THE SMELL OF FRESH DIRT AND SPENT FOSSIL FUEL, YES SPRING IS IN THE AIR!

After a mild winter in Texas, has Spring arrived? We took the opportunity to work with one of our favorite vintage American made machines and break the garden this past weekend. Our 1968 Gravely Tractor model C-8 is an amazing machine and only proves what we already knew, the machines that built America were peerless.

 Gardening in our area of Texas is a challenge. Sometimes it can be downright frustrating. Because of this, we have learned to watch the weather patterns and if we are in a pattern of missing rain, chances are you might want to allow the garden to "rest" for a season. This was the case last year and what followed was one of the hottest and driest summers on record. After this mild winter and a possible pattern shift where we have been receiving ample rain in North Texas, we are hopeful that this year we might be able to grow a nice vegetable garden. This inspired us to awake the Gravely Tractor from hibernation and allow its valves and piston to sing its throaty POP,POP, POP, that only a vintage Gravely combustion engine produces. The smell in the air and working the tractor is always a pleasure and one that has more rewards than is apparent at the time.

Gardening with a vintage Gravely Tractor is a mixture of a great workout and a trip back in time. A vintage Gravely walk behind tractor makes little work cutting through the soil with it's rotary plow, which in itself is a novel invention. The Gravely Tractor Rotary Plow is similar to an automobile differential. It turns a hex rod with four plow blades that turn the soil laying the perfect seedbed. The Gravely Rotary Plow does not skip across the ground like some rear tine tillers tend to do in tough soil.  It is an amazing device and it is engaged or disengaged by means of a rod that is mounted on our handle bar. While plowing, I often think about the four generations of my family that used similar Gravely Tractors in their vegetable gardens. I also think about America and how things have changed in this country and how desperately we need to return to the old paths of what made this country great. In manufacturing, it was building great machines like Mr. Ben Gravely's convertible garden tractor. Mr. Gravely's tractor was manufactured for about 40 years in largely the same configuration. It's all gear driven convertible design created markets for the small tractor all over the world.

The final benefit of gardening with our Gravely Tractor is of course, the bountiful harvest of fresh vegetables. Vegetables grown fresh in your own garden are full of vitamins because they are picked fresh and cooked immediately. Our generation grew up gardening, nearly all of our friend's parents had gardens that they worked in as young people. It's a shame that this valuable family activity has slowed to a crawl in the United States. If ever we needed the wholesome and rewarding activity that gardening teaches, we need it now. For those with children, gardening teaches responsibility and self reliance, among other obvious treasures found while working among nature.

 Not everyone will go to the trouble of finding a vintage Gravely Tractor and overhauling it like we did, but should you decide on a vintage Gravely, it will give you many years of faithful service and actually outlast you. Whether it's used in the garden or the countess other jobs that can be done with the machine, a vintage Gravely tractor can not be beat. Gravely tractors had attachments such as mowers, snow blowers, cultivators, brush and even chain saws! It is a valuable machine to anyone who has a small farm or ranch. There are plenty of used models available and if your interested you can find out more about them at The Gravely Tractor Club of America.

THE FASTEST JACKET IN THE VALLEY!!!

The VintageFans.com Mechanic's Jacket

We were blessed to have grown up in an era that was only a few decades removed from World War II and the generations who fought to preserve our freedom.  As time moves on, we realize how fortunate we were to have known some of them.  The men and women of that generation knew how to do just about anything. Give them a roll of duct tape, a sock and some cardboard and they'll deliver you three men from a certain death in outer space. They were steadfast, creative, innovative, entrepreneurial and motivated. After they won World War II, they worked the same jobs week after week for 30 years or more to feed their families, often with the same company that they started their career with. As a people, they believed in God, lived within their means and largely remained debt free. They witnessed and warned against the evils of socialism and communism. As young people, they delivered a desperate people from the fascist ovens at Auschwitz. As young people, we worked under them and learned immensely from this generation of responsible and can do citizens. They were Americans through and through. When you consider what they did in their lifetimes, (and without complaining) they will undoubtedly be remembered as the generation that both SAVED AMERICA AND MADE AMERICA.They embodied a sense of Americanism that we embrace today at VintageFans.com. So when we needed shop jackets, we created this unique Vintage Fan's vintage style mechanic's jacket to commemorate both them and their era. 



