. Early reapers required farmers to rake wheat off the machine by hand. On self-raking models, automatic rakes pushed the wheat across a platform and deposited it on the ground in bunches. Workers followed the reaper, gathering and tying bundles of wheat, called “sheaves.” They stacked the sheaves into piles, called “stooks,” for protection from wind and rain. Later, workers threshed and winnowed the wheat to remove edible grains from the inedible chaff.
Parity is a continual theme of the American Agriculture Movement. Farmers were seeking 100% parity meaning they would be guaranteed a price for their commodities at least equal to the cost of growing or raising that commodity. Many consumers feared that if the price of raw crops went up, then the price of the finished product in the store would rise exponentially as well. Many farmers felt it was not the price of the raw product that drove the price of the finished, but rather the production of the finished product that consumers paid for in the store.
The farm crisis of the late 1970s and 1980s was triggered by several factors stemming from the early 1970s. When Earl Butz became the Secretary of Agriculture in 1971, he changed farm policies that provided supports to farmers who did not plant a certain percentage of their land, and instead asked farmers to plant “fence row to fence row” in order to increase production. New foreign markets had opened up, inflation was high which increased land values and interest rates were low which provided extra incentive for farmers to increase their landholdings and purchase modern equipment that made output from the land more productive. Many farmers took advantage of this confluence of factors to increase their income by following this advice.
In the late 1970s, the Federal Reserve Board raised interest rates in an attempt to bring down the rate of inflation. This happened at the same time foreign markets dried up and a trade embargo was placed on the Soviet Union. These factors meant farm income dwindled at the same time interest rates skyrocketed, eating up what little income remained for farmers. The members of the American Agriculture Movement were highly involved in protests through the late 1970s and 1980s, speaking to officials at all levels of U.S. government in an attempt to raise awareness of the growing farm crisis. Concern over the 1977 Farm Bill ignited the concern for many farmers who believed the bill would adversely affect farm income by lowering commodity prices to less than the cost of production. Farmers began to protest at all levels of government, most for the first time, in order to bring this to the attention of policy makers as well as the people.
This Drambuie Liqueur crate side was used by the Drambuie Liqueur Company, Ltd. of Edinburgh, Scotland during the early 20th century. The crate bears an image of the Drambuie bottle, which reads “The Isle of Skye Liqueur” and “A Link with the 45.” There is a crest on the right side of the label with a ribbon that reads “Remember the Gift of the Prince.” In 1745 Prince Charles Edward Stuart led an uprising to retake the British throne from the Hanoverian King George II. When the coup failed the Prince had to flee from the Isle of Skye, and legend holds that he gave the recipe of his personal golden elixir to his supporter Captain John MacKinnon, which later became Drambuie.
National Federation of Citrus Grower's Co-operative Societies
ID Number
1979.0441.193
catalog number
1979.0441.193
accession number
1979.0441
Description (Brief)
This shipping crate side contained “Orient” brand sweet mandarine oranges that was used by the National Federation of Citrus Grower’s Co-Operative Societies. There is a rising sun design on the left of the crate, linking the brand name Orient to Japan, the “Land of the Rising Sun.”
This Chere Best brand apple crate label was used by the Columbia Fruit Packers Inc. of Wenatchee, Washington during the early 20th century. The label was lithographed by Stecher-Traung of San Francisco, California. These apples came from the Wenatchee Valley region of Washington, which is colloquially known as the “Apple Capital of the World.”
This shipping crate side contained Rose of Virginia brand apples that were grown and packed by E.W. Barr of Winchester, Virginia during the early 20th century. The crate side has an image of a rose stenciled in the center. Winchester, Virginia is well known for hosting the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival.
This shipping crate side contained Atlas Flo-Dyn Number 6 explosives manufactured by the Atlas Powder Company during the early 20th century. The shipping crate was in use during the first half of the 20th century, and contained 4 bags of explosives that weighed 50 pounds.
This shipping crate side originally contained Providence River brand cove oysters packed and shipped by the Fait & Winebrenner Company of Baltimore, Maryland during the early 20th century. The shipping crate was made by J.M. Thiemeyer & Company Box Manufacturers. The wooden shipping crate side has an interlocking F and W symbol in the center, and contained 24 20-ounce cans of oysters.
This shipping crate side contained Cascade Brand yellow cling peaches that were packed by the Western States Growers Company during the first half of the 20th century. The crate contained six gallon-sized tins of peaches.