One of the outstanding salesman’s samples at this auction was a wooden windmill marked Lima Mfg. Co., Lima, Indiana. If you never heard of Lima, Ind., it’s because it doesnt’ exist anymore. It is now Howe, Ind., located about 12 miles east of Shipshewana. The winning bidder of this item was a windmill collector from Batavia, Ill., a town that at one time was known as a leading manufacturer of windmills, thus explaining her interest. The final bid for this piece of history was $6,300.

A saleman’s sample of a Van Horn’s adjustable spring seat for a wagon with patent dates of May 11 and Oct. 9, 1865 sold for $2,000, which was also the final bid for a wooden Columbia clothes washer. A Jamesway two-cow stanchion in its original carrying case sold for $3,000, an adjustable ox yoke made of brass and walnut earned $1,100; and a Knoll washing machine from 1893 with good stenciling and old paint crossed the block for $3,200.

Some of the other salesmen’s samples that generated interest because they were from Indiana companies included a John T. Wooding, Vernon, Ind., wood-beam walking plow with a brass share that earned $2,200; a petroleum dispenser complete with a pump from S. F. Browser in Fort Wayne, Ind., that earned $1,200; and a butter churn marked May 11, 1886, Goshen, Ind., that crossed the block for $3,000. The wooden silo that saw a final bid of $4,500 was from the Indiana Silo Co. from Anderson, Ind., and was either a store model or a salesman’s sample.

From Republic, Ohio, there was a salesman’s sample rocking butter churn marked E. F. Beard Inventor that, with great stenciling and color, crossed the block for $4,000. From the Anchor Buggy Co. there was a patent model or salesman’s sample fifth wheel and this piece earned $1,000.

A salesman’s sample of a farm gate that opened when the wagon passed over the trigger earned $800 and a Cincinnati water purifier pump with a cast iron base and old red paint also saw $800. The farm gate that was marked L. Helm sold for $900; a wagon tongue with a three-horse evener saw $950; and a cant hook, marked Sample leaving no doubt that it was a salesman’s sample earned $500.

An auction with farm primitives would not be complete without a variety of butter churns and there were several here. One that was most unusual was the primitive two-person churn. According to Chupp, one man stood on each side and grasped the handle moving it back and forth. This interesting churn earned $1,300. A double-lid tabletop churn sold for $325; a floor-model butter churn from the American Churn Co. in Bluffton, Ind., earned $600; and a No. 2 Union three-leg churn crossed the block for $2,800. A No. 1 Gifford Mfg. Co tumbling churn earned $300; a No. 3 cylinder churn from O. R. Flyers/H. Homes & Sons with a date of 1852 saw $500; a No. 2 Davis swinging churn also earned $500; and a rocking barrel churn crossed the block for $550.

The majority of the signs at this auction were ones which related in some way with early farming in the United States or had a farming motif of some sort. A Colman’s mustard sign featured a bull and sold for $1,650. A 42 by 48-inch metal sign advertising Duroc hogs sold for $1,500; and a 25-foot long metal John Deere dealership sign crossed the block for $1,900. A double-sided Milking Shorthorns sign saw a final bid of $950; a double-sided porcelain wall-mount Devoe Paints sign earned $1,400; and a tin sign for Sunbeam bread showing a little girl found a new owner for $1,050.

A double-sided sign for Stransky cookware with the slogan “The Ware That Wears” with the proclamation that it was guaranteed to last for years sold for $1,500; a double-sided 24 by 72-inch John Deere Farm Implements sign sold for $5,250; and a porcelain International Harvester truck sales and service sign featuring the triple diamond crossed the block for $1,500. A round Babcock chicks sign found a final bid of $1,200; a tin sign for Superior alfalfa and grass seed drills earned $1,350; a porcelain sign for Quaker Maid milk found $1,750; and a tin New Idea farm equipment sign sold for $1,500.

De Laval items were in abundance. A flanged, double-sided yellow De Laval agency sign sold for $1,500; a white flanged double-sided sign saw $800; and a porcelain cream separator sign crossed the block for $425. A cream separator parts cabinet earned $350. De Laval cows included a cardboard Ayrshire punch-out cow that saw $175; a tin Holstein cow and calf with the original envelope that sold for $425; and a tin Guernsey cow and calf that crossed the block for $130.

One of the items that caused a stir was a horse twitch. A twich is used to control a horse. It attaches to the upper lip of the horse and when twisted, which squeeze the soft tissue. In 2000 the veterinary community recommended that twitches no longer be used. This cast iron adjustable horse twitch crossed the block for $1,000. Another tool used for horses was a horse dental tool or balling iron. This is a tool which allows the person caring for the horse to administer pills. This item found a final bid of $1,100.

For the Sharples cream separator aficionado there was a complete set of the Sharples pin-back buttons that sold for $450.

Not really mass production but it was possible to make 36 candles at a time with the pewter 36-tube candle maker that crossed the block for $1,600. You could make your own ice cream cones with the three-cone ice cream cone maker that sold for $500; another item not made for mass production. A Wizard butter printer manufactured by the Creamery Package Co. that could print four at a time crossed the block for $600.

From a Southern plantation there was a wheel with eight bronze bells. This was used as a dinner bell, probably a little more melodic that just going out and ringing a single bell. This item earned $800.

A very interesting weather vane in the form of a walking plow elicited spirited bidding and sold for $1,400. A bull windmill weight marked Fairbury, Nebraska, sold for $850.

Among the coffee grinders there was a No. 12 Enterprise coffee grinder that sold for $1,250 and the smallest one made by Enterprise, a hand-crank model, earned $750.

Among the clocks there was a lighted Golden Guernsey clock that found lots of interested and sold for $1,500; a Coca-Cola spinner clock reached $1,800; and a Finck’s work clothes lighted clock sold for $600.

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