The VintageFans.com Mechanic's Jacket

Vintage Fan's™ wanted to create a unique jacket that showcases the late 1940s through 1950s style. The VintageFans.com mechanic's jacket features a "Hot Rod" feel that embraces the era of "American Graffiti" and one that John Milner himself might have worn had we been in business "in the valley" and been his sponsor.  Our jacket has a unique billboard on the back that features a direct current Adams-Bagnall "Jandus" gyro fan with VINTAGE FANS ™ and our slogan "Preserving History in Motion". Each one of our Vintage Fan's™ mechanic's jackets are custom made to order, just like our fully restored electric fans. We often hear that our business resembles something from 60 years ago and we are thankful that it is. Our mechanic's jacket celebrates the workmen and women of the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s, whether they were running 200 m.p.h. at Bonneville, building Emerson Electric Fans in ST. Louis, or raising a family in Peoria. The Vintage Fans™ mechanic's jacket advertises the tangible proof of their manufacturing excellence. Our company, Vintage Fans™ could not exist without them or their manufactured products. For that matter, neither would our country.  Vintage Fan's Mechanic's Jackets are available for $99.00 plus s/h at VintageFans.com.   

The VintageFans.com Mechanic's Jacket

GOD BLESS THE LITTLE MAN,THANK YOU DUBLIN DR.PEPPER!

Yesterday was the last day that the Dublin Bottling Works of Dublin, Texas could bottle Dr. Pepper something it has been doing for 120 years making it the oldest continuous bottler of Dr. Pepper in the United States. What made the Dublin Plant, (located 102 miles northwest of Waco, TX where Dr. Pepper was invented,) extra special is that they bottled the original formula made of pure cane sugar (Imperial that is), and anyone who ever compared the mega store variety with the Dublin, Texas version would soon learn what they missed in the America before corn syrup became the staple of the soft drink world. We realize that Dr. Pepper has a right to run their business however they see fit. We believe in free market capitalism. What we are scratching our heads about now is why would someone who wants to gain market share in the soft drink world yank their product from their oldest continuous bottler. Maybe the new wave, young gun, or quick draw operations and marketing folks at Dr. Pepper should take a step back and look at their national advertising campaigns, (which often leaves this author asking what was so funny, different,  or where in the world are they getting these creative less admen from?)  The goal is to sell more Dr. Pepper remember?  That is the goal, correct???

In this day when most Americans are worried about their country and it's future would not a little slice of Dr. Pepper Americana centered around their oldest bottler in one of the few Mayberrys left in America not be one of their most memorable commercials to have launched in years? In these uncertain times people are looking for the security of the America they once knew and those that didn't live in that America are trying experience it in various ways. Can't you see it now,.... Dr. Pepper, apple pie, ice cream, and grandma's front porch, while a '52 Dodge delivery truck painted Dr. Pepper mint green pulls out of the Dublin plant and delivers a glass bottle case of  Dublin Dr. Pepper to the front porch while grandpa waves to the delivery driver and the kids run to the case of bottled sweetness........... What a campaign opportunity. What are the marketing people thinking at Dr. Pepper? The Dublin Dr. Pepper plant could have brought you more admiration, cheer and ultimately... sales, had you enlisted them as an asset to bolster your product's image by creating an advertising campaign using their Norman Rockwell type existence in 2012 America. 

 Yesterday we lost a large part of that Americana and it is a shame. Here in Texas, we lost a large part of the Lone Star State's history as well.  As the news saturated the Texas airwaves late yesterday afternoon, the Alan Jackson song "Little Man" came to my mind as I thought about the 12 decades of generations that had bottled Dr. Pepper in Dublin, Texas. America "grew up" on their watch as they worked to help build America. Again, what are the marketing people thinking at Dr. Pepper?
Sadly, it seems that Jackson's song might hold lyrics that predict the ultimate outcome in this tragedy for Pepper lovers: 

                             " Now the court square
                                    just a set of streets
                                That people go round
                                 but they seldom think
                                 Bout the little man
                                that built this town
                                 Before the big money
                                        shut em down
                                  And killed the little man 
                                    Oh the little man"

We hope that these lyrics do not speak for the future in Dublin and their bottling works, for that would bring a tear to our eyes. Hey, maybe, just maybe, the Dublin Bottling Works can work out a deal to bottle CHEERWINE in Texas! Now that would be a silver lining to this unfortunate situation.

