The art of threshing broom corn

I love fall festivals and I loved the chance to see Quinn Brown’s corn threshing machine at the Half Century of Progress show.

Quinn Brown and his friend KennethAlbert were entrepreneurs during the 1950’s. The two purchased the machine and went into business. Brown is from Greenup, Illinois and said that he and Kenneth Albert a friend from Hidalgo, a town seven miles south of Greenup.

Quinnn Brown explained, “Back in the early 1950’s, my friend Kenneth and I were in our early 20’s and I was farming a little. There was a lot of people growing broom corn in the area, so I started looking for a 4-row planter.”

While looking for the planter Quinn Brown spied the broom corn thresher. “It was just sitting there doing nothing so we bought it and took it home.”

It wasn’t long before they quit raising broom corn in the area and the thresher sat for 50 years out in the elements until Ken and his nephew Dale Carter helped him restore it so he could set up at shows like the Half Century.