Pretend Farmers and their Farm Toys

Across the Fence #563


There are two John Deere tractors in my office. I have a 1/16” scale model John Deere B made by Country Classic Models in Dyersville, Iowa. I also have a John Deere 50. Those are two tractors that are near and “Deere” to my heart! 

I spent a lot of time on those tractors when I was growing up. Not the ones in my office, but the real ones. They bring back a lot of memories. The only thing missing with the toy tractors is the sound. Just as a Harley Davidson motorcycle has that distinctive “potato, potato, potato” sound, the old John Deere tractors had the distinctive “putt, putt, putt” sound. You knew someone was hard at work when you heard that sound echoing across the countryside. I can still hear it now in my mind. I love that sound.

I guess I have a fondness and preference for John Deere tractors because that’s the only kind we had on the farm. 

I love Jerry App’s book, “Every Farm Tells A Story.” Jerry likes the old Farmall H they had on their farm. He claims the H was able to power their threshing machine when the neighbor’s John Deere B couldn’t handle it. Just like their neighbor and Jerry’s Pa, who had a friendly rivalry when it came to tractor preferences, Jerry and I have our own ongoing debate as to which is better. 

Since I played with John Deere toy tractors as a kid, drove real ones, and now have model ones in my office, I guess you know where my loyalties lie.

I have a picture of my brother, David, and I with some of our farm toys when we were young. A John Deere tractor with the man attached in the seat is shown. I’ve seen two of those tractors in antique stores with $750.00 price tags on them! I think ours probably ended up in the dump, or along with other discarded old “junk” to fill in the cistern when it was no longer used.

Me on left and David on right.

Also in that photo is a tractor with Mickey Mouse on it. I imagine that also found its way into some trash dump or the old sink hole on the “Hauge” farm. I wish I had those toys now to put alongside my other tractors.

The reason there are only John Deere tractors in the photo is because my father dealt with the John Deere dealership in Westby. They always had toy tractors and machinery for display and sale. I was fascinated with the toy machinery with moving parts. We had a manure spreader where the beaters even went around. 

What is it about toy farm machinery that delights “pretend farmers” of all ages? It’s the same with people who love toy trains. Is it because we can create our own miniature world and have a little control over it? That’s something we don’t always have in the larger world around us? I don’t pretend to have the answers. I just know I liked and still like farm toys. 

The National Farm Toy Museum is located in Dyersville, Iowa. It has 30,000 farm toys and displays! Lots of John Deere tractors and farm implements too! I’d have thought I’d died and gone to Heaven if I’d walked into such a place when I was young. I can’t even imagine what the National Farm Toy Show that’s held in Dyersville each fall must be like. Can you imagine attending a show with hundreds of exhibitors and venders and all those farm toys? Now you know how a mouse would feel if he found himself trapped in a cheese factory! 

I suspect some of the toy tractors you may find at the toy show, especially the antique ones, could set you back more than my father paid for the full size, working model of our old John Deere B.

My scale model of that tractor is detailed right down to the flywheel. I remember cranking and turning that thing to start the engine. It usually took several turns before it fired. Then some puffs of smoke erupted from the muffler on top of the tractor, and that familiar “putt, putt, putt” sound brought the tractor to life. At least with my toy model, I don’t have to worry about my hands getting caught as the flywheel takes off. Toy tractors and machinery are much safer than the real ones.

Maybe the reason we like toy tractors and farm machinery is that they’re ageless. We can have fun playing with them when we are young and displaying them when we get older. As children we play with them and dream of the day we can operate the real tractors and machines. As older adults, we display them on shelves in our offices and remember the days when we did operate them.

Farm toys were, and still are, an important part of life for so many of us. We’re all just a bunch of old country boys and girls at heart.

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