ATOMIC AGE STORM SHELTER DESIGN CREATES SAFE HAVEN IN TORNADO ALLEY TODAY!

Monolithic Solid Concrete Poured Storm Shelter

Working around the mechanical American history that we see daily at VintageFans.com in Fort Worth, we expect everything today to be built to the same strict standards that our fans are. Of course the reality is that most things are not built to last today, but occasionally we are more than able to cheer a product that we encounter that fits the bill of American made and one built as solid as,... well a concrete bunker!


Fort Worth is in what I call the outer bull’s eye of Tornado Alley, referring to Oklahoma City as the pupil. We really are in the same danger zone, but something called the "Mexican Plume" or "Cap" often holds around here and that is a fortunate thing for our area. Our shop is located in North Fort Worth in the "new" area of Fort Worth, in N.E. Tarrant County and a stone’s throw from the Denton County line. We have had our share of scares over the last several years including nearly driving into Fort Worth to drop a package at UPS when the Fort Worth Tornado of March 28th, 2000, was about to descend upon downtown. We didn't go because I stated "it sure is dark that way" at the time not knowing that those clouds truly hid a bear in the woods and thankfully we avoided finding him.

Every year I felt like it was a roll of the dice through spring and each year usually had at least 3 to 4 real chances of experiencing a Tornado sometimes from the dreaded 3 A.M. squall line spin ups with 80 mile per hour bow echoes or an even more dreaded single super cell that just might produce a long lived violent tornado. Every summer the 100 degree days were welcomed at first because they typically put an end to the threat of super cells and their life changing offspring. We survived each spring and entered the summer with the same glee as one who had beat the odds at a Vegas crap shoot. But, in the back of our minds we knew sooner or later, the "house" was going to win and prove that gambling doesn't really pay, especially when your life is the possible wager.

Then came the spring of 2011 and I watched intensely as tornado season unfolded. When April arrived it became clear that this year was going to be different for many folks living in Tornado Alley. This year they would lose loved ones, their towns or even their own lives to a particular vicious storm season. An area known as "Dixie Alley" that incorporates Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Western Georgia showed us why it earned its name many years ago. It is very much a part of "Tornado Alley" having bred many examples of long lived violent tornadoes that have devastated many of the same areas repeatedly in history. As April 27, 2011 arrived we watched in horror a video of a massive mile wide near EF-5 Tornado roll across Crimson Tide country with a heartless fury while exposing horizontal sub vortices’ out of the main circulation described as "tentacles" by some witnesses. Tuscaloosa was only one of the towns that lost many souls that day to the fury of Mother Nature. Other towns with names not so familiar to many, like Hackleburg, Smithville, Harvest, New Hope, Phil Campbell, Ashville, Hueytown, Tanner, and Rainsville, but among several names that echoed a past of devastation that I had read about before while reading Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991 by Thomas P. Grazulis.

Click the highlighted link to see our video of this shelter:  Single Pour Solid Concrete Monolithic Tornado Storm Shelter

A tragic scene unfolded as the media reported numerous cases of multiple victims, many losing their lives and while sometimes entire families perished from trauma inflicted on their bodies. So many of the victims followed the sound advice of TV meteorologist, but the Tornadoes were just too strong to survive above ground in a bathroom or closet. Then came the realization that we were in the same boat, the one named "It never happens here".
This dangerous philosophy had been shattered after I spoke to Mr. Rick Pack in 2010 when he called the shop in a quest for information about antique fans. He told me their fans had been destroyed by the "Lone Grove, OK" tornado. I recognized his name from watching a recent episode of the Weather Channel's "Storm Stories" that featured his ordeal. Mr. Pack graciously described to me what it was like in his shelter in the core of an EF-4 Tornado, which he described as akin to "jet engines reverse thrusting" right over head only magnified 1000 times. He worried that the shelter door would come off even though he had installed tie down straps on the door to secure it better. He gave me sound advice, "Mark, you better get you a tornado shelter". Mr. Pack had constructed his poured concrete shelter after the famous F-5 tornado in 1999 had proved to a new generation of Oklahomans something their ancestor's learned when they settled the Sooner State, tornadoes can easily kill you. I sincerely appreciate Mr. Pack talking with me a couple of times about their experience in the violent killer tornado that completely leveled their home and buildings. I credit his testimony with ultimately helping me settle on a poured concrete underground storm shelter.


