The year 2017 is the 150th anniversary of our great country. In celebration the Manitoba Agricultural Museum (MAM) decided to identify the top 150 artifacts in the collection. This list is too long to be published here but the list can be found in the MAM website under the button marked “150 Reasons.” One problem
There are at least 150 reasons to visit the Manitoba Agricultural Museum
In celebration of the country’s anniversary, the MAM has gone through its collection and made a list
When the week’s work is done
A chance to pause and rest was a rare thing for the region’s early pioneers
In the Black family photo collection at the Manitoba Agricultural Museum, there is one of some of the family members gathered around a Ford Model T car, sitting on the running board or on the grass, relaxing and chatting. The week’s work is all done as most of the people in the photo are well
The McPhail outfit circa 1919
Once again a historic photo gives us insight into a world long past
Among the photos donated to the Manitoba Agricultural Museum is a series of photos taken on the Archie McPhail farm northeast of Brandon sometime around 1919. The photo seen here shows the threshing machine in use by Archie McPhail at the time, a wooden Sawyer Massey. The other photos seen in the series show the
Winners and losers: The Brandon light tractor plowing demonstrations of 1916
Canadian manufacturers always struggled to maintain relevance with their smaller market
There’s little doubt the 1916 Brandon light tractor plowing demonstrations were important in their day and perhaps nothing underlines this than the fact it’s taken three instalments to fully examine them. Sawyer Massey (SM) entered its 16-32 tractor. It was a major Canadian manufacturer of steam engines, threshing machines and other implements and got into
Pioneer sale offers historical insight
Farmer and politician William D. Staples sold up in 1916 due to the war
The ad seen here appeared in a fall 1916 edition of the Canadian Thresherman and Farmer magazine. William Staples, Dominion grain commissioner, was selling his farm equipment as his son was on active service with the Canadian military. Staples senior therefore needed to discontinue his farming operation. William Staples was born at Fleetwood, Ontario on
Conventional tractors attracted attention too
Success or failure in Western Canada for early tractor makers appears to be linked to their distribution networks
The 1916 Brandon tractor demonstrations attracted a lot of conventional tractors along with the three wheelers. Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company (MS&MC) brought its Twin City 15-30 tractor. MS&MC started operations by providing structural steel in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Between 1909 and the mid-teens MS&MC supplied tractor engines to Reeves & Company, manufactured the 30-60 Case
Agriculture engineers in the early years
The Manitoba Agricultural College was the first of its kind in Western Canada and aimed to equip farmers with the latest knowledge
The Manitoba Agricultural Museum holds in its collection the photo seen here, which is thought to show the students of an engineering course at the Manitoba Agricultural College. Manitoba’s rapid growth at the turn of the century prompted the provincial government to support agricultural research and education. The Manitoba Agricultural College (MAC) was established in
The three-wheel tractor craze
A move to smaller less expensive tractors fuelled interest in these designs
The images of the 1916 Brandon Light Tractor Plowing Demonstration demonstrate a significant craze in tractor design which was sweeping North America at the time. By 1916 the day of the Prairie-style gas tractor was coming to an end. Designers and manufacturers realized they needed tractors which were suitable for smaller farms and for jobs
The Brandon Light Tractor Plowing Demonstration of 1916
This event, was the first up-close look many farmers had at a tractor
While the Winnipeg Tractor Trials had come to an end in 1913, E.W. Hamilton, the editor of the Canadian Thresherman and Farmer magazine, remained interested in promoting tractors. More importantly, the farming public remained very interested in tractors with their promise of being able to perform more work at a lower cost than horses. Hamilton
A Prairie tractor makes a long trip to France
A request from a French agriculture museum reveals an interesting tale of a tractor
The Conservatory of Agriculture, the premier agricultural museum of France, recently contacted the Manitoba Agricultural Museum. It was seeking a digital copy of a Sawyer Massey tractor advertisement we were using on our web page on the Sawyer Massey 25-45 tractor in our collection. The Conservatory of Agriculture, better known as Le Compa, has a
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
