Old Tractor Dealership items you have night !

I kind of like the different questions and themes, helps keep some tractor related content in here, though I certainly don't mind reading most other things just the same, don't matter, I'm just one reader LOL !

The question is, what sacred old dealership items do you have be it from an dealership you were involved in or maybe something you have collected, we did toy night, how about the other old fun junk ? LOL !

I can start off;

We sold Ford, late 60's mid 70's, was an old long established dealership too.

Unfortunately, I do not have all of my cherished items together for photos, but a few things I have I can mention

Pam clock with the blue and white, Ford Tractors Equipment logo, that hung over the parts counter, a huge blue and white canvas banner with the dealership name and the same logo, we used to display it at the fair with the equipment display, I am still researching to see if any old fair photos exist.

I have a huge old columbian vise, painted Ford blue from one of the work benches, of which I have one of those too with a motor and grinder wheel on it.

I have old invoice pads and similar business forms/paper, the plaque with an award for hay equipment merchandising, few old NOS Ford oval keys, some other odds and ends, even the grease gun off the service truck. When the town historian published a history book about the town, in their appeared an old photo of our dealership with 11 brand new N series all with mid mount sickle mowers and I believe a front broom sweep, I am not sure where I place the book and some later photos of the place defunct, but on the end of the building is the old red Ford script logo and the Dearborn logo. I will have to gather up these items and photograph, scan what have you. I have other odds and ends, can't recall them all, but kind of some nice nostalgia from an earlier era that I kinda grew up in.

On the same kinda of theme here. At my old house 15-20 years ago my neighbor across the street built a small garage, 24 x 30 I think and he made it look like an old gas station, old pumps, old signs. The inside was set up for working on old cars, with a sign of "Texaco" inside. It was very cool. Except.....he died a year or so after it was done. He was 70 from what I remember, died in his sleep with his little ankle biter dog laying right next to him on the couch.

My wife's grandfather owned a dealership in Dekalb Ilinois way back in the day. They sold Case for a while then Minneapolis Moline. We have several pictures along with memorabilia such as MM bullet pencils and a couple decks of MM playing cards. One deck has never been opened.

Hey Bill,
This is a pic. of our Case dealership, about 1950. Also some invoices from Case of equipment we received from previous years. I have 3 years worth of invoices from this era. These invoices were Dads files of transactions. Notice his writen notes. He was the Son, Owen was my Grandpa
Loren, the Acg.

Cool pictures. On the first invoice, the oil filter is $5.40, about the same today. The wheel weights look pretty good at $21.60.

I have a few things like that from my grandpas Mobil Gas station tucked away. I need to get them out and scan them.

Rick

Billy, I know you live close to me, prolly I won't no what dealership, maybe before my time, but what ford dealership did you own? Just interested as I'm a ford tractor fan.

Rick You missed it. Nice to be young, the cost added there was for the optional oil filter on the tractor. You did not get a filter on the tractor without paying for it. Like adding a radio to a car back in those days.

Really neat items, do you miss the dealership?

This a packing slip from Deere and Weber Company from 1956. It was in the original shipping box from Spitzer Imp. of Rosholt SD. Apparently somebody had sent it in for repair and after the dealer got it back they never picked it. Be sure and look at the price to have the pump rebuilt.

Jay,
We closed down in 1986, 2 years after Case bought out IH. The new company wanted us to build all new facilities to promote the "New Corperate Image" Back then floor plan intrest rates were at 18% for inventory and profit margins were less than that, and are at about 5% today. Do I miss it today? NO. I stuck with Case IH until 1992 with my good friends at RI, Fultonville . I was able to convince customers to buy our Case products, but then they called every Case IH dealer in the area with the specs and price we gave them,, and bought from them, for a few dollars less, and had a fit when we put them on the back burner when they wanted service. After the merger, the "new company" focused on market penetration, rather than customer service . It's pretty easy for a dealer to lowball a price to someone out of his service area knowing he will never see the equipment again. That was not the way I was brought up. Answer again NO
Loren, the Acg.

memories can be such a wonderful pastime .anyone remember when diesel fuel was $.16/gal. God,times were great back then.Better then than what it looks like we have coming

Originally Brown's Garage, originally just a wood framed large 1 bay Mobil gas station with service and repairs, that was expanded to a block building, steel columns, beams and bar joists, over 100'x100' to sell/service Ford tractors, earliest I can figure is that photo in the history book, showing 11 N's. I ought to track down an original, might be able to enlarge, she sourced it from someone for the book I believe. 30 years or so later we bought the business, it was known as Alpine Ford Tractor Inc. At the same time Capitol sold JD, prior to Ford, now CNH. The shop was quite a large building with quite a bit of tooling, 2 story parts room with its own loading dock, giant 440v air compressor plumbed through out, what a person would give to have that kind of space now!

Great photo and paperwork, rail car numbers and all, I do have some photos of our old place, wish I had one with the lot full of thousand series tractors. My neighbor the dairy farmer had a round nose 300, such different colors than the usual 3 around here, always stood out, used to tow the bale wagons and similar chores, I think he lost that one in the '95 fire. I remember it as the lone case, was the only one I ever recall seeing in this area, if I had the luxury, I'd own one just to relive that memory LOL ! which probably sounds wacky, but true !

Glenn:

I can remember back in the 70's when Gasoline was 17 cents per gallon. Anybody remember the "Gas Wars" ?

I'm not a Ford collector but I did buy the building that was a Ford dealership originally. I was able to buy a parts book rack from a local man that I'm sure came out of this store so it's kinda neat to have it back on the parts counter. In my IH collection I have a beautiful large panoramic photograph of a Farmall train in 1929 that used to hang in the IH store here. I have other things to but these are probably the most meaningful.

Here is a Ford farming magazine too. I almost listed this on ebay before I noticed the dealer name on the back!

We had the same thing and I am not sure how many other additional books, binders etc., but it sat smack in the middle of the parts counter. A local forklift repairman whom I knew from years past at the lumber yard, told me he knew who ended up with all those books, from the auction when we closed or something. I kind of wish I had the set for reference, nostalgia but its good to know a tractor collector or enthusiast has them, nowadays with these forums and the interest in fixing up old tractors, lots of things we had, I sort of wish were still around, good memories that is for sure, I can recall the parts counter help and customers referencing these books like it was yesterday.

That panoramic photo has to be a treasure, I will have to source the old photo of our place other than the small photo in the history book. Good stuff, thanks for posting that !

Funny stuff. I was assuming a spin on. I missed the whole add-on or cartridge style filters on the "old" cars. My Model A with a flathead had a cartridge filter I plumbed in.

Now I see a lot of the new cars are going back to cartridges, not sure why, but they do cost more. I like a simple spin on. Little mess when changing.

Rick

Now I see a lot of the new cars are going back to cartridges, [b:08c7f68739]not sure why, but they do cost more. [/b:08c7f68739] I like a simple spin on. Little mess when changing.

Rick

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Cause they can and the sheeple will pay for it.