By ANN ALLEN
Indiana Correspondent BOURBON, Ind. — It’s difficult to pinpoint the dividing line between Norm’s Farm and Garden and Norm’s Toys because the two business happily commingle in a shop located at 212 S. Main Street.
It is so crowded only Norman Steinman and his companion/helpmate, Barbara Reece, know exactly where anything is located.
Devoted to Allis Chalmers new and used parts, toys, service manuals and collectibles such as A-C Christmas tree lights, mailboxes and assorted other memorabilia, the shop also sells Wheel Horse parts and decals.
An advertising sign out front, changed on a regular basis, currently touts the business as Bourbon’s Allis Chalmers Wally World.
Allis Chalmers collectors seeking parts and/or camaraderie regularly use a side entrance marked with a bright orange warning,
“Allis Chalmers parking only. Violators will be plowed under.”
Once inside, they find other signs, such as “Treat this tractor like another man’s wife. Look at and admire but Do Not Touch,” intermingled with parts, trophies from past events, a jumble of thermometers, carburetor kits and miscellaneous items relating to the line of tractors manufactured from 1914 to 1985.
“Whatever anyone wants, from manifolds to rims, water pumps to steering wheels, we probably have it,” said Steinman.
Now 77 with no plans for retirement, he developed a fondness for Allis Chalmers equipment in 1947 while farming with his father.
“Our tractor blew up,” he recalled, “and Dad went to an implement dealer here in town and ordered a new one. They told him tractors were hard to get, and he told them that he would go elsewhere and look at an Allis Chalmers. ‘The first dealer to get me a tractor gets the sale,’ he told them.”
As a result, the Steinmans soon found themselves farming with a 1947 Allis Chalmers, which Norm still has. After that, they used nothing else.
“I quit farming in 1967,” Steinman recalled. “I opened this shop in 1971 and have been doing business here ever since.”
Steinman’s e-mail address is norm@normstoys.com
Parts and novelties are listed at www.normstoys.com |
