Museum Displays 1930s Farm Life

Museum Displays 1930s Farm Life Take a step back in time at the 1930’s Ag Museum in Quincy, Ill. The centerpiece of the museum is a 1936 John Deere B tractor, along with about 50 items that it could have pulled or powered. Included with tillage tools, drills and planters are less common items, such as a stationary baler and a John Deere belt-drive mixer. The Handy Farm Mixer was promoted for use with concrete, feeds, mashes and slops, as well as for washing beets and other root crops. The museum was created by Don “Mac” McKinley, a former educator, after overhearing a chance remark at a tractor show. McKinley (now 97), his wife, daughter and son-in-law, Marv Huber, operate the museum. “We had restored a B John Deere and had it on display at the Mount Pleasant, Iowa, show,” recalls Huber. “A father pointed it out to his son, who said, ‘It looks pretty, but what would it have been used for?’ The dad replied, ‘They farmed with it.’ That wasn’t good enough for Don.” Huber notes that McKinley became determined to show people what farm life was like when he was young, and the B was used. He began collecting, a passion that hasn’t stopped, according to Huber. “We have 4,200 total items documented in our 48 by 120-ft. Morton building,” says Huber. “We have a lot of things older than 1930 that would’ve been in use then.” Items include hand tools, as well as household items on display in the mezzanine. It includes a summer kitchen and everything that would have been found in it, notes Huber. One of the things that sets the McKinley collection apart from many museums is the documentation. True to his educational roots, McKinley researched each item and documented who made it and how it was used. In the case of a tractor-drawn 1931 John Deere Model #10 corn picker, he included its picking capability of 42 bushels per hour. He compared that with the 1931 National Champion hand husking corn picker rate of 23 bushels per hour and a modern Deere 9860 combine’s rate of 4,200 bushels per hour. “It’s a private collection, but it was done to educate others,” says Huber. “Just call for an appointment. We hosted three local FFA chapters in a day this spring. Our local convention center has promoted us a great deal, and as a result, we’ve had visitors from around the world. They come as individuals and by the busload.” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, 1930’s Ag Museum, 1435 Boy Scout Rd., Quincy, lll. 62305 (ph 217-430-3036).

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