Ford Building 1935 California Pacific Internation Exposition

Author's Collection

I ran across this nice website by the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Not only does this building still exist, but it has been restored, it's currently used by the museum.

There's no need for me to go into detail as the Museum website does a quite nice job of it. They are to be commended for saving a very rare piece of Ford Motor Company history!

San Diego Air & Space Museum Ford Building History

Ford Tri-Motor Aerobatics.

Henry Ford & William Stout got together in the early 1920s to go into the aircraft business. The most successful of all the various designs was the Ford Tri-Motor.

Not only was it a pioneer in the airline & air freight businesses, it also was one of the first to use aluminum sheeting as a flight surface covering instead of the more traditional fabric & dope method.

Here a few Ford Tri-Motor films from the era. The aerobatic videos are most striking as the Tri-Motor isn't widely known as an aerobatic craft.  Enjoy!

Fordlandia - Dual Book Review

Author's Collection

Here are 2 books based on Henry Ford's rubber plantation experiment in Brazil.

We will start with the one on the left- Fordlandia, a novel.  Written by Eduardo Sguiglia in 1997 and translated from Spanish by Patricia Duncan in 2000. This is a novel in the purest sense of the word, however it is based on Ford history and Fordlandia. As you read this book, you can tell Sguiglia did his homework and collected facts, but used the facts in different time frames. It works well and makes the book a pleasant read. 245 pages long, I finished this in an evening and have since read it a couple more times.

The story starts out with the plight of an Argentine who was hired by Ford to help solve labor problems at the plantation. He describes the interview process, the voyage to Fordlandia, interactions with the various folks during the journey. 

Once at the plantation he goes on to describe the living & working conditions and the day to day activities. I won't spoil the rest of the book for you, but I highly recommend this volume. Even non Ford junkies will enjoy reading it.  Just keep in mind that it is a work of fiction and you will see as you read it. This book has been recently reprinted, but I have not had the chance to see a reprinted copy to know if it differs from the editions I have in my collection.

The second book is a recent output by Greg Grandin. This edition was published in 2009 and you should be able to find paperback copies in your local bookstore if you desire that sort of thing. 

I found this book to be well researched and shed some new light on areas previously left in the dark. Like any book of this nature there are a few errors but they are small and do not detract from the book in general. this book is 372 pages long with well documented sources & notes. This book also goes into detail Ford's second Brazilian rubber project known as Belterra.

All in all I recommend both books for your Ford book shelf.

Henry Ford Chopping Wood

Here in this 1922 photo we have a glimpse of Henry Ford cutting wood. Ostensibly this picture was taken during one of the Vagabond Camping trips in which Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone & John Burroughs went along.

Working at Ford in the 1920s

This is a short film interviewing former Ford employees and historians, along with lots of archival footage. As you can see from the film, not everyone was thrilled to be working at Ford's back then.
Part 1


Part 2


Be sure to check out this channels other videos. There are some more great films posted there.

Working on the Model A

As I dive into the project that is my '31 Model A Pickup freshening up a very old restoration, I'm fixing to tear into the motor and give it an upgrade that it badly needs.

This truck only had around 60K original miles on it when it was restored in 1972. The bore, crank & rod journals are all standard. A rare find today! I've put roughly another 30K miles on it in the 17 yrs I have owned it and recently it developed a dead cylinder. That in addition to the drive train needing to be freshened up in general helped me to decide to pull the old girl off the road and spend some garage time on it.

The plan calls for boring the cylinders if the taper is too much, Winfield grind cam, hi-compression head & either a Model B intake & carb or possibly a downdraft intake with a Holley 94 or Stromberg 97.Of course new valves, springs, timing gears and so forth will be installed.

Turkey Day..........

                                              (Author's Collection)
Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. As you can see we cleaned our plate here at Vintage Ford Facts.

The plate is Buffalo China, as compared to the more common Shenango. Just think of the stories this plate could tell! Charles Sorensen may have ate one of his many steaks off this very plate or Henry Ford could have had his 'rabbit food' served on it. These were used in various Ford cafeterias and executive offices in the 1930s before Ford switched to Shenango. We will delve into Ford china & cutlery at a later date. I'm off to go get more pie.

Ford Treasure of the day.

