Grandpa was called back to take care of his parents around 1925, his duty as the youngest. He farmed their little patch plus worked off-farm, then bought the place next door. Still worked several jobs, building roads or loading train cars with fruit.
He was working for one local general store, when they had a fire in late 1929 or 1930. The family that owned the store couldn't scrape the money together to rebuild, but the insurance company man offered the business to Grandpa. He bought it for less than the value of the inventory that was salvageable, I can't remember if it was $300 or $3000. They cleaned things up and moved into a building across the tracks. He took one of the original family brothers on as partner, because he was the butcher and Grandpa didn't know how to cut the meat.
The store was his life for the next 35 years, providing a decent living, in exchange for long hours. He would talk of all his customers as we drove around the area, times when he loaned a family $300 to get a new well, or $2000 for a downpayment on the farm. All while never making more than $10K in a single year.
Most all the customers were on credit, some by the month, some by the year. When he retired and sold out in 1965, he kept the receivables as part of the deal. We cleaned the attic out to remodel 40 years later, and found the box of ledgers and letters to and from people who still owed money, most so thankful for carrying them through those tough times. Most of the folks who beat him out of money were family members.
We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]
Today's Featured Article - The Day Mom Drove the 8N - by Brian Browning. My Dad was wanting to put in a garden but couldn't operate the 8N and handle the old horse drawn plow he had found and rigged up to use with the tractor. Well, he decided to go get Mom out of the house and have her drive the tractor while he walked behind the plow. You got to understand that while my Mom is a hard worker who will always help whenever she can... she had never operated farm machinery before that day. Dad got her out there, explained how the clutch was the same as in our o
... [Read Article]
Latest Ad:
Oliver 550 Diesel runs like a watch three point hitch pto engine gone threw about two hundred hours ago nice clean tractor
[More Ads]
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy
TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.
