They Go Hog Wild Over Hog Oilers

They Go Hog Wild Over Hog Oilers AG WORLD Ag World 19-1-20 The Howard Rotary Ball Bearing Oiler. The Talbot Lennox `Rub Hog Or Die.' The Swine-EZER. What do those bizarre names have in common? They're all brand and model names of hog oilers. The contraptions were widely used from the early to middle part of this century to control flies, lice and mange on hogs. Hog oilers came in a variety of shapes and sizes, but they all had a reservoir for oil that got spread on hogs when they rubbed against the devices. Occasionally oil was medicated; more often than not farmers used a blend of crankcase oil and kerosene. With improvements in herd health, use of hog oilers became much less but they've become collector's items. Hog oilers can now fetch as much as several hundred dollars apiece compared with original retail prices of as little as $7. Bob and Louise Coates of Deerfield, Wis., are one couple that's gone hog wild over hog oilers. They began collecting hog oilers 10 or 15 years ago after seeing one - without knowing what it was or what it had been used for - at an antique gas engine show in Illinois. "We now have one of the largest, if not the largest, collection of hog oilers in the U.S. with over 120 pieces," says Bob Coates. "We don't know of any hog oilers that were made in foreign countries. So we're interested in them as purely American farm antiques." Others may be interested for aesthetic reasons since collectors often paint oilers bright colors to resemble ears of corn, watermelons, billiard balls, etc. In fact, about 50 of the Coates's hog oilers have been exhibited at the Madison Art Center, Madison, Wis., and the Kamerick Gallery at the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, in the past couple of years. Since the Coates's began collecting hog oilers, they've become somewhat of an authority on them. Partly, that's because Louise has done patent searches on hog oilers - over 150 patents were granted - in researching a book about hog oilers that the couple plans to write. Here's a sample of hog oiler history the Coates's have uncovered: • Of all the places in the Midwest where hog oilers were made, Peoria, Ill., was the hot bed of hog oiler creativity with 10 to 12 brands coming out of the city in the early 1900's. • One of the earliest and most popular brands of hog oiler was the Rowe made in Galesburg, Ill. It was a vertical bar with tri-pod base and oil cannister on top. Stood about 30-in. tall and was manufactured from the early 1900's through the `30's. • Another of the most popular and now most sought after was an oiler that had `Rub Hog Or Die' inscribed on the side. Made by the Talbot Lennox company of Marshalltown, Iowa. • One of the rarest is a hog greaser in-stead of an oiler. Called the Stock Rubbing Device and manufactured by the Sherman company, Peoria, Ill., the greaser is an 18-in. dia. wheel attached to the side of a column. The Coates's have one of the only ones still known to exist. • The Harvard Ball Bearing Hog Oiler out of Fremont, Neb. It was a big ball that sat inside a cup-like base and rotated in any direction on three ball bearings. Poorly de-signed, according to Coates. • The Swine-EZER from the Lisle Corp., Clarinda, Iowa. It looked like a pot-belly stove. It stood on three legs and weighed 125 lbs. Dozens of others were manufactured, and the Coates's hope to complete their collection with one of each. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bob and Louise Coates, 223 N. Main St., Deerfield, Wis. 53531 (ph 608-764-5563).

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