 (From the Author's Collection)

This is a 1960 edition of "Henry Ford A Personal History". First published in 1953, this book contains a short biography of Henry Ford along with a few pictures, some published for the first time in this book. There is a nice Foreword written by Margaret Ford Ruddiman- Henry's sister. Also included are short entries by Donald Shelley and the Trustees of the Henry Ford Museum.

The book is much more than just a brief biography. It also contains a detailed inventory of the Henry Ford exhibit that was on the second floor of the Henry Ford Museum. It lists all the murals(most of them painted by Irving Bacon, Ford's in house artist) and the subject of same, as well as detailed notes on what is displayed in each glass showcase. While I'm sure this list is no longer accurate, it does give a nice visual image as to what as displayed in 1953.

Henry Ford's Resting Spot.

Marty, one of the devoted readers of Vintage Ford Facts sent me a couple photos of Henry Ford's grave and the Ford Cemetery. With his permission I've posted them here for everyone.

The Ford Cemetery is located at Joy Rd, just a bit west of Greenfield Rd. in Dearborn. Henry Ford's parents, Clara Ford and many of Henry's brothers & sisters as well as distant relatives are buried in this cemetery.

Edsel Ford is not buried in this cemetery, he is buried in Woodmere Cemetery in Detroit.

The Ford Cemetery got it's start in 1842 when Samuel Ford died. He owned & farmed the land which was to become the Ford Cemetery with his burial being the first here. Over the years more & more Fords & Ahern's were buried here.

Before Clara Ford died in 1950, she donated enough land & a sizable cash donation for the formation of St. Martha's Episcopal Church, which still stands on the site.

For a more thorough history of the Cemetery, I highly recommend reading Ford Bryan's book "The Fords of Dearborn." You can also find relevant information in old copies of "The Dearborn Historian" a house organ published by the Dearborn Historical Society in Dearborn, MI.

On a personal note, the writer visited the Ford Cemetery in 1998 and 2003. I recommend anyone who is into Ford stuff to do likewise. After all, it's the closet you'll ever get to meeting him.

Henry Ford in The Mentor Magazine June 1929

                    (June 1929 Issue of The Mentor - Author's Collection)

The Mentor Magazine was a publication intended to educate the American Public in Art, History, Literature, Travel & Science.
This issue of The Mentor devotes 29 pages to Henry Ford's collection at Greenfield Village & Henry Ford Museum, which at that point was not open to public, Botsford Inn in nearby Farmington that Ford bought & restored and a small sample of his antiques collection.

Also of note is a separate article on his favored old time dancing with Benjamin Lovett calling the dances.
If you can find one of these magazines, it is worth adding to your collection.

Dearborn Independent - Dearborn Publishing Company

 

                   (1926 Issue of Dearborn Independent from Author's Collection)

Henry Ford bought this paper in 1918 with the help of Fred Black (I briefly covered Mr. Black in a prior entry) and William Cameron. I won't go into a detailed history here as there are other sites that have that aspect covered pretty good.

Ford required his dealers to sell a subscription to the Independent with every Model T or Fordson tractor sale. However most dealers just added on the $2.00 yearly subscription rate into the price of the car.

It was through this newspaper that Ford spread his comments & logic about the Jews, with one 1923 headline proclaiming "Jewish Jazz - Moron Music" However these notions ceased after the 1927 Sapiro trial.

Henry Ford had his own page in the weekly aptly called "Mr. Ford's Page", but Ford didn't write this page. That was left up to William Cameron a Ford spokesman for many years who gleaned topics for Ford's page through casual conversations with the automaker.

Magazine content contained short stories by popular author's of the day, one page of trivia, historical stories, and in later years sheet music & dance steps- part of Henry & Clara Ford's push to revive old fashioned dancing.

From the beginning of Ford's ownership of the Dearborn Independent, it was printed newspaper style until 1925 when it went to a more conventional magazine format using multi color covers & sometimes artwork accompanying certain articles.

In the photo is a copy from March 6, 1926. It shows Henry Ford, president,  E.G. Liebold, Vice-President & Treasurer (he was also Ford's main secretary for many years), C.B. Longley Secretary(Longley was Ford's legal counsel in this time period), W.J. Cameron, Editor. (here again Cameron was a Ford spokesman and later on went to give a short speech during the Ford Sunday Evening Radio Hour.)

