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Most everybody even loosely connected to the vintage John Deere Tractor hobby, or mildly familiar with the history of Deere & Company, knows about that First Steel Plow created way back in 1837. John Deere was 33, and his blacksmith shop was located at Grand Detour, Illinois. At the same time, about 200 miles to the south, a successful 28-year-old circuit-riding lawyer by the name of Abe Lincoln was beginning to attract attention in the Illinois State Legislature.
Nobody knows, for sure, the exact day that John Deere finished and demonstrated his steel plow. That gap in the details of history needed to be closed, as Deere & Company officials began to plan for the 100th Anniversary of the event. On what date would the Centennial officially take place?
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The Centennial Celebration at Waterloo was quite an event. As can be seen from the newspaper article that appeared on the first page of Section Two of the Sunday, April 18, 1937, edition of the Waterloo Courier, a five-day John Deere Show was scheduled to take place at the Cattle Congress Hippodrome, beginning Tuesday, April 20, “when the John Deere organization commemorates the Centennial of John Deere’s first self-scouring steel plow.” |
Consideration was given to the known history of the event, and to the likely tillage season of the region. After considerable discussion and contemplation, Tuesday, April 20, 1937, was selected. Announcement of the Centennial year had already taken place in January of 1937, with the Farm Implement News devoting much of its highly collectible January 14 issue to the subject. Now, with a specific date in 1937 being named, plans for celebration activities could be made. One of these plans was for an open house of the John Deere Tractor Works at Waterloo.
It was “production as usual” that day, despite the many hundreds of visitors who toured the plant. By the end of the day, 281 new tractors had been officially completed; i.e., entered into inventory, a function that we simply describe today as “built.”
About one-fifth of them, 55 in number, were shipped out that same day. The next day, on April 21, another 184 of the Centennial Tractors hit the road to destinations from coast to coast and into Canada. Most of the rest of the tractors were shipped within a few days, but a few hung around awhile longer. The last of the Centennial Tractors to leave the plant was “AO” Streamlined serial number 1338, headed for Valdosta, Georgia, on August 13, 1937.
It has been 70 years since all of this happened, and there is no better time to reveal the identity of the 281 Centennial Tractors. The following listings are headed by the tractor model series, and then the serial number and specific configuration of each tractor is shown. Given the long life of John Deere Tractors, and the reluctance of many owners to part with a world-recognized piece of agricultural history, it’s likely that several of these tractors still exist. For those that do, the notation of “Centennial Tractor” will be included on future Tractor Serial Number Researches.
John Deere Centennial Tractors — Build Completed on April 20, 1937 |
Model “A” Series
General-Purpose Tractors
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Model “A” Series
General-Purpose Tractors
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Model “AO”
Streamlined Tractors
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Model “B” Series
General-Purpose Tractors
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Model “D” Series
