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Serial #0026 

Thresher Chest

The weathered farmhouse set in the clutch of elm trees is not the first thing you notice when driving up to the Easley place in Hutchinson County, Texas. The eye is drawn to the lines of used up machinery: orange Case tractors, grain trucks, cars, and a phalanx of combines. All are idle now, silent witnesses to the passing of the old house.

The story is told that Amoren Easley never did paint the exterior of the house. Five times his wife purchased paint, but he never got to the chore. So with siding like gray parchment and windows falling out of their casings, the house is no match for the years of Panhandle wind and weather. The blues and greens of the interior trim vary, depending on how exposed it is to the wind-path through the house. Crackled and bleached closet doors opened to reveal women’s clothing of the 40’s and 50’s, colors barely discernible under the dust.

A few miles north of the Easley place, Marilyn and Clarence Yanke are reclaiming an old ranch on north Palo Duro Creek. There the used up machinery is gathered and salvaged. Marilyn told me I had to take a look at the shell of an old threshing machine, that the beautiful rusty sheet metal needed to be put to good use.

When I saw the remains of the Case thresher, lying belly to the sky on the edge of the caprock overlooking the ranch, I knew the interior trim from the sad Easley farm house needed a second chance in tandem with the showy sheet metal.

Central to the design of the Thresher Chest, the main door panels show the faint outline of the upside-down J.I. Case emblem. Hardware from the auger is reworked to make the door latch. Parts of the “T” and angle iron of the thresher frame are welded for the base of the chest. Inside, the red drawer fronts are made of Easley kitchen trim.