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Since the US entered World War II, officially, on December 8th, 1941--having been attacked at Pearl Harbor the previous day--the restrictions on rubber products had not gone into effect when the early 1942 H's were produced...and it's ridiculous to assume that IH didn't have any advance stock of rubber shift knobs on the shelf when the war began. Having said that, the shift lever on the H can be threaded to accept the cast iron knob...but I really don't recall what the thread specifications were [diameter, threads per inch]. Will it make your tractor any more or less authentic as a War Time tractor? Possibly...or maybe not. A lot of War Time H's got Delco distributors, M&W live hydraulics and hand clutches, Schwartz wide front ends, and 3-point hitches added over the years...and they were STILL produced during WWII, so they're still "War Time" tractors, even with the upgrades. They're just not 100% original...but neither would YOUR tractor be 100% original if you change the shift knob. So my advice is to go by the serial number, and enjoy your tractor, knowing that it is an actual 1942-production "War Time" H, and don't worry about the shift knob. But that's just me.
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