As you might expect from a retired farmer, my dad's favorite pastime is visiting about the good old days of farming. A few weeks ago, I took him information on John Deere's history, which he enjoyed.
Now he and I have moved on to the International Harvester Company. Because he didn't farm with them, Dad's not as familiar with it. Although the title is a real downer - A Corporate Tragedy (338.7 MAR) - author Barbara Marsh does a thorough job of explaining the history.
The author begins the story in 1831, when Cyrus McCormick developed and patented a plow. This is the same guy who is well-known for his reaper, which he developed a few years later. In 1902, several companies merged to form the company the International Harvester Company, the world's largest farm machinery conglomerate. The two major companies were McCormick and Deering, an earlier competitor with overseas operations. Harvester had sales of $101.2 million in 1910. The company was already into tractor selling. They had an agreement with another company to manufacture one-cylinder tractors for them. The Famous Farmall tractor first came off their assembly line in 1924. In fact the first Farmall tractor was sold to an Iowa farmer. It was manufactured to compete against Ford, who was the leader in tractor sales at the time. In the 1950s, there was increased competition with Deere and Massey-Ferguson for the farmers' money. The company fell on hard times during the 1970s and '80s. Trying to stay out of bankruptcy was a real challenge for a company. Several of the executives during this time blamed the financial problems on the union. The author also makes the claim that the company had overextended its product line, trying to be involved in too many projects at one time.
If you're thinking of checking out A Corporate Tragedy right now, you'll have to wait. Dad and I are still using the book to discuss the International Harvester Company, a company that's heavily involved with the history of farming.
c Waterloo Public Library 2008
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