Windmill Books
by T. Lindsay Baker

In addition to editing and publishing the Windmillers' Gazette, T. Lindsay Baker has written four books dealing specifically with water-pumping windmills and the history of windmill use. These windmill books have been published by the University of Oklahoma Press, the Texas Tech University Press, and the American Wind Power Center. You can order any of them from Windmill Books and Sales, PO Box 507, Rio Vista, Texas 76093 USA. The books are the following:

A Field Guide to American Windmills, now in its fourth printing from the University of Oklahoma Press, presents the first ever documented history of the evolution, manufacture, and use of water-pumping windmills in North America. It combines this with an illustrated identification guide to over one hundred of the most common windmill varieties. Some enthusiasts call this the "Bible of antique windmills," and its hefty size of 516 pages with 376 illustrations makes this volume weigh almost five pounds. If you ever wanted to learn about windmills, this is the book to answer your questions. Published in 1985 by University of Oklahoma Press. 516 pp., clothbound, with 376 illustrations. Available for US $90.00 postpaid.

North American Windmill Manufacturers' Trade Literature presents a comprehensive bibliographic guide to historic windmill manufacturers' trade literature preserved in scores of libraries, archives, museums, and historical societies throughout North American and overseas. This volume provides descriptions and locations for historic trade literature for farm- and ranch-style windmills manufactured and used throughout the continent, the key to accurate repair and restoration for historic water-pumping windmills found in North America and exported abroad. The fruit of twenty-five years of systematic research, this book is an essential guide to original primary sources on windmills in North America. Published in 1998 by University of Oklahoma Press. 608 pp., clothbound, with 24 illustrations. Out of print from original publisher; last few clothbound first edition volumes of this book available for US 90.00 postpaid.

 

Blades in the Sky: Windmilling Through the Eyes of B.H. "Tex" Burdick presents the story of the windmill erection crews working in the desert Southwest of the United States in the 1920s through 1940s. The book features forty-eight historic photographs by B.H. "Tex" Burdick, whose Burdick & Burdick Company of El Paso became one of the largest windmill distributors in the United States in the years between the world wars. The text, drawn from extensive interviews with Burdick and one of his erectors, Harry Clifford, details the lives of the men who erected and maintained windmills in the harsh desert country using their own wits and muscle as their principal tools. This is a book which places a human face on windmills, as readers learn about the lives of Burdick, his company employees, rancher customers, farmers, and even Burdick's bird dog, Jerry. "Tex" Burdick's photographs alone make this book worth the purchase price. Published in 1991 by Texas Tech University Press. 123 pp., softbound, 48 illustrations. Available for US $20.00 postpaid.

 

The 702 Model Windmill: Its Assembly, Installation, and Use. A hands-on manual for the assembly, installation, and use of the 702 Model windmill, the most common water-pumping windmill in North America. Includes dozens of never-before-published illustrations and drawings of these windmills, first introduced in 1933 and still being sold around the world. Originally written a decade ago to be distributed with these mills, this manual has been published by the American Wind Power Center. 80 pp., paperbound, with over 75 illustrations. Spiral-bound edition which lays flat when opened is provided unless edition with glued bindings is specifically requested. Available for US $19.95 postpaid.

 

A Guide to United States Windmill and Wind Engine Patents 1793-1950 A first-ever guide to patents issued by the United States government for wind machines from the 1790s through 1950. The chronological guide includes patent date, patent number, brief description of the invention, name of patentee, and place of residence of the patentee, together with a name index to inventors and the numbers issued for their patents. With this guide users anywhere in the world can access drawings and specifications for individual patents by patent number from the Internet website of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The guide serves as a key to the vast amount of information on wind machines available in U.S. patents. The book is scheduled for publication by the International Molinological Society in 2004. For more information, contact Windmill Books & Sales at the address below.

 

 

___A Field Guide to American Windmills, US $90.00
___North American Windmill Manufacturers' Trade Literature: A Descriptive Guide, out of print from original publisher; last few copies of clothbound first edition, US $90.00
___Blades in the Sky: Windmilling Through the Eyes of B.H. "Tex" Burdick, US $20.00
___The 702 Model Windmill: Its Assembly, Installation, and Use. US $19.95
No extra charges for packing and shipping. (Can you believe it?) Texas residents please add 7.25% state sales tax.

Other books by T. Lindsay Baker which you may find of interest:

___Ghost Towns of Texas, softbound US $29.95
___More Ghost Towns of Texas, clothbound, US $34.95
___Building the Lone Star: An Illustrated Guide to Historic Sites, original clothbound first edition out of print from publisher, $75.00; softbound reprint edition, US $29.95
___Adobe Walls: The History and Archeology of the 1874 Trading Post, with Billy R. Harrison, original clothbound first edition out of print from publisher, US $150.00, softbound reprint edition, US $29.95
___The WPA Oklahoma Slave Narratives, with Julie P. Baker, clothbound, US $49.95; softbound, US $24.95
___Till Freedom Cried Out: Memories of Texas Slave Life, with Julie P. Baker, clothbound, US $29.95
___Lighthouses of Texas, clothbound first edition, US $75.00; clothbound reprint edition, US $39.95
___The First Polish Americans: Silesian Settlements in Texas, clothbound first edition, US $37.50; paperbound reprint edition, $16.95
___Historia najstarszych polskich osda w Ameryce [History of the Oldest Polish Settlements in America-in the Polish language], paperbound, US $37.50
___The Texas Red River Country: The Official Surveys of the Headwaters, 1876, clothbound, US $29.95
___The Early History of Panna Maria, Texas, paperbound, US $20.00

Send check or money order in US dollars to:

Windmill Books and Sales
PO Box 507
Rio Vista, Texas 76093 USA

Texas residents please add 7.25 % state sales tax. Thanks greatly.