I purposely chose to use this particular issue of the Independent due to the fact that it contained Ford advertising. For many years Ford refrained from advertising his own cars & trucks in the publication, but slow Model T sales in 1926-1927 made him rethink his decision.

The Dearborn Independent ceased publication in 1927.

Sources-
Author's Collection of Dearborn Independent Magazines dating from 1922-1927
Henry's Lieutenants by Ford Bryan

Model A Ford Song. Georgia Bluegrass......

Sung by Oscar Ford with Riley Puckett doing his thing with stringed instruments. This was recorded in 1929, so the sound isn't the best, but the song is quite good. During the song, I prepared a slide show of era photos of Model A's.

Historical Ken's Greenfield Village Blog

Sometimes you run across something on the net that you had never seen before but wish you had known about it before.

Historical Ken's Blog about Greenfield Village certainly falls in that category. Not only does it have excellent photos, but also goes into detail about the various buildings- even the ones that were formerly in Greenfield Village.  This site is an absolute gem!

Well worth checking out even if you are the most casual of Ford historians. Plan on setting aside a couple hours on your first visit to his site.
http://gfv1929.blogspot.com/   is the address.

Henry Ford's Herbert Hoover Speech.

Henry Ford was known for not giving many speeches. Among the first speeches was to a group of prisoners at Sing Sing Prison where his first remarks were "I'm glad to see you all here". 

In this short speech you can hear Ford's shortcomings as a reader & speech giver. This clip dates from 1931-32. Hoover lost the election, but I'm sure it wasn't because Henry Ford wasn't a fast reader.
 

Edsel Ford Honeymoon House Recently Sold

This is the home that Edsel Ford bought shortly after his marriage to Eleanor Clay. Henry Ford II was born in this house in 1917. Here's a chance to see some interior photos of this great house and as a bonus the webpage linked above has a similar feature on John Dodge's Grand daughters former home in Indian Village.

http://curbed.com/archives/2010/10/01/the-great-american-auto-mansion-bargainoff-dodge-vs-ford.php

The Doctor's Torpedo Runabout.

As I'm wont to do at times, I read obscure publications to broaden my horizons. Every so often I come across something that's familiar to me- in this case a Model T advertisement. I always figured a doctor back in the period would drive around a sporty Torpedo. I would if I was a doctor.
 This comes from the "Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of the State of Maryland"  printed in 1911.

Don't Experiment...... Buy A Ford.

This is an ad for the Model F Ford produced in 1905, a relatively low production model. These cars were built at the Mack Ave. plant in Detroit- Ford's first factory, which was really more of an assembly place than anything. John & Horace Dodge produced most of the mechanical parts & engines for these cars and the bodies were made by outside concerns such as the Wilson Body Co. also in Detroit.

The Old Girl is a Glutton For Work!!!!

What a fine machine, automatic windshield, full complement of tools, gas lamps, and lots of brass to polish.
From a 1912 edition of Power Wagon magazine.

Sales Calls in Style.............

Here's a 1930 Model A Tudor with what appears to be a company logo on the door. Model A Coupes & Tudors were frequently used by traveling salesmen back in the period. This car helps prove that to be true. Of course it could just be a company car that the managers use for runs to the Greasy Spoon for lunch, either way they got where they were going in style!

Photo of the Day.....

Here is a rare color photo of the Ford Soybean Processing plant at the Rouge plant, circa 1943. Ford was a big advocate of the soybean and it's said that a bushel of soybeans went into each Ford car. Soybean plastic shift knobs & window risers, soybean oil in the paint and soybean fibers in the upholstery fabrics.

This doesn't even count Ford's fascination with soybeans as a food. This will be covered in a separate post, as it's worthy of it's own entry.

1932 Ford Promotional Film

I like the '32s esp the seldom seen ones like that Sport Coupe.  But I like what's in the garage even better. Look at all the Model A's! I'll take that '30-31 Standard Coupe, any of the Roadsters. I'm not picky- any of those will work.

Vintage Ad of the Week.

Here's a 1924 Model T advertisement with an artist's conception of brand new Model T Fords leaving the Highland Park plant.

