HomeMy WebLinkAboutRobert Loveless Allis ChalmersAllis Chalmers C by Robert Lovelace, formerly of Breezy Corners Farms, Enfield, New York
This tractor was purchased by my grandfather, (Ralph Andrew Lovelace Sr.) with steel wheels in 1943. It came that way because of the rationing of rubber (among other things) during WW
II. His ability to get this tractor was through a lottery system. Shortages were handled in each state by individual counties. New farm machinery was included in this rationing system.
Claude Wickard, the Agriculture Secretary, set up this system in 1942 which continued for two years. Depending on what a county had, a rationing committee or war production board, the
vicinity reviewed applications and decided by drawing names from a pool of candidates, allowing them to purchase said machinery or tractors. Because so many manufacturers had cut down
their agriculture production, or gone to only military manufacture, 1943 has been seen to be the most restrictive environment for agricultural production in the WW II era in the United
States. In reality, farmers applied for equipment, and hoped against hope their name would be chosen, (Mercier 2021, Moore 2002). Moore cites an April 1943 Farm Implement News article
that states, "The greatest obstacle to the production of more (farm) equipment at this time is the inability of the manufacturers to obtain the raw materials required to fabricate machinery."
This was the truth even though this type of machinery was given an "AA-1 priority rating." The War Production Board of the time set limitations, for example: 1942 quotas were set to
only 20% of farm equipment manufacturers based on 1940 or 1941 sales, the decider going to the highest production year, (Moore, 2002). In 1943 such quotas of production were based on
80 % of previous sales, but again, supply dictated output, not demand of the nation's farmers longing for new tractors and implements.
My family has an 8 X 10 photograph taken of Ralph Sr. driving the Allis C, with mostly bald or bald tires, and Ralph Jr. standing on the side of the equipment on a platform, bagging
the seed coming out of the Allis Chalmers combine. Given that Ralph Jr was born in 1933, the undated photograph looks to be from the mid to late 1940s when Ralph Jr. would have been
12 to 17 years of age. This one plow tractor was used with a short sickle bar mower that was 6 feet long if my recollection is accurate, it was a side mounted mower. I remember Ralph
Sr and my father, Ralph Jr using this tractor to mow areas that had difficult access problems. It was also a great tool to use the windrower, turning over hay for baling, with, of course,
the Allis Chalmers Roto Baler to capture the harvest. I recall being sat on this tractor to do some raking. It was an introduction to spatial relationships as I attempted to combine
two windrows of hay into one that the baler could handle. My mother was allowed to do this one time as I recall. My mother wanted to be a hands-on farmer with my father, but, but Ralph
Jr. was not of that bent in the late 1950s and 1960s. I believe if she could have been more involved it would have contributed to the emotional and vocational union of my parents, that
may have contributed to their continued union, rather than the beginning of the demise of their 15 year marriage in 1972.
Sources
Mercier, S. (2021, April 07). Agriculture during Wartime: The Ingenuity of American Farmers During World War II. Farm Journal, AG Web.
Moore, S. (2002, August 1). The War Effort: WWII Quotas Cut Farm Machinery Supplies. Farm Collector.