Once a year, in a small town outside Chicago, a group of people (link to Facebook page below) get together to show off the machines our forefathers used to work the land and put food on the table. Much of this equipment has gone through a rigorous and very expensive restoration. In talking to one of the owners there he told me that the entry level price on one of these beauties is in the $100k range. That was for one that still needed to be restored. The restoration process on these is incredibly time consuming and many of the parts have to be made one-off because, unlike the car sitting in your driveway, you can’t run down to Autozone and pick up a new part.

We’ve made every effort to make it to this every year. The smells, sights, and sounds make this a must see for any Chicagoan. I want my children to experience this just as I did when I was their age. We often eat a loaf of bread and have no idea where it came from and the work that went in to delivering it to the store. It’s a shame that we as a population have become so disconnected from the food we eat.

https://www.facebook.com/Nispc