Staff photo / Mason Cole .... Shawn Watson of Homeworth said that he loves to take restored Isaly's milk truck to the Canfield Fair.

CANFIELD — Walking past the “Antique Tractors and Stationary Engines” tent in the northeast corner of the 177th Canfield Fair, the large red hunk of metal that New Middletown resident Robert Jacobs tinkered with would be a mystery to most.

The machine, labeled “Economy,” is an antique Sears Roebuck & Co. hit-and-miss engine. Jacobs explained on Wednesday that the engine was ordered from a catalog and shipped to a farm in Beaver, Pa., in 1916. He said he was able to acquire the engine to add to his collection, pieces of which have been displayed at the fair since 1976.

While hit-and-miss engines have not been produced widely for nearly

a century, Jacobs knew how to get the machine running as if it were new.

“I’ve been exposed to these since I was an infant,” Jacobs said.

“I was on the farm; that is

where I grew up. I’ve been exposed to these, cement mixers and all that type of stuff for years.”

Jacobs’ hit-and-miss engine is one of approximately 500 antique pieces fair visitors are able to explore. The antique tent will be open throughout the fair, which runs through Monday.

Dave Mannion, the fair’s director of antique equipment, said along with the hit-and-miss engines, this year’s collection includes tractors, bulldozers, bicycles, lanterns and more.

“It’s very popular,” Mannion said. “The people that come through here come through every single year.”

Many of the people who show their antique equipment at the fair have done so for decades and know everyone else who will be at the tent. Mannion said some of the pieces, especially the hit-and-miss engines, have been passed down through several generations, and that the display is always a family affair.

AMERICAN HISTORY

Shawn Watson of Homeworth said he has been volunteering at the antique tent for 43 years. He said he showed up at the gate of the 1980 Canfield Fair in a Ford Model-T truck. He said the staff showed him where to put his equipment, and he feels as though he has not left since.

Wastson said he feels the display at the fair has grown increasingly important over the years. He said every antique at the fair is a piece of American history, and that it is important for younger generations to understand what role the items played for the country.

“The young people are not going to have a clue about the past,” Watson said. “We are here to educate people about the machines and items of yesteryear. Our section here, in just this part of the (tent), we always get different things in here that will be of interest, like the Coleman lantern display. We have Coleman stuff that dates back to the early 1900s. There are people who don’t realize how far back that all went.”

GEMS ON DISPLAY

One of Watson’s favorite exhibits at this year’s fair is a series of pedal cars. The small cars, most of which were made in the mid-1900s, had no floor, allowing children to pedal around with their feet on the ground. Watson said that most kids today would not know that pedal cars existed outside of “The Flintstones” cartoon series.

“These kids today don’t fathom sitting in that little car,” Watson said. “These things were the best things in the world.”

Another gem that Watson has on display is a restored 1966 Divco delivery truck with “Isaly’s” on its side. Watson said he acquired the truck 15 years ago from a man living in Austintown who had worked for Isaly’s Dairy, which had about 130 stores in its heyday in the Greater Youngstown market.

Watson said that the milk truck is always a popular piece when displayed. He said people will frequently tell him about when they would have their milk delivered from similar Isaly’s trucks every morning.

“I got people to pull up memories that they had forgotten about,” Watson said. “That’s what this is all about.”

Most of the equipment shown is for display only. While people like Jacobs can still get his hit-and-miss engines to run, he said that he only has one that he still uses to split firewood.

Jacobs said that for the most part, he enjoys maintaining and displaying his antique equipment for the connection to his personal past.

“It’s soothing, it really is,” Jacobs said. “It’s a wonderful thing. I have a lot of fun doing it. I like to show people, when I can. There are carts that these go on, and this is what I do.”

mcole@tribtoday.com