Henry Ford Selling Stock in 1921?

This little nugget was found in a 1921 issue of Motor Age magazine.

As we know now, it was false, but Ford was needing money at the time to help fund the buyout of all remaining stockholders.

Henry Ford was in a financial bind at this point in time as he intended to buy out the Dodge Borthers', James Couzens, Horace Rackham, the John Gray estate and a couple minority stockholders in order to gain complete control of Ford Motor Co. 

What prompted this? The brothers John & Horace Dodge once they found out that there would be no stock dividend that year due to Henry Ford's decision to invest that money in Rouge Plant expansion, decided to sue Henry Ford in court over the matter.

He ultimately lost and was forced to pay huge dividends to all the stockholders. He also intended to give his employees their annual bonus, and he had a rather large tax payment coming due to the government.

All of these factors coupled with the fact that Ford did not have enough cash on hand to cover all these liabilities, posed a problem. Frank Klingensmith, a banker before joining Ford Motor Co, suggested Ford borrow the money from a bank or a consortium of Wall Street folks. Not happy with this suggestion he did however secure a line of credit in the event his Plan A didn't work.

Just what was "Plan A"? He closed the plant at the end of the year and did a comprehensive inventory. From the trivial items like pencil sharpeners(you had to use your own pocketknife to sharpen a pencil afterwards), desks, phones, and various things of similar nature were sold. It was discovered that there were enough parts on hand to build quite a few cars, so these cars were assembled and shipped to dealers along with stocks of parts. The dealers had not ordered these cars or parts, but if you refused a shipment, you stood a very good chance of losing your Ford franchise. Most dealers borrowed money to complete the deal.

Government bonds were cashed in to help finance this plan. All told Ford ended up with more than enough money to pay the dividend and bonus!  Here's the kicker- this was in 1919 & 1920.

Henry Ford did buy out all the stockholders and how he did that will comprise a future post.

So why would Ford sell stock in 1921 when he had finally gained complete 100% control of the company? He never did. This is just crap journalism reporting it as fact when it was really a rumor. See it even happened back then too!

1910 Ford Advertising.

As we continue on our Motor Age magazine jag, this is a sample of the various ads posted in that magazine. Makes you want to head on down to Piquette Avenue and pickup your shiny new Model T. I'd like to!

Garages..... 1910 Style.

I ran across these pages from a 1910 issue of Motor Age Magazine. I don't know about you, but I know my old Fords would look good in there.


   

Zenith Updraft Set-up For Model T Ford

From Motor Record Magazine 1921.

Henry Ford Gives His Pocket Watch Away....

In Lapeer, Michigan in 1929 Henry Ford was overseeing the removal of a sawmill he bought for Greenfield Viallge. As he was standing there, three young boys walked into the building and Ford engaged conversation with the kids.

Finding out their ages, Ford at random took out his gold pocket watch and gave it to one of the kids. The boy named "Billy Bob Kahler" was quite pleased but his friends were not since they didn't get a watch.

Henry Ford explained, "I only carry one watch at a time, but I have lots more in Dearborn." He then took down their names & addresses.

This is a fairly typical event with Ford. He liked kids and always tried to help them whether it be free medical care at Henry Ford Hospital or in this case a gold pocket watch. 

Photo of the Day

Here's a nice example of a '28 AA Ford Truck at work. Note the rear fenders- they appear be 1930-31 pieces. Also worthy of note is the high mounted rear view mirror. I wonder what's in the bags?

The Broken Watch

Henry Ford was a known prankster. This was a lifelong passion of Ford.

Among the earliest accounts are Ford nailing down a pair of shoes to the floor left by a messy co-worker, blowing sulfur fumes into a sealed room through a knothole in the paneling, and perhaps the most painful- hotwiring a urinal!

One yarn that is seldom told is the broken pocket watch gag. While he repeated this often over the years, perhaps the best account is the one given by Charles Sorensen-

Seems as if Henry Ford showed up at Sorensen's stateroom on the Henry Ford II while on a trip to examine a potential site for a branch assembly plant.  During this late night meeting Ford told Sorensen about the plan and instructed him to find a cheap knock off watch similar to the Howard watch that was a prized possession of Frank Klingensmith, at the time one of Ford's top executives. During a stop at port the next day Sorensen went and found a similar watch in a jewelry store and rushed back to the 'yacht' (actually an iron ore carrier, but Ford always referred to it as his yacht) and gave the watch to Ford.

