812-Lancaater Fanning, Saturday, February 20, 1999
Deb Donado, a New Holland advertising production specialist, displays her col
lection of Corn Classic and Commodity Classic trade show posters. She has a mint
copy of every poster in the series.
Whimsical Posters Spark
One-Of-A-Kind Collection
NEW HOLLAND (Lancaster
Co.) The walls of New
Holland’s external communica
tions department are dotted
with the bold, colorful posters
the department designs and pro
duces to promote New Holland’s
line of agricultural and con
struction equipment. But in the
office of Deb Donado, an adver
tising production specialist in
the department, there is a col
lection of posters of a totally dif
ferent nature. In these posters,
cartoon corn and soybean char
acters fly down ski slopes, sun
bathe on the beach, and ride in a
sports car.
The series of whimsical
posters, produced for the
National Corn Growers’
Association and the American
Soybean Association to advertise
the groups’ annual Commodity
Classic convention and trade
show, has been printed courtesy
of New Holland for the past
decade. Donado has been the
printing coordinator for each
one. Only 500 of these posters
are printed annually, and she
has a mint edition of each one
hanging in her office. Only
Donado, the National Corn
Growers’Association, and one or
two of their state associations
has the complete set.
“I started displaying them in
my office because they are really
different from the product
posters we print,” said Donado.
“When I hung up the first one,
little did I know that I would be
starting a collection! I didn’t
plan it. It just kind of grew.”
Donade has been a collector
since age 8. She says she still
has her childhood stamp collec
tion as well as a group of
antique and unusual postcards,
and an extensive collection of
boxer mugs, figurines and T
shirts, reflecting her love of her
three boxer dogs.
h My in"* s ■>*
The poster series that
Donado has collected was origi
nally designed by an advertising
agency to promote the National
Corn Growers’ Association’s
Corn Classic trade show. The
show is held in a different city
each year, and the theme of the
poster mirrors the unique char
acteristics of the site.
The first poster in the series,
produced in 1990 to advertise
the event in Phoenix, Arizona, is
one of Donado’s favorites. It
shows a field of happy corn char
acters with huge, white cowboy
hats and sunglasses. Later
posters show the corn characters
“jazzing it up” in Kansas City,
Missouri, sunbathing in
Orlando, Florida, dressed as
caballeros in San Antonio,
Texas, skiing in Denver,
Colorado, and belting out a tune
in Nashville, Tennessee, at the
“Grand Old Corn Classic.”
In 1996, a soybean figure was
added when the National Corn
Growers’ Association and
American Soybean Association
combined their individual trade
shows to create the Commodity
Classic show. In 1998, more
than 3,700 people attended the
show.
“We are trying to make this
the premiere event for corn and
soybean growers,” said Peggy
Findley, of the National Corn
Growers’ Association. “We use
the show to provide the growers
with the latest information,
knowledge and tools to increase
the profit of their operation.”
The poster for the first
Where's your mustache? “
- ' I
* V
Commodity Classic show, held in
Phoenix that year, heralded the
organizations’ united effort with
the headline: “How the West
was One.”
This year, New Holland han
dled not only the printing, but
also the actual graphic design of
the poster. The poster, which
advertised the 1999 Commodity
Classic show in Albuquerque,
New Mexico, shows the corn and
soybean characters merrily zip
ping along the region’s famous
Route 66 in a convertible. Other
notable Albuquerque land
marks, including mountains, a
hot air balloon, and cable car,
appear in the background, the
design of the poster is the graph
ic theme for the entire show, and
is also featured on postcards,
magazine ads, T-shirts and
other items used to promote the
event.
“New Holland plays a very
active role, not just as an
exhibitor in the trade show, -
but also in promoting the con
vention,” says Laura Deters, of
the American Soybean
Association. “Every year, they’ve
worked on the promotion and
spbnsored the show’s media
reception and media room.
Other companies help sponsor
the Commodity Classic, too, but
what New Holland has done on
a year-to-year basis is really
unique.”
The 1999 Commodity Classy
Show began February 18 to 20
at the Albuquerque Convention
Center in Albuquerque, New
Mexico.
MILK
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RD 1, Box 255 A
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BHM Farm
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RD 1, Rte. 934
717-867-2211
Carlisle
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35 East Willow Street
717-243-2686
lizabethtown. PA
Messick Farm
Equipment, Inc,
Rt. 283 - Rheem’s
Exit
717-367-1319
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400 North Antrim Way
717-597-2176
Halifax. PA
Sweigard Bros
R.D. 3, Box 13
717-896-3414
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Frederick. MD
Ceresville Ford New Holland, Inc
Rt. 26 East 301-662-4197
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Antietam Ford Tractor, Inc
2027 Leitersburg Pike
800-553-6731
301-791-1200
Rising Sun. MD
Ag Industrial Equipment
Route 1,50 N. Greenmont Rd.
1-800-442-5043
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Leslie G. Fogg, Smith Tractor &
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Canton & Stow Creek 15 Hillcrest Ave.
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609-451-2727
609-935-5145
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Hone l
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717-734-3682
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717-789-3117
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110 South Railroad
717-354-4191
Oley. PA
C.J. Wonsidler
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R.D. 2
610-987-6257
Schreffler
Equipment
Pitman, PA
717-648-1120
Tamaqua. PA
Charles S.
Snyder, Inc.
R.D. 3
717-386-5945
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Son, Inc.
352 N. Jennersville Rd.
610-869-2214
1-800-869-9029
Woodstown,
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Broad Street &
East Avenue
609-769-0308