Site News and Update

I have been incredibly busy lately thus why I haven't added any new content lately.  I plan on doing a comprehensive update this weekend, so make sure you have a cold drink ready!

Thanks for reading!

Brass era Model T Touring

1939 Ford Fordor Sedan

Edsel Ford II Looks for his Great Great Grandfather's Punchbowl

While we normally don't cover anything here past 1940, this is rather interesting.
In the photo above you see Henry Ford & Spider Huff racing their Sweepstakes car marked #4 in this photo against Alexander Winton at the Grosse Pointe, MI race track in 1901.

Winton was favored to win this race, so much so his agent selected a rather ornate cut glass punch bowl that he thought would look good in the bay window of the Winton home. On race day Henry Ford had other ideas about who was going to win and through determination and stamina, HE won the cut glass punch bowl.

This punch bowl followed the Fords as they moved over the years, from Hendrie Avenue, 66 Edison- both in Detroit and finally onto Fair Lane where the bowl remained until Clara Ford's death in 1950.

When Clara Ford died, The Ford Grandchildren Josephine, Benson, William Clay and Henry II had their pick of the furnishings & china, but they took very little. A sale conducted by Perke-Bennett Galleries of New York  helped to dispose of the unwanted items, among these the cut glass punch bowl.

Several searches have been conducted in the past but these were less than fruitful. Now Edsel Ford II has started yet a new search in hopes to find the long forgotten punch bowl.

This USA Today link  shows a photo of the missing punchbowl.
Further Reading Here  and the video below:

Random Henry Ford Photo

The above photo shows Henry & Edsel Ford with Charlie Chaplin in the powerhouse of the Highland Park Plant. It's my guess this photo dates from the early 1920s.

Tornado in Cullman, Alabama Uncovers A Surprise

Over on the Model T Ford Club of America Forum, a discussion was started about a building that was hit by a tornado in downtown Cullman. Evidently a new brick facade was placed over the old facade. Doing some research I located photos of the building prior to the Tornado. If anyone has info on the Fuller Bros. Motor Company, I'd like to read about it!

The After

Before

Rear View- note the large attached garage.

Vintage Street Scenes Featuring Fords......

                             Not one, but two! 1931 Model A Victorias. Note both are Leatherback models

                                             1939 Mercury Sedan and 1934 Ford Truck

                                      1934 Ford Panel Delivery 1934 Ford 3 window Coupe

                                                        1930 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan

Henry Ford Quotes - Part 1

Henry Ford giving a rare radio speech.

Henry Ford was one of the most vocal of all industrialists during the 1920s- 1940s. He talked about everything from manufacturing to farming and then some. It comes as no surprise that he said alot of quotable quotes. Below are some examples.


"When I was a kid all my toys were tools. They still are!" 
As told to Samuel Crowther by Henry Ford during the writing of Ford's first book, "My Life and Work"

"A market is never saturated with a good product, but it is very quickly saturated with a bad one."
 
"Business is never so healthy as when, like a chicken, it must do a certain amount of scratching around for what it gets"

"Don't find a fault, find a remedy"

"Exercise is bunk. If you are healthy you don't need it, if you are ill you can't do it"

"I am looking for a lot of men with an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done"

"I'll send Harry and 6 of his men over to take care of Hitler. We'll have him in no time"- In reference to Harry Bennett, head of Ford Service on a question of what he'd do about getting rid of Hitler.


"The further a man can look back, the further he can see ahead" 
1928 Radio interview with Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone

"Vision without execution is just hallucination." 

“It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages.”

“You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.”

“I do not believe a man can ever leave his business. He ought to think of it by day and dream of it by night.”

"With one foot in Agriculture and the other in Industry, America is safe."

Pre War Fords at Barrett Jackson West Palm Beach 2011

A break from the norm(whatever that is!) this is a look at the Pre-War Ford products at the Barrett-Jackson sale in Palm Beach. I spent some time looking over the Ford Motor Company new car exhibit and found the staff there very helpful & friendly.  For someone who hasn't been to a Barrett-Jackson Auction, they are well worth going to! Ticket & Merch prices are reasonable (I've paid more for a T-shirt at a concert than I have at Barrett-Jackson), and you will certainly get your money's worth- or if you want to look at it from a ROI standpoint, you'll be ahead of the game by the time you get all the free T-shirts, stickers, posters, etc.  Enough of that! Let's take a look at the cars............

Model T Speedster

TT Truck

1930 Model A Ford Standard Roadster

My personal favorite- 1935 Ford Phaeton

Dash of 1935 Phaeton

Rare Accessory Radio in 1935 Ford

Speaker Grill of the radio. Never go wrong with the Ford script!

Seldom seen 1942 Lincoln Continental

Passenger area of Continental

Ford Display Area

Like to have this for my garage!

Sure it's past 1940, but who doesn't like Andy Griffith?