Henry Ford turned the mainspring in the cheap watch to where it would run slow and exchanged watches in Klingensmith's vest while the vest was hanging on a lavatory door. Ford slipped the Howard in his pocket and walked away.

On deck, Ford set the itinerary and instructed everyone to check their watches so they could meet up at a specified time. Klingensmith made the comment that his watch was running slow. Sorensen grabs the watch from Klingensmith and said "well no sense keeping a watch that won't work" and threw it against a wall on the dock, promptly shattering it into pieces. Ford & Sorensen keeping a straight face, while Sorensen said "that was a fool thing for me to do Kling."

Klingensmith was seen scavenging all the pieces he could find while complaining to Sorensen & Ford that the watch was keepsake from his grandfather and could not be replaced.

3 weeks later the Howard watch was found in one of Klingensmith's other vests, having been delivered to Klingensmith's house by Henry Ford personally. He gave the watch to his wife who put it in the vest pocket.

Henry Ford had actually started tinkering with watches before cars & even in his later years would carry an eyepiece and watchmaker's tools in his pocket just on the in case someone had a watch that needed attention.

Model A Ford Assembly Line 1931

2 photos of the day here!

The first shows a new Deluxe Roadster reaching the end of the line with a couple of S/W Cabriolets in the rear.

The second photo is of a Briggs 4dr body being dropped onto a completed running gear.

Branch Assembly Plants Chapter 2- Twin Cities

Henry Ford, Bill Knudsen, Ernest Kanzler along with James Couzens decided in the early 1910's that the erection of Branch plants in strategic locations would allow Ford Motor Co. to save huge amounts of money in railroad shipments.

Before this time completed cars assembled at Piquette Avenue plant were shipped in railroad cars, but the completed cars took up more space than boxes of parts & completed chassis, it was also not cost effective to ship assembled cars. This is where the idea of Branch plants came about.

While you could get 6  or 8 assembled cars in a railroad boxcar, you could get 20 or so 'knocked down' cars in a single boxcar.

Here's some info on the Twin Cities plant.

Ford acquired a warehouse in Minneapolis in 1912 where these knocked down cars would be assembled. However they outgrew that building and moved into a rented 10 story building in downtown Minneapolis a few years later. They outgrew this building also due to the extreme popularity of the Model T and it was decided to build their own factory, known simply as "The Twin Cities Ford Plant"

The Twin Cities Ford Plant was built in 1924 in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota, directly on the Mississippi River. Henry Ford was an adamant supporter of using water as a source of hydro-electricity as well as transport of parts, equipment and various other items needed in the production of Ford cars & trucks.

Model T Fords were the first vehicles produced here as well as the Model A starting in 1928. Twin Cities plant was one of the oldest Ford plants still being used for the production of vehicles, the last ones being produced at this plant were Ford Ranger trucks in 2010. The plant is slated to close in 2011.

One of the unique facts about the Twin Cities plant is the sand mine underneath the plant. This sand is used in the production of glass. The mine has been in continuous operation since the late 1940s.

Many theories abound as to what the plant will become now that it is closed, perhaps a tourist center or tied in with the nearby baseball stadium. Who knows, but this Albert Kahn designed building should be saved!

How it all started.....

It's always interesting to learn how people got into certain hobbies, and tho this may bore most, I'm sure there's 2 or 3 people max that will find this of interest.

I grew up around old Fords, at any given time there were 10-15 Model A's & a few 40s & 50s cars in the shop. I suppose I got into the hobby by osmosis.

In 1987 the book "Ford The Man & the Machine" by Robert Lacey came out. Once my grandfather finished reading it, I borrowed this volume & started reading it. Shortly thereafter the highly dramatized movie of the same name came out on TV. Both of these are responsible for starting my interest in Ford history aside from the cars.

I was the only 6th grader at my school reading "Ford Expansion & Challenge" while everyone else had tattered copies of Hardy Boys & Nintendo books. Keep in mind I'm in my young 30s and Nintendo was all the rage as were stone washed jeans back then- circa 1991.

