Last week in Crofton, part of Main Street was blocked off with a huge tent near the Lewis and Clark Pulley Museum. The tent housed vendors and members of the North American Hay Tool Collectors Association who gathered in town for their 11th annual shindig, called a swap meet and show. While NAHTCA is kind of mouthful to say, it is a strong group of hard core antique hay tool, pulley, forks and trolley collectors from across the country and around the world.

TOOLS TELL THE HISTORY OF MAKING HAY

As you might read in upcoming web and print articles in Nebraska Farmer, about 20 states were represented, along with a gentleman from Australia at this year’s meeting. Crofton is as far west as the group has ever held a show, with the epicenter of collectors living in Ohio.

According to the collectors I visited with, they are all old iron people, interested in farm machinery, equipment and history. However, they are not all farmers by trade. Many have some connection to ag, but did not live or work on farms.

The thing about hay trolleys and pulleys, forks and tools is that not a lot of folks collect these. It isn’t like old tractors or threshing machines. It is a specialized group of people with a wealth of knowledge about the items they are collecting. In the age of the Internet, younger members of the organization have set about digitizing records on the scores of manufacturers of these trolleys, the patent information and other details about the tools, so everyone can enjoy them and learn more about how farmers put up hay in their big barns before the age of the automatic stackers and round balers.

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It is important that these collectors meet, network and learn from each other and spread the history of these items so that information is not lost. I’ve never seen a hay trolley in action, although we have big hay doors, a huge loft and a rail with two trolleys in our barn, which was built in 1916. My Dad talked extensively about how hay was put up in the barns. He told stories about the kids playing hide and seek in the big hay loft, and about the barn dances that took place when the barn was empty of hay before the haying season started in the spring and after the barn was empty as well. But, that’s another blog entry altogether.

I tip my hat to the NAHTCA members who gather each year to show off some new piece of hay equipment they found and who continue to keep the history of hay making alive and well.

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