Clarence Wilson brought In
ternational Harvester, along with
another implement line, to the
town of Kimberton in 1924. It took
Wilson only a few years to drop the
competing line, in order to devote
more time to his increasing I.H.
business, resulting in the firm’s
first expansion in the mid-1930’5.
During the latter part of this
same decade Wilson took his two
sons, Clarence P., and Howard
Wilson, took the business, resulting
m a three-way partnership that
lasted until the elder Wilson’s
death in December, 1946.
With the two brothers now in
control, the business facilities
were once again expanded in 1947,
resulting in a more spacious
showroom and enlarged shop area.
Though none of the firm’s four
employees have spent as much
time there as the Wilson brothers,
the company’s personnel can
hardly be considered short on
experience, with Parts Manager,
Leonard Shaner, and Bookkeeper,
Barbara Yiaski accounting for a
total of 54 years with the dealer
ship.
MUST
ONE OF A KIND
NEW m EQUIPMENT
• 3288 Tractor
• 684 Int. Tractor
• 720 5 F-18” Plow
• 450 V* Plow
• 5507 Trailing Chisel Plow, 11 ft
• 5507 Trailing Chisel Plow, 7 ft
• 425 Baler
• 510 Grain Drill 13x7 with grass Seedbox
• 800 Planter, Plate 4 Row with Fert. & Granular
Chem. Attach
• 56 Planter Demonstrator 4 Row With Fert
& Granular Chem. Attach
m
INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER
CLARENCE WILSON & SONS
Clarence Wilson & Sons meets challenges
As well as handling I.H.’s line of
agricultural and lawn and garden
equipment, Clarence Wilson &
Sons also handles RCA appliances,
a part of their business dating back
to the late 1940’s when In
ternational began marketing
refrigerators, home freezers, and
air conditioners.
Detecting a gradual loss of the
area’s farmland to development
following World War 11, the firm
elected to diversify in an effort to
lessen the impact of a possible
decline in the agricultural market.
And even though International
eventually decided to sell their
appliance business to RCA, Wilson
continued dealing in appliances
under the new name.
With the dramatic rise in
development during the 1960’s and
‘7o’s, what the Wilson brothers had
predicted for the post-war era has
indeed become well-documented
history.
Today Howard Wilson reports
that the emphasis at Clarence
Wilson & Sons has shifted from
agricultural implements to 'H''-
line of Outdoor Power Prod j i t
Kimberton, PA 19442
(215)933-3581
of changing economy
*25,295.00
*14,845.00
*7,195.00
*3,985.00
*3.479.00
*2,479.00
*4,495.00
*3,785.00
*7,470.00
*3,985.00
McCormick
Deermg ,”l
No 7 I
Two-Horse \ '
Mower |
/ y
Clarence Wilson and Sons reports that the emphasis has shifted from International's
Ag line to Outdoor Power Products, at their Kimberton, PA dealership.
Revolution
(Continued from Page 26)
and gun parts, artillery shells, and
other tools of war The Company
contracted to operate government
owned factories and parts depots.
The material of motorized warfare
replaced tools and power for food
production
As the war continued, the great
need for farm tractors and
machines was again realized by
government authorities, and In
ternational Harvester was per
mitted to produce units for
distribution where needed most.
Thus the International Harvester
Company built and shipped
equipment for both the fighting
front and the home front.
Postwar
Decision
Restrictions of the manufacture
of civilian good during the early
years of World War II produced an
unprecedented postwar demand
for motor trucks, construction
equipment, and farm equipment
Also, many thousands of young
men who had operated In
ternational Harvester’s motorized
equipment in military service
came home determined to let
power and machines do more and
more of their work.
Matched against this demand
were the International Harvester
Company manufacturing facilities
grown greater and greater to meet
military needs. The decision had to
be made whether the Company
would scale down to prewar needs
or reconvert for greater civilian
production than ever before.
Formation of International
Harvester Company
Early in the forties, the Com
pany’s management recognized
the need for major reorganization
of a corporate structure that had
remained virtually unchanged
since the tune of the merger in
1902. To make sure that proper
attention would be given to the
design, manufacture, and sale of
each of the product lines, it was
decided that separate divisions,
each responsible for a single group
of products, should be established.
The Company’s seven divisions-
Construction Equipment Division,
Supplement to Lancaster Farming, seturoey, wmiwry w~, ijs=T=g
The Hough Division, Farm
Equipment Division, Fiber and
Twine Division, Motor Truck
Division, Solar Division, and
Wisconsin Steel Division that are
responsible for the International
Harvester Company’s nation-wide
operations for the result of this
decision.
The Company continued with
unabated vigor in the introduction
of new and improved farm tractors
and implements It brought out
complete new lines of Farmall
tractors designed for the
requirements of postwar
American farming. Many new
features were made available for
these new tractors. New two and
three-point Fast-Hitch devices
provided for rapid attachment and
detachment of a wide variety of
direct-mounted and semi-mounted
implements. The International
Harvester developed Torque
Amplifier made it possible to
double the number of tractor
speeds and instantly change gear
ntios without shifting gears or
stopping the tractor. In 1965 In
ternational Harvester introduced
Hydrostatic Drive, the drive
system of the future that provides
an infinite variety of speeds
through a simplified drive
mechanism.
Postwar development of In
ternational Harvester’s farm
implements offered the farmer a
greatly increased variety of new
and more efficient machines-many
of them of larger, multi-row
design. Among the many new
machines introduced were new
plows, tillage equipment, planters,
cotton pickers, beet harvesters,
hay balers, and combines.
Valuable additions to the combine
line were units for the picking and
field shelling corn. Two, three, and
four-row corn heads, mounted
directly on the basic combine,
permit two harvester operations at
one and the same time.
The Farm Equipment Division,
the oldest part of the International
Harvester Company, underwent a
major reshaping in the postwar
years. Early in its history, farm
machines were largely animal
powered and were built in factories
adapted to smaller units. Having in
mind the rapidly developing
(Turn to Page 31)