Through the years the interest in Ford history & collectibles has not subsided. My Ford library has around 600 volumes plus another 1000 or so Ford related magazines in addition to various Ford collectible stuff like signs, tokens, employee badges, etc etc...

Do you have a stack of Buckwheat cakes on July 30th like I do? That's Henry Ford's birthday by the way. Buckwheat cakes were one of his favorite foods.

Photos of the day.

Ford Dealer showroom- Early 1928. Note the lack of exterior door handles on the Phaeton as well as the early style hubcaps.



Ford Dealer showroom - 1932

Fred Black - Man of many hats.

Fred Black was one of the most able executives in Henry Ford's office in the 1918-1940 period. Ford hired him in 1919 to oversee his Dearborn Independent newspaper that he had just bought. The two met when Black found Henry Ford a printing press for the newspaper.

Not only was he responsible for such things as building Ford's radio station, WWI and overseeing the Ford exhibits in the 1933, 1934 World's Fairs, but he did much more unusual tasks. One of the most prominent jobs was being assigned by Henry Ford to track down the supposed mummy of John Wilkes Booth, on another occasion Black was sent by Ford to see about damning the Mississippi River in St. Louis for a possible Ford plant. Why Ford decided to send an advertising man to do this only shows the wide range of projects in which Fred Black was involved with.

His personal life was pretty quiet & normal. He was one of the first licensed pilots in Michigan, and was friends with the first female pilot in the state of Michigan- Evangeline Dahlinger who also was a Ford employee & confidant.

He lived in a Ford built home in the now "Ford Homes Historic District" later moving to a large home adjoining Ford Field in Dearborn.

I could post tons more of information and likely will in the near future as needed.

As always comments & questions welcomed.

Sources-
Henry's Lieutenants- by Ford Bryan
Author's research done at Ford Archives.

History of the Ford Times

The Ford Times started out in 1908 as a means of keeping both customer & dealer informed. In the early days of the publication articles were geared towards Ford products.

However as time went on this trend gradually changed to a more variety magazine format, featuring travel stories, historical yarns, watercolor prints, and in the 1950s & 60s a myriad of artwork by artist Charley Harper.

Perhaps the one thing Ford Times was most known for is the recipes. For many years recipes from famous restaurants across the country were published towards the back of the magazine. This popularity spawned several "Treasury of Ford Times Recipes" cookbooks, which those in itself are also fairly desirable.

Ford Times magazines started out as a medium sized magazine in 1908. Henry Ford upon seeing the first copies of the magazine, went to stuff one in his pocket- however it wouldn't fit! He promptly had the print staff shrink the size of the magazine to where it could fit in his coat pocket. He said "Might as well make it to where people can carry them around without much hassle." And so it was. After WW2, they tried going back to the medium sized magazine but here again Henry Ford had on a coat with small pockets. In the 1980s the magazine took on traditional magazine size.

Ford Times and the spin off publications such as "Treasury of Station Wagon Living" , "Treasury of Ford Times Recipes" and others all are worth collecting. Most issues of Ford Times can be bought for a few dollars each with the very early ones going for much more. Recently on Ebay, a complete set of Vol 1. (1908) sold for close to $2,000.00!

Recommended Reading Part 2

Ford Bryan worked at the Ford Rouge plant for over 30 years and then went on to volunteer at Greenfield Village & Henry Ford Museum upon retirement. In addition to all this, he was a distant relative of Henry Ford, so it seems almost natural that he would write a couple books about Ford- however he wrote more than a couple.

It's worth noting he also wrote for "The Dearborn Historian" a publication of the Dearborn Historical Society in Dearborn, MI. In fact those articles provide the basis for a few of his books. When he passed away in 2004, Ford Bryan made a sizable monetary donation to the Henry Ford Estate to help with the preservation of the Estate.

Any of his books are worth picking up and adding to your Ford bookshelf. I have all of them and they are frequently cited sources of information during my research.
Titles include-

Rouge Pictured in it's Prime- covers the years 1917-1940 and contains lots of previously unpublished photos.

