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News from Garfield Farm |
A chance to see the hand tools that built America returns to Garfield Farm Museum on Sunday, August 1, 2004 at the 12th annual Antique Tool Show & Sale from 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM. This is the only joint Midwestern show of the Early American Industries Association (EAIA) and the Mid-West Tools Collectors Association (M-WTCA) open to the public. Members of both organizations will have nineteenth and twentieth century tools on display and will explain how the tools were used
This annual show is a rare opportunity because it is open to the general public. Antique tools shows of this caliber are usually reserved only for members of collecting associations. If you have seen an old tool and been curious about what it was or was used for, this is your opportunity to talk with experts. In addition, many of the collectors are the last generation to have a close association with hand tools. Computer design and robotics have replaced many tool and die craftsmen that made this hi tech age possible. "Often people say to me 'I wish I had asked more questions of my late parent'", said Jerome Johnson, museum director. "This is an opportunity to ask that retiring generation of tool workers what that life was like."
The members of these two exceptional organizations go to great lengths to research and understand the tools they collect. Their work not only preserves the actual tools for the future, but also preserves the associated skills and crafts. In the past, there have been over 40 participating collectors, offering parts of their collection for sale often to pay for their latest prized acquisitions.
Visitors and novice collectors will find this a wonderful opportunity to experience the wide variety of collection themes and learn the value of tools. Many visitors have come with an old tool from the barn or basement and left with a great wealth of knowledge. The museum will also be offering tours of the 1846 teamster inn & tavern beginning at 10 am. Regular Sunday tours of the museum will continue after 1 pm, when the show concludes. Show admission for adults is $5 and children 12 years and under is $2.
Garfield Farm Museum is a 370-acre historically intact former 1840s prairie farmstead and teamster inn, which is being restored as an 1840s living history farm museum. The museum has had support from over 2,600 households from 37 states to save and preserve the site. Garfield Farm Museum is a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization, which greatly depends on individual memberships and donations to meet the operating and educational programming expenses.
For more information on how you can help preserve this wonderful link to our nation's past, please contact Garfield Farm Museum at (630) 584-8485 or e-mail info@garfieldfarm.org.
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