Tractors
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Serial No. & Model |
Serial No. & Model
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Serial No. & Model
|
Serial No. & Model
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Serial No. & Model
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454301 “AN”
454347 “A”
454351 “A”
454361 “A”
454382 “A”
454383 “A”
454404 “A”
454422 “A”
454425 “A”
454431 “A”
454502 “A”
454508 “A”
454510 “A”
454515 “A”
454549 “A”
454554 “A”
454559 “A”
454562 “A”
454568 “A”
454569 “A”
454576 “A”
454580 “A”
454585 “A”
454586 “A”
454588 “A”
454592 “A”
454594 “A”
454604 “A”
454605 “A”
454606 “A”
454608 “A”
454610 “A”
454611 “A”
454612 “A”
454613 “A”
454617 “A”
454618 “A”
454619 “A”
454622 “A”
454624 “A”
454625 “A”
454626 “A”
454627 “A”
454628 “A”
454629 “A”
454633 “A”
454634 “A”
454635 “A”
454637 “A”
454638 “A”
454641 “A”
454646 “A”
454648 “A”
454649 “A”
454650 “A”
454651 “A”
454652 “A”
454656 “A”
454657 “A”
454658 “A”
454659 “A”
454661 “A”
454662 “A”
454666 “A”
454668 “A”
454669 “A”
454671 “A”
454672 “A”
454673 “A”
454674 “A”
454677 “A”
454678 “A” |
454680 “A”
454681 “A”
454683 “A”
454686 “A”
454687 “A”
454688 “A”
454691 “A”
454692 “A”
454693 “A”
454694 “A”
454695 “A”
454696 “A”
454698 “A”
454699 “A”
454700 “A”
454701 “A”
454702 “A”
454703 “A”
454704 “A”
454705 “A”
454706 “A”
454707 “A”
454708 “A”
454709 “A”
454710 “A”
454711 “A”
454712 “A”
454713 “A”
454715 “A”
454716 “A”
454722 “A”
454724 “A”
454725 “A”
454726 “A”
454729 “A”
454730 “A”
454731 “A”
454736 “A”
454739 “A”
454741 “A”
454742 “A”
454743 “A”
454744 “A”
454745 “A”
454746 “A”
454748 “A”
454749 “A”
454751 “A”
454752 “A”
454754 “A”
454763 “A”
454764 “A”
454766 “A”
454767 “A”
Model “A” Series
Standard-Tread Tractors
Serial No. & Model
254196 “AR”
254201 “AR”
254202 “AR”
254203 “AR”
254207 “AR”
254208 “AR”
254209 “AR”
254211 “AR”
254213 “AR”
254214 “AR”
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1338 “AOS”
1339 “AOS”
Model “B” Series
General-Purpose Tractors
Serial No. Model
37747 “B”
37886 “B”
37932 “B”
37934 “B”
37937 “B”
37938 “B”
37939 “B”
37941 “B”
37942 “B”
37943 “B”
37944 “B”
37945 “B”
37950 “B”
37954 “B”
37955 “B”
37957 “B”
37958 “B”
37959 “B”
37962 “B”
37963 “B”
37964 “B”
37967 “B”
37968 “B”
37969 “B”
37971 “B”
37976 “B”
37985 “B”
37988 “B”
37989 “B”
37991 “B”
37992 “B”
37993 “B”
37997 “B”
37998 “B”
37999 “B”
38000 “B”
38001 “B”
38003 “B”
38005 “B”
38007 “B”
38009 “B”
38010 “B”
38012 “BN”
38014 “BN”
38017 “BN”
38019 “BN”
38021 “BN”
38022 “B”
38029 “B”
38030 “B”
38031 “B”
38032 “B”
38033 “B”
38035 “B”
38037 “B”
38038 “B”
38039 “B”
38040 “B”
38042 “B”
38043 “B”
38044 “B”
38046 “B”
38049 “B”
38050 “B” |
38051 “B”
38055 “B”
38056 “B”
38057 “B”
38058 “B”
38059 “B”
38060 “B”
38061 “B”
38062 “B”
38064 “B”
38065 “B”
38067 “B”
38069 “B”
38071 “B”
38072 “B”
38073 “B”
38074 “B”
38075 “B”
38077 “B”
38081 “B”
38082 “B”
38083 “B”
38084 “B”
38086 “B”
38090 “B”
38091 “B”
38093 “B”
38099 “B”
38100 “B”
38101 “B”
38102 “B”
38107 “B”
38111 “B”
38112 “B”
38118 “B”
38119 “B”
38122 “B”
38123 “B”
38129 “B”
38130 “B”
Model “B” Series
Standard-Tread Tractors
Serial No. Model
327265 “BR”
327266 “BR”
327272 “BR” |
134441 “D”
134463 “D”
134468 “D”
134471 “D”
134476 “D”
134479 “D”
134480 “D”
134484 “D”
134485 “D”
134493 “DI”
134496 “D”
134499 “D”
134502 “D”
134503 “D”
134506 “D”
134510 “D”
134511 “D”
134512 “D”
134513 “D”
134518 “D”
134528 “D”
134532 “D”
134534 “D”
134535 “D”
134543 “D”
134545 “D”
134547 “D”
134550 “D”
134551 “D”
134552 “D”
134557 “D”
134559 “D”
134561 “D”
134563 “D”
134566 “D”
134569 “D” |
 
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