c. 1920s McCormick-Deering Reaper

 This reaper was made by International Harvester Company in Chicago, Illinois. Like the nearby Royal Royce reaper, this reaper was used to cut and gather grain. Unlike the Royal Royce reaper, this example is lacking the seat which would be located on the walkway side of the main wheel. As this reaper was pulled forward by a pair of horses, the arm rakes, which are connected by gears to the wheel axle, rotated around. As the reaper moved forward, those arm rakes pushed the grain into the sickle bar at the front of the platform, holding the grain heads firm to get a clean cut. The grain then fell onto the platform where the arm rakes pushed it into piles off the platform's side. Hired hands or members of the farmer's family followed behind, gathering up the cut grain and binding it by hand with a piece of straw or with binder twine.

 On August 12, 1902, International Harvester Company, the builder of this reaper, was formed when an agreement was made between people representing five different firms that specialized in harvesting equipment. Those firms were the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company; the Deering Harvester Company; the Plano Harvester Company; the Warder, Bushnell & Glessner Company; and the Milwaukee Harvester Company.