Farmers Supply Train Layout Photographs

e*Train Issue: Jan 2019 | Posted in: TCA Adventures

Ca. 1949 showing the popularity and draw of toy trains!

By John Krill, TCA#76-9310 Winter 2019

In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a favorite place to go to see toy trains in the mid-twentieth century was the Farmers Supply Company. A series of twenty-two photographs of these layouts are now housed at the Train Collectors Association’s National Toy Train Library (NTTL), Strasburg, PA. The photographs span the years 1946 to 1955. The history of the train layouts and photographs was gathered by myself, a former National Toy Train Library Committee member, and the article through an interview with Farmer Supply founder Lloyd Groff.

In 1992, representing the Library, I met with Groff who kindly lent his collection of Farmers Supply train layout photographs. These were re-photographed with the originals returned to Groff. The duplicate photographs are now housed in the NTTL.

Lloyd Groff and John E. McGrann started the Farmers Supply Company in 1934 at 137 East King Street. At that point in time they primarily sold field and garden seed and chicks. Later, they sold toys on the second floor. Beginning in 1940, Groff developed a competitive marketing ploy to attract customers from the Watt & Shand Department Store which was located a block and a half away. Watt & Shand had Santa Claus visit. Farmers Supply countered this with a Christmas toy train layout. A large room on the second floor was cleared out for work on the layout.

Ca. 1952, The layouts became more complex with time.

Each year, a new layout was made showcasing the latest in toy train products. This work often began in September. John Felsinger was responsible for most – if not all – of the layouts during their over twenty-year history. Included in one of the photographs is John Felsinger with his children.

Ca. 1955 The layouts got bigger with time paralleling the growth of Plasticville!

The last layout was set up about 1963, the year that Farmers Supply moved to a new location on East Fulton Street.

Contact the NTTL librarian, Lori Nyce, to see the photographs. Thumb–nail images are available on the TCA website’s online catalogue for the library. The quick link to the photograph collection is: https://traincollectors.pastperfectonline.com/photo. The easiest way to locate them is using the photographs’ accession number P1992.71* or the collection’s title “Farmers Supply.” Contact information for the Library is: Phone: 717 687-8623 x 108,
Email: [email protected]

Shop Amazon and Help TCA

TCA members who shop at Amazon.com can have each of their normal purchases generate a modest payment to TCA! And it won’t cost you anything!

The Train Collectors Association is now a participant with AmazonSmile, which is a special website operated by Amazon that lets customers enjoy the same wide selection of products, low prices and convenient shopping features as on Amazon.com.

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The process is simple. Just search for and select Train Collectors Association when you sign up and shop at smile.amazon.com.

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Note that if you just log in to the regular amazon.com, this benefit does not operate.

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* Note: TCA is not a party to any of your Amazon transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors.

Helping TCA with your ebay purchases when you use PayPal

If you’re an ebay user and have a PayPal account you use to make payments, you can designate a donation for TCA when you’re checking out — any amount, small or large.
If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can pre-designate a percentage of your sales to be donated automatically in your name to TCA as long as the purchaser pays with their PayPal account.

In both cases, you will receive a donation receipt from the PayPal Giving Fund, and enjoy applicable tax advantages.

How to do it:

Click on the image above, or use this link. This will take you to ebay, where you will see the following page (log in to ebay if you are not already):

This offers TCA as an option. Click on the “Add to My Charities” button where indicated with the red arrow. Thereafter, when you make a purchase, at checkout you will be offered the option to make a donation to TCA in any amount of your choosing. Small amounts add up, larger ones are great! It’s always up to you!

The option will appear at the lower part of your checkout page, something like this:

If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can allocate a portion of your sales proceeds to be donated to TCA. Look at the green arrow marked “Optional” above to see how to do it. Details on how ebay calculates the donation may be read here. This is a wonderful way to share the financial benefits of your hobby with the organization that promotes it!

An added benefit to TCA is that these donations are not subject to normal processing fees, so that makes your donation work harder!

* Note. TCA is not a party to any of your eBay transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors. PayPal issues the receipts to you for your donation, not TCA.

Farmers Supply Train Layout Photographs

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