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Interior of single pour solid concrete shelter

May 22, 20ll brought Joplin, MO, to every one's attention and before the tremendous loss of life could be reported, NOAA forecasters were warning of potential energy in North Texas and Oklahoma for Tuesday May 24th, 2011. As the event grew closer my anxiety grew and horrific images of Joplin and the tragedy there became clear. Once again, I wondered briefly why so many were killed there and then realized that NOAA issued a PDS tornado watch for our area meaning(Particularly Dangerous Situation) and was once again reminded that we really have no safe place to go in the event of a tornado. I rapidly fired an email off to my nephew living in the Oklahoma City suburb of Yukon, giving him the "heads up today" alarm that I often sent to him on severe weather days in his area. I am not sure how many of us in the Metroplex really know how big the bullet headed for us could have been that day. I watched as independent super cells exploded and prayed that we would survive if a twister headed our way "under the staircase". Thankfully the recipe for disaster was missing that essential ingredient in DFW and the proverbial bullet was once again dodged. Unfortunately, there had been several violent tornadoes that day in Oklahoma including a killer EF-5 that devastated El Reno and Piedmont, Oklahoma and narrowly missed my nephew and niece's home in Yukon.


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"Cellar" in Bellevue,TX where 21 lives were saved from an F-4 Tornado in 1906 

This time was different. I vowed that we would not go through another spring without a storm shelter. I had intensely researched "Significant Tornadoes" and learned that our area has had its share of strong to violent tornadoes over the last 100 years. There is a reason many of the older homes in North Texas had storm "cellars". My wife's hometown is dotted with vintage "shelters" in nearly every back or side yard, some dating back a century and no longer in use. Today most homes in North Texas are built on slabs without a basement. Very similar to the situation that just unfolded in Joplin, Missouri. Many of the people there had done what they were supposed to do, but with no real shelter the EF-5 had proved too strong. Tragically, at least 160 victims paid with their lives. I wondered "are we just plain stubborn now" we see the radar, but have nowhere to go. So now instead of knowing the gun is loaded and having a plan, we can now see the bullet, but it's still headed our way. We are going to have to deal with it one way or another, but the difference is our houses have no shelters. In the old days, many did. And whoever thinks a sheet rock closet held together by Chinese hardware, spruce studs and nails is a good idea needs their head examined. There is nothing substantial, engineering wise, in any of those building products. Anyone who survives a strong tornado in that shelter situation is just plain fortunate.

I had begun researching several shelter options for our situation. This was not an easy task at first, but a common sense approach succeeded. Much more needs to be written on the Internet for consumers of storm shelters. Some of the shelters were crossed off immediately for consideration. Fiberglass, plastic, and anything built above ground were out of the question because in my opinion, you may or may not make it in the worst case scenario and having a storm shelter is about bettering your odds of survival and beating the "house" every time. I realize you can build a concrete structure that will survive the worse of tornadoes above ground, but given the choice, why stay above ground, that's where the missiles are, again, use common sense. I read reports, I looked at photos, I consulted with a friend who has been in the concrete business for over 30 years, a graduate of Texas Tech, who narrowly missed being in the F-5 Lubbock Texas Tornado in 1970. He asked "Mark, have you ever seen firsthand what an F5 tornado can do?" I replied "no, sir" but I have seen pictures. He commented that if he were climbing inside of a precast structure he would want at least 6" of concrete especially on the part above ground. He said if he were building one he would pour a one pour below ground concrete shelter with at least 8" walls, ceiling and floor. Finally, I talked to a very helpful lady named Shannon who represented Tony Green Construction in Mississippi. They had built several monolithic solid construction underground shelters that were in the core paths of two EF-5 Tornadoes in Mississippi and Alabama during the Super Outbreak 2011. One in Hackleburg, Alabama saved 32 people. I was sold on solid concrete and the monolithic design of this particular shelter.


