A large coffee table-style book with a cover that looks like work boot prints in the dirt? A closer look reveals that the logo on the bottom of the work boot is a leaping Deere embossed in the dirt. But overall an uncolorful cover for a company known for making people think Green. The understated cover is the first clue that this is not your typical book put out to honor a company.
The book is a combination of an historical journal, advertising brochure and employee recognition all rolled into one.
My Life & Times
The most unusual feature is the first chapter called My Life & Times, which is a fictional memoir based on historical facts.
Excellent photography makes you do a double take as it looks like an old book is sitting on top of the page. Turn the
page in the "big book" to reveal the next page in the "memoir"
it's very hard to describe so I will let the pictures do that talking.
After reading the memoir, the next few pages are a quick departure in style. It goes from the look of a vintage book to full page pictures of modern photography showing fields of golden grain, bright close ups of a ten series tractor, and then back again to an old time photo from 1918 as a workman is making a wheel out of wood.
Although this book is a hodgepodge of styles and colors it works well for the John Deere enthusiast. They will love the pictures showing virtual reality lab (the largest VR module in the world) then a step back two pages later of photos of a 1965 advertisement. Go another page or two and it will show how high speed photographs and a super computer were used to design the mower deck and blade of the Mulching Mower. The whole books throws you off guard as you are expecting one thing and then discover something completely different on the next page.
The Timeline
One of the chapters is a timeline of John Deere. It starts when Deere enters the history books with his steel walking plow in 1837
to a year by year diary of company facts, along with illustrations of all the different models and the years they were introduced.
This alone makes it a great reference for collectors.
The People
The last chapter of the book honors the people working for and retired from John Deere.
The first year shown is 1919, each year is a different subtle color text and names the 63,676
worldwide employees and living retirees as of January 1, 2000 in order of service start date. Interspersed with the
pages of small text are different company photographs taken throughout the years of employees at different events and settings.
As mentioned above, this is more than just a coffee table book, it is a tribute to the work ethic of John Deere, the blacksmith. It is a company history in a different format and if you are a John Deere Enthusiast this is the book for you! Any John Deere Dealer should be able to order this book for you.
Although this book is no longer being published, it is available on the secondary market.