1948 Lincoln Continental on the block. Taken from the cheap seats- spectator area.

Portion of the crowd.

Yes it's new! Part of the Ford exhibit.

Add caption

What you don't see on Television- an empty auction block.

Homes of Ford Executives- Peter "Ed" Martin

Ed Martin left, with Henry Ford in late 1931. Note the 1932 Ford Chassis in the background.

Peter "Ed" Martin had the distinction of being the the 5th employee hired by Ford Motor Company in 1903. As he rose from the ranks of machine design & engineering, he became the head of manufacturing working closely with Charles Sorensen and Henry Ford on a daily basis. We will do a more in depth post on Ed Martin in a future post.

Ed Martin had several homes through out the years, but the 2 pictured below are the ones he lived in during his peak at Ford Motor. The first home was located at 1486 Chicago Blvd. in the Boston Edison District of Detroit. Among other notable people living in this neighborhood were James Couzens, Horace & John Dodge, and others. Henry Ford lived in this neighborhood at 140 Edison from 1906-1915 after which he moved to Dearborn. This is 1486 Chicago as it looks today-

As success & fortune followed him at the time he was appointed a Vice President of Ford Motor, Martin bought a stately home in the Palmer Woods district of Michigan i the 1920s. This home still stands today at 1411 Wellesley. Here's a current photo.

The New 1936 Ford.

Here is a selection of new 1936 Fords. These cars were designed under the tutelage of E.T. Gregorie, Ford Motor Company's brilliant styling man. We will cover him in a future post.

With One Foot in Agriculture And The Other In Industry- America is safe.

That was Henry Ford's credo and he did indeed practice what he preached. Clara Ford even got into the spirit by designing small roadside markets that a farmer could quickly & easily build at minimal cost to sell his crops.

Here's a rare photo of Henry Ford checking out one of these Roadside Markets. I'm willing to bet this was a stand he owned and all the produce is from his own Ford Farms.

The New Ford For 1937

Here's a glimpse into the 1937 Ford passenger car line-up. Not all encompassing by any means, but a fine set of cars!

1937 Club Cabriolet

1937 Fordor Sedan

1937 Slantback Tudor Sedan

A rarity today. 1937 Ford Standard Fordor. Note the different grille treatment, and the interiors were not as fancy either.

Harry Bennett - Lover of Cats

Harry Bennett was Henry Ford's "Man Friday" as Charles Sorensen liked to say. Bennett carried that same ass kicking tough guy persona into his pets.

Bennett had many pets from flocks of geese, livestock including a big steer named "Joe", birds and of course cats.

The cats included lions, tigers, panthers, and other large cats. At his various homes he had special pens or in some cases complete buildings for the housing of his big cats. To see a example of the cathouse at Bennett's Castle in Ann Arbor, check out Retro Kimmer's 1984 Castle photos here...

Bennett would let the animals roam the grounds at night and would turn a couple loose in the various tunnels under his house as an added measure of security. I'm sure this was a highly effective method of securing the perimeter.

Stories still float around to this day about how Harry Bennett would take a lion or tiger on a leisurely stroll around the Rouge plant controlling the feline with a small collar & leash. A visitor to Bennett's office in the basement of the old Administration Building might find a big cat dozing on a large mattress Bennett placed there for the comfort of his pets.

As can be seen Bennett enjoyed his big cats, but he was by no means stingy with them. On more than one occasion he made gifts of tigers & lions to close friends and even new acquaintances.

After Harry sold off his Michigan properties and moved to Desert Hot Springs, CA he kept small cats aka pussycats. David Lewis perhaps the most well known Ford Historian, photographed Bennett holding a Persian cat which can be seen in his book "Ford Country Vol. 1" Bennett even had these small housecats trained to when he made a circle with his arms, all of his cats would jump thru his arms.

It's safe to say Harry Bennett was many things, but he was a lover of animals.

Who is this man?

That's Orville Hubbard the 15 term mayor of Dearborn, MI, seen taking a meal at the great establishment known as Bill Knapp's. Why should you be concerned with Orvie?

It's quite simple. Orville Hubbard was the first person to break the great political machine that had been created by Harry Bennett & Ray Dahlinger in Dearborn to assure that people friendly to Ford Motor Company's interests would be elected.

Hubbard served as mayor of Dearborn from 1942 until 1978. Later Hubbard and Henry Ford II joined forces for various projects.

A note about Bill Knapps-

Bill Knapps was a reasonably priced restaurant chain predominant in the Midwest and in places where Snowbirds frequented such as Florida. The author has taken in many fine meals at various Bill Knapps locations and to this day still misses their departure from the scene.

The Ford Rotunda from the Postcard Perspective....

Continuing on our Postcard jag- be sure to look for more as I spent the better part of the weekend going through my postcard collection, here's a few Rotunda Postcards....

All are from the author's personal collection.