The Fords of Dearborn- more of a genealogical book, it covers the entire Ford family from the early days to modern times. Also has a few interesting chapters on Fair Lane estate, Model T travel in the 1920s, Early Ford dealers, Old Fashioned Harvesting and more.

Beyond The Model T- Covers some of Henry's 'hobbies' such as farming, Employee Housing, Radio Broadcasting, D. T. & I Railroad, and lots more.

Friends Families, Forays- More Genealogical stuff, his friendships with Edison, Firestone, Burroughs. Also covers some of the luxuries such as Huron Mountain Club, Yachts, The Mangoes. The book encompasses much more than listed here. I highly recommend this one.

Clara, Mrs. Henry Ford- Mainly deals with Clara Ford but also has some info relating to Henry. Foodies will appreciate the recipes towards the back of the book, most in Clara Ford's own handwriting.

Henry's Lieutenants- Another excellent book! Gives short articles on over 30 Ford Motor Company executives. A well researched book.

Henry's Attic- A book about some of the various donations to the Henry Ford Museum, as well as various items that were found when Fair Lane was cleaned out.

This isn't meant to be an actual book review, there's plenty of other sites for that. What it is intended for is a chance to view some titles if you are looking to expand your bookshelf or just want some fresh reading material.

As always comments & questions welcomed.

The Red Tie

Henry Ford had a knack for creating stories on a whim when asked questions. A prime example of this is "the red tie" yarn.

One morning a reporter asked him about his red tie and it matching his mood of being mad. Henry's response? "That's right. Makes me feel spunky, it matches my temper."

Here again we can take a look at William C. Richards' book "The Last Billionaire" for more information on this. Turns out Richards asked Ford about this one day when Henry Ford was in a good mood AND wearing a red tie. According to William Richards' account-
"He threw himself into a role of an angry man before my eyes. His eyes snapped, he clenched a fist- he slammed out and said he had a few words to say to a fellow, leaving the impression it was going to be rough on the other fellow.
I followed him for a distance to where he couldn't see me unless he turned around. He seemed pleased with himself. Out the door leading to the laboratory he wheeled right and retraced his steps, walked into the corridor and walking into his office, smiling, giving the tie a jaunty pull as he went in. He was apparently trying to make the myth good for my benefit."

Is any of this true? In my opinion, I say yes. Ford was a master showman and always had an eye for free publicity. This is just one of his many things to get that free publicity. Other notable accounts include, stating that George Washington's clock was one second slow, that he was going to make a horn that sounded like a human voice, chicken was fit only for hawks, that he wore mismatched shoes on occasion to remind himself that he was once poor and could be that way again if he wasn't careful and many thousands of other things along this line.

Ford Photo of the Day.

Henry & Edsel Ford with an impatient Charles Sorensen in the back seat of the 15 Millionth Ford. The car itself is a '27 Model T Touring in the colors of Channel Green body, Black wheels & fenders. You can see the car to this day at Greenfield Village.



Today's photo comes from the WSU Digital Library.

Recommended Reading Part 1

Anyone looking to learn more about the history of Ford or Henry Ford in particular will enjoy some or all of the following books. I hold no financial interest in any of these publications, but wish I did then maybe I'd have more money to spend on my cars!

The Nevins & Hill Trilogy- By Allen Nevins and Frank Hill
Comprised of a 3 volume set. Ford- The Times, The Man The Company, Vol 2. Expansion & Challenge, with Vol. 3 being Decline & Rebirth. These 3 volumes are a definitive work on the history of Ford Motor Company prior to 1962. Vol. 1 is the most common with Vol. 2 being the scarcest of the set, it took me 3 years to find a decent quality copy for my collection. Volume 3 is somewhat more easily found but you will search for it too. For the serious collector I'd recommend having two sets of books, a reading set and a preservation set.

The public image of Henry Ford- By David L. Lewis
David Lewis is a well respected Ford historian & author of many Ford articles. This book is over 600 pages of well written facts, lore, and goes into actually trying to figure out what made Henry Ford tick. It did a damn fine job of it too. If you have limited shelf space make sure you have room for this book.

