A toy show tradition

Anyone who walked into the Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center Middle School gymnasium Saturday and had spent any time around farm life would have been hard-pressed not to feel an emotional attachment to something inside.

For more than 35 years, the annual West Central Iowa Farm Toy Show has attracted farm toy collectors and the young at heart who return each year to find new treasures and rediscover old ones.

The event coincided well this year with National Ag Week, which is this week. Nearly all of the toys on display represent the long history of equipment built to help farmers feed and fuel the world.

Roger Richter of Adair has helped coordinate the event for all 36 years.

“Originally, the fire department — I think we were trying to buy a new ambulance — so we did this as a fundraiser. The real gravy of this deal is the fact that there are locals who come out, but mostly it brings outside money to the community to do good for the community,” Richter said. “The fire department finances this and gets the benefit, too.”

This year’s show featured 80 tables displaying farm toys of all kinds — everything from red to green and old to new.

One display included modern semitrucks with grain trailers. Another featured realistic grain bins. Some items are meant to be played with, while others are meant to be displayed on a shelf. Many who attend can tell a story about the real equipment the toys represent.

Jim Zimmerline of rural Stuart, who also participates in the Greenfield Swap Meet each September, also has a vast collection of farm toys at home.

“This is just stuff I want to get rid of. It is not the collection at home,” he said.

One of the largest parts of Zimmerline’s collection includes toys made by Auburn Rubber Co., which produced iconic, durable toys from the 1930s to the early 1960s. The company specialized in cars, trucks, fire engines, tractors and farm animal sets.

Zimmerline began buying a tractor here and another there when he was in his 20s, and one thing led to another. His father farmed with a DC-3 Case tractor, and Zimmerline now has two on the shelf in his toy room at home.

“If I’ve got one here, probably 90% of it, I’ve got another one at home in my toy room,” Zimmerline said. “My collection’s small compared to others, but I probably have 300 tractors. I’ve got a major Tootsie Toy collection, Tonka trucks and a little bit of everything.”

Each year, Zimmerline recognizes many of the people who come through the Adair show, where he has been a vendor for more than a decade.

In addition to the show continuing as a fundraiser for Adair Fire and Rescue, Richter said it’s also enjoyable to see the variety of people who attend each year.

“There are a lot of old faces who have been here all 36 years, and you see new faces,” Richter said. “Some people are still looking for the old stuff. Some like to stay current with the new stuff. Some like fixing things up. Everybody has different interests, and there’s a real variety. It goes from sandbox toys to brand new. There’s basically something for everybody here.”