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Rear view of solid concrete poured shelter

Soon I met concrete contractor Danny Roach owner of Security Tornado Shelters PH.903-495-3524 and 903-982-7427. Danny has years of experience pouring concrete commercially. Danny has been building this monolithic style structure for years and he builds them in interior diameters of 6, 8, and 10 feet. Danny is also very likely the best backhoe operator in Texas. His skill allowed him to work in tight confines around our property and he did so expertly missing all of our oaks. Danny explained to me that the entire structure once poured weighed in at 45,000 lbs. for our 8' interior model. It was reinforced with 6x6 concrete wire mesh and the 3500 P.S.I. concrete had large rock in the mix for added strength. The entire structure was poured in one pour and vibrated thoroughly to minimize air pockets. The floor was at least 8" thick with walls between 8.5" to 10" thick. The ceiling is typically between 10" and 12" thick, but our shelter ceiling measured 13" thick at the thickest point on the ceiling. Danny Roach gives you your money's worth and he wants to produce the finest shelter available. Everything on this shelter exceeds FEMA 360 guidelines and the door has passed the Texas Tech air missile 15lb. projectile test. We highly recommend Security Tornado Shelters of Blossom, Texas. Danny Roach and his staff were professional at all times and a pleasure to work with on this important project. Danny Roach and his crew take pride in their work and they painted the shelter inside an out, installed indoor/outdoor carpet and circular benches at no extra cost.


Our shelter had increased cost involved because of the lack of access by the concrete truck and for mileage,food,overtime and hotel rooms for an added day. But, the price was still only around $6000.00 even with the added cost. Some safe rooms are that much or more and you are dependent on those communist made Chinese bolts holding those structures to the slab above ground. If a 250 mph F-5 sends an F-350 at the safe room are you still safe above ground? These are all questions the consumer needs to honestly ask themselves. With a one pour solid concrete underground storm shelter, there are no seams to leak later on and the walls are up to 5" thicker than precast concrete. It's also nearly completely underground and there are no "two halves" dependent on adhesive and bolts that hold the structure together. Unlike steel concrete will not rust. A steel shelter has a limited lifetime simply because it is steel, again common sense logic applied. A monolithic structure is one of the strongest structures in a high wind event. A flat wall will fail long before that of a well-engineered round structure. Our number one advice is to rely on common sense when researching shelters. There is a reason concrete is used so often in commercial buildings which have a much stricter set of guidelines in engineering codes than that of residential structures. Also remember what famed Oklahoma Meteorologist Gary England told those in the path of the Bridge Creek-Moore, Oklahoma (318 MPH) F5 tornado on May 03, 1999. He said "you need to be below ground to survive this storm" which is sound advice in the event of any tornado. For a true lifetime tornado storm shelter that incorporates old school engineering of a monolithic design and reinforced solid concrete in one pour call Danny Roach with Security Tornado Shelters, he can be reached at 903-495-3524 or 903-982-7427. I would love to hear from anyone who would like to share their experience of being in a storm shelter during any significant tornado. Of special interest would be anyone who was in the Super Outbreak 2011 inside one of these monolithic concrete shelters. I can be reached at sales@vintagefans.com and 817-431-6647. Your story may ultimately  save someone's life by educating them about Tornadoes. 

FOR AMERICAN MADE QUALITY, THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOXSTORE!

Authentic 1902 Emerson Electric Antique Ceiling Fan by Vintage Fans™

How often do we hear it? Often is the answer. The question of course is submitted by whoever ask "Where can you buy quality today"? Quality can be found right here in America. Take our fans for instance, who would think that a small company in Fort Worth, Texas produces the finest fans ever made out of the cores of the finest fans ever made? At Vintage Fans™, we strive to do one thing and do it better than it has to be. The reason is because we care about our products, we care about our customers and we care about our country. We also know that there is only one true standard, the Holy Bible, the word of God. We believe in the American way, the old one, not the "change one" we see trying to be installed today. We know what made America and part of that recipe is making products built to last, like the very fans we "re-manufacture" today.  We know about a commitment to the American way that created a standard in manufacturing that was unsurpassed. We respect the generations that actually built America, won the freedom, the ones that understood that there was no free lunch. The ones that defended the freedom against anti-American philosophies such as communism, fascism and socialism. The ones that understood that hard work and success lay hand in hand. The ones that wanted the opportunity to work and the freedom to reach for the American dream, but also understood if you fail you get up and try again. They understood government's place and also understood when it had crossed the lines not specified in the Constitution. They held government and one another accountable for their actions.  They were the greatest generations. They originally built our fans, 50 to 100 years ago in America. Today, we build our fans on the same principles that they did. Our commitment is a complete one to insure that you receive the best American made fan you can buy.

