This year marks the 100th anniversary of Deere & Company’s purchase of the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company of Waterloo, Iowa, maker of the Waterloo Boy tractor. The US$2.25 million acquisition marked the company’s entry into the tractor business and the start of John Deere Waterloo Works and John Deere Power Systems.
Pending any official press information on the 100 year anniversary, we can confirm the celebrations will kick off with media only events at the company’s Tractor & Engine Museum in Waterloo, and the John Deere Forum in Mannheim, Germany. Both events will take place on March 14, the 100th anniversary to the day of the acquisition.
We do not yet know what public festivities are planned for Europe, but can confirm that the main event will take place on the other side of the Atlantic at the John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum and Waterloo Convention Centre (Iowa) on June 15-16. More than 100 John Deere tractor and engines from the past century will be on show from across the company’s product lines from around the world and include both company and customer-owned equipment – some rarely available for display. Both these free venues will include exhibitions, food and activities for the family.
In addition, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., will display a 1918 Waterloo Boy, and kick off a year of exhibits and events on the topic of 100 years of tractor development; the Iowa History Museum in Des Moines, Iowa, will host an exhibit on John Deere tractors and Iowa agriculture from July-September 2018, and the National Farm Toy Museum in Dyersville, Iowa, has already opened a new exhibit on John Deere toys.
