National Farm Toy Show at Dyersville
The National Farm Toy Show at Dyersville, Iowa is already in the rear view mirror, hard to believe. The 2020 show was not like any before! It was held all in one building, in the former All American Homes building. It was so strange not to enter Beckman Highschool and cruise up and down the halls! I must say though, that overall, it was still a good show.
The weather was marvelous! With temperatures more like spring and in the 70’s, those set up outside of the National Farm Toy Museum had the perfect set up. It was easy to go through tents and enjoy the vendors and wares. It was not near as crowded as usual which in its own way was enjoyable since no one really wanted to be crowded these days.
Inside vendors in Dyersville
Toy Farmer did a great job choosing the All American Homes building. There were wide halls and the building was huge. Was there as much to see? No. Was the lighting as good? No. But overall, it was still a success.
Besides the vendors in the “big” building, there were also farm layouts set up in the National Farm Toy Museum. My favorite was Tyler Scott Hook who was a first-place winner in his category this past February in St. Louis. At the Mid-America Farm Show he was a big winner and it was true in Dyersville again. Tyler, a college student, is a research guru and was set up with the Savage Harvester combine and his beautiful Baldwin Gleaner and the accompanying history and research.
Outside vendors in Dyersville
We were surprised by the amount of vendors around Dyersville Commercial Park and those near the museum were prevalent as well. Vendor Rick Frederickson was set up in the same tent as Girard Auction. He said it all when he said, “The weather has been good, and all things said, from our perspective, I think everyone is happy that something resembling normal is going on.”
The museum
Amanda Schwartz, Director of the National Farm Toy Museum located in Dyersville shared that they have been busy bees. She showed me the updates in the museum where they have been working on 100 Years of the Nebraska Tractor Law. They are also celebrating 75 years of Ertl! The displays are awesome. My favorite toy of the whole show was the /16th scale Oliver Test Car that was scratch built by Gene Ficken of Independence, Iowa! That display is amazing!
The show in Dyersville was smaller and could be seen in a lot less time. But for a man just out of the fields and two people who have been home, home, home, it was a great socially distanced getaway doing something we love.