My Forty Years With Ford - By Charles Sorensen
Written in 1956 by Ford's former production superintendent, the book goes into some detail on how the assembly line formed, the early methods of manufacturing cars before the assembly line, how the Rouge got started, dealing with the Soviets in the late 1920s and much more. Sorensen's writing style makes it very enjoyable to read. The first time I read this book I sat down in the recliner with a cold Pepsi & a hot roast beef sammich. It took a few more cold Pepsi's but I finished the book that evening. I've re-read this book more times than I care to admit.

The Last Billionaire- By William C. Richards
This book is an absolute gem! Not really a history book or a biography, but rather a collection of trivia & rare stories. Such as the time Henry Ford made buckwheat pancakes for his doctors who came to give Ford an exam before an operation. Richards also mentions some of Ford's odd habits such as "the best way to calm an ulcer is to swallow a ball of butter down whole" or "Salt is good for your hair, I rub it in my hair every morning" It's hard to say how much is accurate in this book, but in my opinion 98% of it is.

William Richards was a reporter who got to know Ford on a personal friendship level. If you read this book look for the "Dung-brindle" reference. It will give you a laugh. One piece of advice- Look for the original 1948 hardback version, not only do hardback books look better on your shelf, but the 1956 paperback is missing about 100 pages and alot of meat got cut in this abridged version.

I'll add more to this tomorrow, it's time to read a Ford book before bed.

Ford Branch Assembly Plants

Jacksonville plant circa 1930

From time to time I will post about some of the various Branch Assembly plants and what has became of them here in Modern Times.

This entry will deal with the Jacksonville, Florida plant. I'm biased towards this one because I own a '31 Model A Ford that was built here in January 1931. You can be biased towards your favorite plant also. It's a free country(for now).

This assembly plant was built starting in 1924 and ceased production in 1932 to become a Sales & Service Center. You can read all about that in the links I will provide at the bottom.

A lesser known fact is Ford had a presence in Jax starting in 1915 when Henry Ford acquired a warehouse on Ashley St. In 1919 they moved to a location at 532 West Forsythe St. in Jax. Then they moved to the waterfront plant that is on the St. Johns river.

And the status of the surviving Ford plant today? There's talk of it becoming a cruise ship terminal but as of now it's being used for storage. You'll see a short film in link #2. That's not me or my car, my '31 is torn apart in the shop getting the beauty shop treatment. You Yankees finally sent us a dose of cooler weather to Florida, which is appreciated as it gives me more shop time without getting a heat stroke.

Here's a few links you may enjoy. (Here again copy/paste as I can't figure out to embed)
Good photos on this link
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2008-jan-inside-the-ford-motor-company-assembly-plant

Nice short video.
http://jacksonville.com/video/community/jacksonville-community-news/2010-10-15/watch-1930s-ford-assembly-plant-toured

Sources-
September 1945 Ford Times (Author's personal collection)
Web links posted above
Ford Country Vol. 1 by David L. Lewis

58 Bagley Avenue

Any Ford enthusiast/historian worth his Ford script knows that 58 Bagley Avenue was the place where Henry Ford built his first car, the Quadricycle.

What happened to 58 Bagley Ave.? Did he have it moved to Greenfield Village like he did with his birthplace? Partially. Here's how it happened. The house was moved in the early 1920s to a new location around the corner from it's former lot to make room for the Michigan Theater that now covers the site in downtown Detroit. It's understood that the famous shed where he built the car was torn down.

The building once moved was treated to a new facade and encompassed a coffee/tea house.

Now the shed you see in Greenfield Village was actually new construction using brick from the old Bagley Ave. House. Photos of 58 Bagley are somewhat hard to find with the same 2 or 3 being used constantly in books & magazines. However on the Wayne State photo archives there is a photo of 58 Bagley with the new facade & tea house signs.


See the light color bricks on the side of the building? That's where Henry Ford has his bricklayer's remove some of the original bricks for his "new" Quadricycle shed.

In case you want to see what the Michgan Theatre looks like, here's a link. The building in & of itself has a unique history worth taking a look at. (For some reason I can't get a link to work here, but you can copy & paste) http://buildingsofdetroit.com/places/mi

As always comments are welcome.

Sources:
Young Henry Ford by Sidney Olson
The Last Billionaire by William C. Richards
The Public Image of Henry Ford by David L. Lewis
Old issues of the Detroit News