Russ, I used to do much historical research on Massey's combine history. M-H and M-F were essential not only to modern combine history, but to the custom harvesting business as we know it today. The modern custom harvest run is a direct spin-off from the Brigade. It's just too bad that even by the time i first began a search on the history of the Harvest Brigade, most of the participants had passed on. Back then, most harvesting was done by grown men, not young boys just out of high school. I never met len Holo, but have talked to him a lot during the restoration of the 21A. I used to also have a 21A, but only got it to running condition, never fully restored the body and paint. Ironically, though Holo is running a 21A, it was actually the earlier Model 21 that was featured in the Harvest Brigade. Although the 21 had been in production for at least a year earlier, it was the Brigade that made this combine so popular. Also, wartime production and from thereafter, all M-H combines were painted. before the War, they were galvanized. Have you seen or heard of a plain galvanized 21IJ Of couse, the War was in full swing by the time the 21A [auger table] came out, so All 21A's were painted red. The 21's were radically different from the old, bulky and very heavy Model 20. Compact, lightweight, well-balanced and user-friendly, the 21's set a new standard for the combine industry. In essence, the Model 21_21A was to combines as the Ford model T was to automobiles.
