The name “Old Trusty” has been part of Clay Center’s history for more than a century, beginning not with an antique tractor or steam engine, but with an incubator and a family dog.
In 1901, Clay Center businessman M.M. Johnson was searching for a name for his newly designed incubator. According to the history preserved by the Old Trusty Antique Engine and Collectors Show, Johnson was discussing possibilities with family and friends when the family’s Great Dane, Trusty, came around the corner. Johnson’s wife suggested calling the incubator “Old Trusty,” saying it was a product that could stand on its record.
The name became connected to several products made or sold through the Johnson family’s businesses, and by 1924, more than 1 million incubators had been manufactured.
The Clay County Historical Society revived the familiar name in 1983 when it held the first Old Trusty Antique Engine and Collectors Show. The event was created to support the continued growth of the Clay County Museum and increase awareness of Clay County’s past.
That tradition will continue Sept. 12 and 13 when the 44th annual Old Trusty Antique Engine and Collectors Show returns to the Clay County Fairgrounds.
Sponsored by the Clay County Historical Society, the two-day event will feature antique tractors and farm equipment, gas engines, cars and trucks, military displays, tractor pulls, flea market vendors, a quilt show and demonstrations of the work that once shaped daily life across rural Nebraska.
This year’s featured equipment includes Massey-Harris, Ford, Fordson and Ferguson tractors, along with Massey-Harris engines. Equipment from other manufacturers will also be displayed throughout the grounds.
Before the weekend show begins, participants in the annual Old Trusty Tractor Drive will travel from Clay Center to Harvard Friday, Sept. 11, as part of the 20th anniversary commemoration of Harvard’s Veterans Wall. The tractors will leave the Clay County Fairgrounds at 2 p.m. and parade down Harvard’s Main Street from approximately 2:45 to 3:15 p.m. The route will also include the nursing and assisted living facility, the Harvard Museum and the former Harvard Army Air Field.
The show will open Saturday at 8 a.m. following the raising of the flag. The food stand will open to the public at 6:30 a.m.
Saturday’s scheduled events include draft horse and mule teams in front of the grandstand at 9:30 a.m., ensilage chopping and corn shelling at 10 a.m. and a parade honoring the show’s grand marshals at 1 p.m.
Several activities are scheduled for 2:30 p.m., including threshing and straw baling, farming with horses, a stock antique tractor pull for tractors built in 1959 or earlier and a pedal tractor pull for children age 12 and younger.
The show will resume Sunday with breakfast at the food stand from 6:30 to 9 a.m. Displays and flea market booths will open following the 8 a.m. flag raising. A church service will be held under the shade tree at 9 a.m., followed by ensilage chopping and corn shelling at 10 a.m.
The Harvard Community Club will serve a country pork barbecue at 11:30 a.m. near the west end of the grandstand arena. Sunday’s parade will begin at 1 p.m.
Threshing, straw baling, the children’s pedal tractor pull and an open antique tractor pull for tractors built in 1959 or earlier will begin at 2:30 p.m. The show will close at 5 p.m.
From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, visitors may tour the quilt show, ride the free Old Trusty shuttle and see “Big Allis” inside the Old Trusty Ag Hall. Living history demonstrations are also scheduled Saturday.
Big Allis is an Allis-Chalmers Corliss-type stationary steam engine with a 14-foot flywheel. The engine once powered the electrical system at the former Ingleside State Hospital near Hastings. It is now displayed among the antique tractors, engines, vehicles, fire equipment and blacksmithing tools preserved inside the Ag Hall.
Admission is $10 per day for adults and $1 per day for children ages 6 through 12. Children age 5 and younger are admitted free.
Camping is available on the grounds for $20 per day. A limited number of electrical hookups are available for an additional $5 per day. Showers and restrooms are available at the fairgrounds, and RV dump facilities are available in Clay Center.
More information and the complete schedule are available at oldtrustyshow.org.
