Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Farmstead Equipment Auction Circa 1987

These photo's of my dad's farm auction from circa 1987 were almost lost forever. They had been in one of my many boxes of stuff up in the attic of the house for more than a decade. As I was recently cleaning out my stuff these photos got thrown in the dumpster but were discovered by one of my brothers as he was sorting for recyclables. I am grateful he found these. They are not the best quality photos but they are precious memories. As a warning this is a long post!

My dad demonstrating that the tractor starts

Cement mixer and drums with pumps among other things

Farm equipment being auctioned off

Old brooders for chicks

In the front - old chicken feeders from the barn

In the front, chicken crates followed by egg nests and equipment

My dad with the orange hat with two sisters and brother-in-law

Chicken nests in the foreground to the left

In the front - many lawnmowers; to the left - farm equipment

In the front - egg carts used to gather eggs in the chicken house

Refreshment stand in the old corn crib equipment shed

Another view of farm equipment with the honey (manure) wagon in the center

Another auction crowd scene

Small items being auctioned off from tables

Another view with the farm house in the background

Some of the many cars parked in the fields along our driveway

10 comments:

  1. Thanks for these photos. It's an America I remember. My own retirement, 22 years after the one pictured, was not so well documented --but it involved saying goodbye to a beloved tractor.

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  2. And even the cars are different today.... Such memory but now the farms have better equipement, less dangerous and more easy to use....
    You forgot these pictures and they are for you such as your new-found young age...

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  3. Wonderful memories and glad the photos were saved.
    Farm auctions are a great get together but also time of sadness as things are sold.

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  4. Wonderful memory photos. Glad they were rescued from the dumpster.
    The auction must have been bittersweet and nostalgic.

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  5. Tim, these are wonderful memories!!!! I enjoyed looking at every picture. I don't know much about farms that is why I was so curious to learn some moments from farmers' lives.

    These are very priceless pictures. And very interesting. Thank you for sharing them as a nice memories with us. I had a very good time viewing these pictures.

    Greetings from Kaya.

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  6. As we would say, I hope he made a killing at his sale, Tim. I'm so delighted your images were salvaged. THANK YOU for showing and preserving them here.

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  7. Thank goodness these were found and not tossed away. It's always fun to look at old photographs. Precious memories for you and your family. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. I so enjoyed seeing the photos-and I'm so so glad they were saved for you.

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  9. I'm so glad you found the photos. Thanks for sharing. When my son-in-law's cousin auctioned off the equipment on his farm I wasn't then bringing a camera everywhere I went and missed incredible shots.

    The farm was over 100 years old, and there were attics that had rarely been visited. It was a rainy day and the auctioneer had set lots of the large frm equipment in one of the barnyards and everyone gathered around huddling under black umbrellas. I can see the missed pictures still.

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  10. Thanks, geo. Saying good by to a beloved tractor can be difficult.

    Thanks, cergie. I'm glad these pictures were found and are now preserved here.

    Thanks, sueanne. Yes, farm auctions have an element of sadness of times gone by not to be retrieved again. Yet these photos remind me some of where I come from and who I am.

    Thanks, photowannabe. It was bittersweet yet it was a time of excitement and joy and a erstwhile social experience.

    Thanks, kaya. I'm glad it could help you learn more about farming.

    Thanks, ginnie. I'm glad I could preserve these images here, too for both my family and all my friends.

    Thanks, julie g. They are a family treasure.

    Thanks, tipper. Glad you could enjoy these photos.

    Thanks, ted roth. Farm auctions and pictures thereof do have a way of bringing back memories.

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