American Thresherman Association 64th Anniversary and Counting

The City of Pinckneyville is full of traditions. The Thresherman show has been in Pinckneyville for 62 years, so needless to say, it’s one of the longest running traditions in the city. This year marks the 64th annual Steam, Gas and Threshing Show. The annual show features tractors and steam engines on display, food vendors, tractor pulls, a flea market, train rides, bluegrass music and various demonstrations throughout the Perry County fairgrounds. But before looking at what all is happening at this year’s exciting threshing show, how about a look at how it all got started.

The American Thresherman Association was organized in March of 1959. A group of 17 people attended the first organizational meeting in October of that year in Brownstown, Illinois—which ultimately led to the creation of the ATA organization.

During the annual meeting in 1962, one of the members commented that the association “organized three years ago this month for the purpose of furnishing some enjoyment to its members and to be the beginning of something very worthwhile.” Although it had only been around a few years— it had sparked enough interest that three towns vied for the chance to become the permanent home for the show.

The Pinckneyville Chamber of Commerce invited the ATA with open arms and pledges of support. And now, 62 years later, the community remains the home of the American Thresherman Association—being chosen over Mascoutah and Highland for the show’s home.

The American Thresherman Association is blessed with many different types of equipment, from the very beginning when hand tools were used, to draft horses and the equipment they used, and the “progress of power” to the massive power of the steam traction engines and stationary steam engines, to the economy and convenience of gas tractors and gas engines!

This year’s show will be held Aug. 16-20 at the Perry County fairgrounds. The 2023 feature is Illinois J I Case Collectors and Side Shaft Engines. The 2023 show will literally kick-off on Wednesday evening with the tractor parade through town at 5:00 p.m. The parade through town will have tractors and equipment, featured tractors go first, so get your engines warmed up and get in line!

Thursday morning begins at 9 a.m. with field action working with horses and mules. There are demonstrations of many pieces of equine equipment from plowing, wheat threshing using a multi-horse drawn sweep, a “groundhog thresher” powered by a one-horse treadmill to baling using a single-horse powered baler. The afternoon is loaded with field activities utilizing steam engines and gas tractors. Plowing, threshing and baling