Dad's New Tractor

 In the 'everything old is new again category' ....

A few weeks ago brother Ron advised me that I might want to go to Corning's Homecoming Parade this year. The reason: his step-son-in-law, Jeff, and Jeff's father had restored our father's tractor and it was going to be in the parade.

I didn't make it to the parade but I did see the pictures from it and grabbed this one of Dad's 1944 John Deere B tractor. Looks just like new, doesn't it?

I called my brother to tell him I had seen the picture of it on Facebook. He filled me in on some facts I had not known. Dad bought the tractor new. It was during WWII when everything was rationed. Somehow Dad was on a list of farmers eligible to buy a tractor and his name came up. Until then he had farmed with horses. Ron didn't know how much it cost, only that prices were frozen during the war. A Google search shows that the price was probably just under a thousand dollars.

Here is a photo, circa 1946, of me, little sister, Betty, and brother Ronald on the tractor and Dad leaning against it. 

And here is Ron with the restored tractor before the parade. He is trying to strike the same pose as Dad.

Ron is 'just slightly' older than Dad was when the two pics were taken.

I don't know when Dad upgraded to a John Deere A, probably in the early 50's. And I'm guessing it was used, not new. 

I remembered that our cousin Larry's grandson, Joe, had restored a John Deere tractor a couple years ago and got to wondering if it had been his grandpa's. A quick query provided the answer: "Yes it was." It is nice to have these family treasures still in the family.