The float aside, that bright red truck is the focus here (also seen here, and here) The owner of this truck was a forward thinker: the shiny, new truck seen here was from the first year International Harvester made the Scout, its answer to the Jeep. At the time, tractor manufacturers weren’t specifically tractor manufacturers: they made all kinds of motorized stuff beneficial to farmers. IH saw a need for a heavy-duty farm vehicle that Willis’ Jeep was fulfilling, and came up with the Scout. Ford eventually followed with its Bronco, but the gas-conservation of the 70s mostly killed off these smaller versions of what we’d call an SUV. You may not know, but IH made the Scout until 1980: that’s almost 20 years on the road.
This photo was taken, looking west, down Center Avenue in Moorhead Minnesota, in 1961. These floats, all from 4Hers around Clay County, were on their way to the 4H Roundup in town. Much of what’s seen here is still around, despite the flurry of Urban Renewal a few years later (most of that happened just off to the right of the photo) — in the distance, that tall sign is the FM Hotel, now an office building; the sign now has the US Bank logo. That building in the foreground, with the Anderson Pontiac sign, and the building next to it, are still around, but I’m not sure what’s occupying them now.
see also: older Washington 4H parades * Cali 4H in the 20s * Moorhead Center Mall history
In the summer of 1961, 4H-ers from all over Clay County, Minnesota, converged on Moorhead for a parade and a Round-Up. Not exactly the County Fair (that’s held in Barnesville), it was a chance for local farm kids to head into the big city and show off their skills. These photos were taken along Center Avenue, standing in front of what’s now a vacant car dealership just east of 9th Avenue. The photos focus on the floats — sadly, very backlit — but there’s a few photos from the Round-Up. I do not know the photographer; the focus given to the Oak Mount float would lead me to believe that the family is from Kragnes, a few miles up the road from Moorhead (although in the past 50 years Moorhead has encroached close to Kragnes’ borders; if I were a mall developer, that’s where I’d buy land). My dad was in 4H a few years later. At 6 years old he was still a bit young for this parade; these kids would be in their 60s today.
