[AT] Grain Binders and nudity....

Joe Prindle joe_prindle2001 at yahoo.com
Wed Mar 3 00:52:25 PST 2004


I am new on this list, been lurking. Was gonna ask some tractor questions
about my two Massey Harris tractors, a #1 and a Challenger, both have been
in the family since they were new. But, lets trach the State Historical
Society of Wisconsin.
The IH archives are something that must be experienced to be appreciated.
The Wisconsin Historical Society has been in existence since before WI was
a state, the archives have an incredible array of literature and
photographs of all sorts, one of the finest I have ever seen, and I have
been in a few. If you find an image in the archives or on line that you
like, you can purchase a copy of it and a liscence to use that copy if you
are using it in a display or for some sort of commercial purpose. The
funds generated support the preservation and ongoing cataloguing of the
archival materials. Sorting, cataloging and preserving these things is an
expensive project. A lot of the literature is printed on paper made with a
sulphite process and it is slowly (actually rapidly) disintegrating.
Various sorts of archival boxes, folders and bags can slow the process,
but it in inevitable that at some point it will disintegrate. The only
real hope of long term salvation is making photographs and/or electronic
copies that will outlast the originals. This is expensive and the money
has to come from somewhere. The society receives a lot of its funds from
members, people who care enough about history to help save it,
organizations such as the IH collectors, and state funds. With the current
problems in state funding and the recession we are in, there have been
some deep staffing cuts. A lot of the folks who lost their jobs were not
what I would consider to be overpaid to start out with, it was as much a
labor of love as anything. This lack of funding and staffing cuts means
that valuable time is being lost in saving some priceless bits of history.
If you see an image that you like and chose to buy a high quality copy for
your personal enjoyment, the money you spend helps to fund further
preservation. The more money there is to do the work, the more stuff will
get saved.
The IH stuff has had a lot better odds of survival than the Allis stuff
that got rescued by the Milwaukee County Historical Society.
I own and am nearly done restoring an E. P. Allis corliss engine, built
June 24, 1889. When I started in on the project, I went to the SHSW to see
what I could dig up. Nothing there, but they sent me to the Milwaukee
County Historical Society. The Milwaukee COunty Historical SOciety is
located in an old bank building in Milwaukee. It is a poorly lit, dingy,
depressing place. THe archivists there were not particularly outgoing.
This was the exact opposite of my experiences in Madison at the State
Historical Society. THe only Allis stuff they saved, at least from before
1900, was salvaged out of dumpsters. When Allis (or the remnants of the
company) vacated their Milwaukee offices, they made no effort to preserve
any of their historical paper, they heaved it in a dumpster. Some of it
was saved when folks from the MCHS found out about it, but literally tons
of paper were lost. What was saved was removed to the basement of this old
bank building where part of it was sorted and organized. THen one winter
not too long ago a water main broke and filled the basement with water.
Lots of what had been saved was water damaged, some of it beyond saving.
Huge portions of the history of one of the greatest companies of all time
are lost forever, because of apathy on the part of Allis and lack of good
storage by MCHS. This easily could have been the fate of the IH
collection.
The images on the Historical Society Website are there for you to enjoy as
they are presented. If that isn't good enough for you, the two choices you
have are to either pay for a nice copy of it, or to not look at them at
all. I am hoping that if you see something that strikes your fancy, you
will buy a copy and help fund the work being done there.
Joe Prindle
Recording Sec'y
Badger Steam & Gas
Baraboo, WI
2004 Feature Ford-Fordson


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