The only Hannaford business which has a family history dating back to the beginning of the 1900s, is that of the Andersons.
Asher Anderson and his brothers, Alfred and Andrew, came to Hannaford from Lake Mills, Iowa, the first years of the 1900s. Asher's first job was running a meat wagon for Walt Richardson in harvest time. He went from crew to crew selling meat.
When he was out of meat he would buy a critter, have it butchered, and go on to the next place.
His next venture was with Christ Reite in the Anderson-Reite Co., in 1905. It was supposed to be a furniture store; everyone had one of those. According to their ads in the Hannaford Enterprise, they handled the Hero Fanning Mill and many other farm related items. Before too long, they sold stock and reorganized their company and called it the Hannaford Mercantile Co. They expanded their operation and handled everything from "soup to nuts"; McCormick Binders, Dowajiac Shoe Drills, Hero Fanning Mills, P & O Canton Plows, Studebaker Buggies, Hart Parr Tractors, and wonder of wonders, a self-feeder for grain separators called the Ruth Feeder.
In March 1908, Christ Reite sold his share in the machinery division of the Hannaford Mercantile Co., to Ed Savre. They dealt in farm machinery, threshers and real estate. Ed Savre sold his share to Anderson-Sinclair Co., in 1909.
In February 1909, Asher and his brother, Andrew organized the Anderson Brothers Co., featuring the new Kentucky grain drills, Emerson grain cleaners, Corn King manure spreader, and the fanciest of buggies. Andrew later left his brother's business and went to farming on a farm the brothers made a down payment on for their mother.
A partnership of Anderson-Sinclair lasted several years until Sinclair was appointed postmaster in 1919. After the crash of 1929, things were at a standstill, but Asher used the experience he had gained in trading to make a living during these lean years. He became an auctioneer and he was a good country auctioneer. He started as an auctioneer with Frank Paulson as partner, but Frank had too many other interests. Asher and Harry Kolpin then formed a partnership which lasted until they both retired.
In the WPA days, things were slow, but Asher was a trader. He had good teachers - the itinerate horse traders and wandering gypsies had taught him well. Some of the farmer's wives did not like to see Asher come on the farm. They were afraid he might trade their "old man" out of the kitchen stove.
The early 1930’s were tough years for everyone. Hannaford had two disastrous fires in the late 1920’s. The sidewalks on Main Street were broken up. Business was practically nil. Asher had two Minneapolis combines that had been repossessed. Gerald, his brother Wayne, and Roy Richardson operated these combines in the fall for a few years. Crops were short and weeds were high. Wheat made four bushels per acre. They could combine during the day and fix raddles and chains at night.
At this time Carl Brudwick had a cream station next to Sinclair's post office and the restaurant. He got another job and Gerald bought him out. He bought cream, eggs and poultry. In the late fall Peterson-Biddick from Jamestown would send a turkey truck out and they would go from farm to farm buying turkeys. The machine business consisted of repairs for Moline Monitor drills, McCormick and John Deere mower parts and what was called buck rakes for gathering hay. These consisted of a set of nine foot wooden teeth bolted to a simple frame with a single-tree on each side to hook a horse to. The hay was brought up to an overshot stacker and that was the height of efficiency. A team of horses hooked to a rope pulled the hay up on a slide and dumped it on the stack. One or two men were in the stack to level out the hay. Most farmers were very fussy about the way the hay was laid in the stack.
The old shop was in pretty bad shape. The front windows were broken and the floor sagged. After the Sinclair building burned, part of the cream station burned also. Gerald moved his equipment back to the old store and went together with Asher. They still bought cream, eggs and poultry, sold a few repairs, a monitor drill once in a while, sold seed corn and owned the L. B. Moore Blacksmith Shop, where they set up a seed cleaning plant. They scarified and cleaned alfalfa and sweet clover seed, sold seed corn, millet, sudan grass and a full line of Oscar H. Wills garden seed. Asher was the country salesman. He traded sheep bucks and anything the farmer wanted.
In between times, Asher had a few auction sales. In 1940, he took on the full line of Minneapolis-Moline line of machinery. He sold the first Minneapolis "U" tractor to Christensen Brothers, of Rogers. Beginning with the better crops and fair prices for farm goods, they prospered and in 1946, built the building which Gerald uses for his business today. In 1947, before the building was entirely complete, a Minneapolis-Moline show and a State Mill and Elevator pancake feed was held. In the fall of the year for three years, a seed demonstration sponsored by Northrup King & Co., was held. Chas. Palm always won the seed corn display with a circular arrangement of Rainbow Flint corn.
After 1948, Zenith radios and Zenith TVs were sold. Zenith allowed each dealer to demonstrate a 27" console TV for a month. It was quite a conversation piece. Minneapolis-Moline sent out the first tractor with a factory-built cab.
Asher passed away May 7, 1955. He was still making trades when he died.
Today Gerald and his son, James, operate a Laundromat and hardware store. They sell hardware, sporting goods, electrical goods, lawn and garden products.
Source: Hannaford Area History North Dakota Centennial 1889 - 1989 Page 23