When you buy a vintage fan (ceiling or desk fan) that has been through our process you can know that some of the finest expert craftsmen in America have produced your fan.We build the best because we start with the best. Every fan VintageFans.com builds today starts with a true antique or vintage machine that was made in America when a manufacturer's top priority was to build the best machines ever created and to build them better than the next guy. Back in those days, no one wanted to be excused of building a "cheaply" made fan. So they didn't. Don't believe us? Give us an example of another product that was originally made a century ago that you can use on a daily basis in your home? The fan's quality speak for themselves by the mere fact that most of the younger generation of fans at Vintage Fans™ are approaching 70 years of age. Cheaply engineered products do not last that long. If that were not enough, all of our fully restored fans feature our TRUE LIFETIME MOTOR WARRANTY with regular maintenance. If it fails, we'll repair it in house.

At Vintage Fans™, we adhere to a strict set of standards to create our fans because it is the right thing to do and our standard was set by a much bigger authority than that of Texas or the United States for that matter. Our repeat customers are usually those that simply desire another fan because they admire the quality, engineering and the beauty of our American made machines. Some of them want to own another piece of American History that reminds them of what made America the greatest country on earth and the best of what American engineering is today. We are proud of our fans, both because of the generations that made them what they were 100 years ago and of our dedicated staff that makes them what they are today. So when we are asked next time,"Where can you buy quality today"? we'll humbly answer, "You found it" and that will be a modest answer. At Vintage Fans™ we are doing our part to keep the United States..... American made.

OF VISE AND MEN

THE CHARLES PARKER COMPANY NO.434 1/2 VISE

One of the greatest things about our work is the people we meet and talk to on a daily basis. A primary benefit of these conversations are the personal family histories we hear and how an early American electric fan has become a beloved  mechanical "member" of the family. People fall in love with their heirloom fans because the machines quite literally provided their service faithfully throughout the decades in numerous family members lives. But more importantly, these fans represent the cherished memory of Great Grand Parents, Parents, Uncles and Aunts, and the family gatherings that forever bonded the memory of those folks to the machine. A recent tool purchase reminded us of this and how vintage American engineering enables us to enjoy the use of quality products that are sometimes over 100 years old.

We recently attended a huge antiques festival in South Texas and one of the items on our "lookout" list was a vintage American made vise. We were in need of one for our "tear down" shop that was of a substantial size which allows us to place a whole ceiling fan motor in the jaws and hold it securely. We are no stranger to vintage American made quality. In fact, it is preferred by us. For most tool purchases, we would rather purchase a working or restorable vintage item rather than a new one made by a famous name that use to be  of high quality but today is a shaded facsimile of their former glory days forged, machined, or cast on the continent of Asia by communist labor.

On our first day at the antiques festival, we happened upon a dealer's tent from Illinois that had many items for sale from an old shop. Most of the items dated to the turn of the century and one that caught our attention immediately was a heavy and obviously vintage American made vise. As we surveyed it's condition we could see that it was in very nice condition and it looked to be from the 1930s or 1940s. It was made by the Charles Parker Company of Meridian, CT. ,patented in 1930 and our model is the model 434 and 1/2. The Parker Vise speaks of workmen of the past by its very existence and the substantial American engineering that it embodies. This is a man's vise and one whose history is deeply embedded in American manufacturing. As we further investigated it with the fervor of Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor, it was easy to see that the $90.00 asking price was a bargain. We purchased it and brought it back to our Fort Worth,Texas shop.

1930s Century 60"Ceiling Fan Motor in the Grip of "The Bear", The 1930s-40s ca. Parker Vise

Our own Sam Morgan was thrilled with the "new" vise as he is an antique tool aficionado. Sam appreciates the ingenuity of the early tool makers and often brings tools to the shop for show and tell. He quickly began inspecting the new vise and mentioned that there was literally no wear on the beam. He pointed out the close tolerances used to make the vise a precision machine. A quick search of the Internet taught us that The Charles Parker vise was a very respected vise both then and now. Tool guys love them and many sell for 100s of dollars, re- enforcing what we already knew, that we had received a valuable tool for a bargain price. We also learned that Charles Parker was also the maker of Parker guns and he was quite the industrialist in 19th century America. He created 100s of jobs and his workmen produced a quality product, many of which are in use to this day across the United States.

 As I personally inspected the vise, I could not help but think of my grandfather who we called "Daddy Bob". The stoic ruggedness that embodied him and his generation was evident in the Parker Vise. Daddy Bob and his generation were among the great Americans that built this country with quality machines and defended the freedom when needed without hesitation. They realized what they had here and what made America special. The Parker Vise is a cast iron and steel testament to the quality of their work. A 1920s Parker Vise advertisement, proclaimed it "Gripped like a Bear" which it does and it reminds you of the American generations that were as rugged as a bear, built machiery as tough as bear and when needed they did not hesitate to fight like a bear to protect the American Constitution. What a great people they were and what a need we have to return to their industrious paths.

AMERICAN GARDENING, VINTAGE STYLE WITH AN IRON AGE AMERICAN HERO!





 AMERICAN MADE 1968 GRAVELY C-8 CONVERTIBLE TRACTOR AND ROTARY PLOW ATTACHMENT

 ARE YOU TIRED OF A TILLER THAT WON'T TILL? DO YOU SPEND YOUR GARDENING TIME SKIPPING ACROSS THE SOIL?  END YOUR GARDENING BLUES WITH A VINTAGE GRAVELY TRACTOR, BUT BEWARE THESE ARE NOT YOUR 21st CENTURY VERSION OF A EPA MANDATED, WEAKLING  CHINESE MADE BOX STORE JOKE OF A GARDEN TRACTOR. IT'S A REAL MACHINE MADE WITH MACK TRUCK STYLE GEARS, TIMKEN BEARINGS, CAST IRON AND PITTSBURGH STEEL. VINTAGE GRAVELY TRACTORS HAVE BEEN TURNING AMERICA'S GARDENS SINCE BEN GRAVELY CONCEIVED OF IT'S DESIGN IN 1930S WEST VIRGINIA. THE GRAVELY TRACTOR PLOWED VICTORY GARDENS DURING W.W.II AND ITS INVENTION HELPED FEED AMERICA IN THE DECADES THAT FOLLOWED. THESE MACHINES WERE SO RUGGED THE MILITARY, THE POSTAL SERVICE, STATE AND MUNICIPAL ENTITIES PURCHASED THESE TRACTORS FOR SEVERE DUTY. BRICK MANUFACTURERS USED THEM TO MOVE KILN CARS. COUNTRY CLUBS USED THEM TO RUN GANG REEL MOWERS. SCHOOL DISTRICTS PURCHASED THEM FOR GROUNDS KEEPING. THE CONVERTIBLE DESIGN OF THE GRAVELY TRACTOR ALLOWED FOR THE ADDITION OF OTHER ATTACHMENTS SUCH AS A 30" CIRCULAR MOWER, CIRCULAR SAW, CHAIN SAW, SNOW BLOWER, CULTIVATOR, REEL MOWER, SICKLE MOWER, 40" MOWER, 50" MOWER, WERE AMONG THE NUMEROUS ATTACHMENTS OFFERED THROUGHOUT ITS LONG MANUFACTURE. CAN IT KILL YOU? SURE. YOU ACTUALLY NEED TO HAVE COMMON SENSE AND YOU NEED TO BE RESPONSIBLE TO OPERATE A GRAVELY TRACTOR. BUT IF YOU RESPECT IT, YOUR GRAVELY WILL SERVE YOU UNTIL YOU CAN NO LONGER OPERATE IT BECAUSE OF YOUR OLD AGE. TODAY THESE TRACTORS CAN BE PURCHASED AND REBUILT FOR THE SERIOUS GARDENER, RANCH OR FARM OWNER.  LEARN MORE ABOUT THESE FANTASTIC VINTAGE AMERICAN MADE MACHINES AT  www.gravelytractorclub.org