Piece of Ford history up for sale.

While this isn't the normal post here at Vintage Ford Facts, it is certainly interesting.

This property was given to Ray & Evangeline Dahlinger by Henry Ford in the early 1920s. The Dahlingers not only worked for Henry Ford personally, but they were his confidants and neighbors.

Henry Ford was known to give lavish gifts to his friends and employees. This property and many others like it in Michigan survive to this day. We are working on compiling a list of these surviving properties.

Craftsmen from Greenfield Village built the windmill, which is topped by a propeller from a Ford Tri-motor. It's rumored Charles Lindbergh stayed in this windmill on a couple occasions. Based on the photos it appears the main house has had little alteration over the years. John Dahlinger in his book "The Secret Life of Henry Ford" goes into some detail about this particular property. You can find this book at most online used book sellers for a nominal price.

Check out this link for photos. It's located at 4951 Lakeshore in Lexington, MI. I do not advise unannounced arrival however. It would be best to check with the listing real estate agent and go from there.

Ray & Evangeline Dahlinger Lake Huron Home

Highland Park Plant Virtual Tour

               

Here's an interesting link to all Ford history enthusiasts. These photos show interior and exterior photos of the remaining structures at the Highland Park Plant. Keep in mind most of the plant is off limits to the casual visitor so this is a rare look at one of the most significant buildings in not only Ford history but the history of the United States. Click the link below.

Highland Park Plant Tour - Slideshow

The closest virtual tour we have for the Highland Park plant during production is Arnold & Faroute's Book "Ford Methods & Ford Shops" which was compiled in the 1914-1916 period- the heyday of the Highland Park plant.

June 4 1896 - A Red Letter Day in Ford History

Henry Ford in the Original Quadricycle. New York 1906

 Henry Ford Had worked on the Quadricycle in his off time from his job at Detroit Edison.  Ford's Co-worker and friend ed "Spider" Huff also played a large role in the creation of this ride. Many nights were spent with Ford's wife Clara in the converted coal shed toiling on this new car.

The car still exists and is under glass at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

Chickasha Pre-War Swap Meet 2012

Getting back in the mood to update this blog!  The editorial staff of Vintage Ford facts attended the Chickasha Meet in Oklahoma this March.  First time I ever attended and I will be back!

Here's a few selected views of Ford and Ford goodies at Chickasha. Will likely post more photos in a subsequent post.

Nice selection of Model A Fenders. A few of these went home with me for my projects.

mid 30s Ford Porcelain sign

1933 or 1934 Ford Tudor Sedan

Part of the NOS haul that came back to Florida with me.

Nice 26-7 T Sedan

Rare original Ford filmstrips!

1935 Ford Phaeton

Have any of these laying around?

Looking for issues of Model A News, The Restorer, Vintage Ford, and V-8 Times to complete my collections. Doesn't matter if you have one or 1000, as I trade duplicate issues with others who are trying to build complete sets.

If you have extras of these or have some laying around that you don't know what to do with, please let me know.

I will be glad to make an offer and take them off your hands!

My email is LS-Dah-lin-geratgmail.com  (Remove the hyphens and replace "at" with @)

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: