True when push came to shove Ford turned out to be an American patriot with the advent of WWII. He did fully support his country against the Nazi's. Prior to the war he did receive high profile Nazi representatives and was awarded a prestigious Nazi medal of honor. Ford, like most men had a complex personality full of good and bad points. Good men do bad things and bad men do good things. He did revolutionize America in many profound ways, no doubt about it, and built amazing automobiles.
Oversimplification, generalization and exaggeration often intrude upon one another in a casual conversation such as this. In point of fact, the Model-T was certainly not meant "to last a lifetime," any more than Durant's and Sloan's products were meant to self-destruct. Henry Ford had a formula for the T. He made them good -- good ENOUGH. And he kept them cheap so that the masses could afford them (simultaneously running innumerable automobile marques, which could not get their unit costs that LOW, right out of business). The main reason so many model Ts survived to modern day is that they were ubiquitous, being produced in 20 straight model years. At one point the Ford Motor Company claimed over 50-percent of the U.S. market. Just MAYBE the obvious fact that the federal government did not, in the years following World War I, rein in what might well have been called a monopoly a decade or two earlier might also help explain why three presidents in a row -- Harding, Coolidge and Hoover -- sat in the White House during the '20s, figuratively "fiddling" while an economic catastrophe was brewing.
..... And the fact is that parts for those model T's were available all over the world.... Well, almost...
Not to upset the applecart,... but this is exactly what I was talking about when I suggested you read the entire thread,... as this was already discussed, As well as other high ranking industrial men in America doing the same exact thing. You stated "Prior to the war he did receive high profile Nazi representatives and was awarded a prestigious Nazi medal of honor". Yep !,... totally true,... and at the same time, so did a large list of other prominent people,...Including other American industrial men. The "Nazi medal of honor" you speak of was actually called "the Grand Service Cross of the Supreme Order of the German Eagle" (Or ,.."Verdienstkreutz Deutscher Adler" ) Of which there was three levels,...Yes Henry Ford was awarded the 3rd, or lowest level of the award, And he did meet with these high profile men,.... (Like I stated in a prior post),... But so did the men in the list below, as well as a large number of others,... That would surprise you. They met with the same "high profile Nazi representatives" and received EXACTLY what Henry Ford received. Once again, Here are some of the highlights that list. Henry Ford, Ford Motor Co. Charles Lindbergh, Aviator, Mechanical Engineer Thomas J. Watson, Chairman of IBM James Mooney , General Motors' chief executive As well as a large list of others. Henry Ford did not like war, and wanted the world to try to avoid what seemed inescapable, After the attack on Pearl Harbor, his feeling was "Now that were in it, Were in it to win it".
The WWll time frame and especially the construction of Willow Run Bomber Plant makes for very interesting reading. I'm sure I will be goaded into writing something someday on the trials and tribulations of Ford's final days while America was at war. But I think that there is enough info here for you to construct your paper so ' Willow Run ' will have to wait for another day. I have also noticed that nobody has ever posted any info from Ford's FBI files, perhaps someday. .
???? A flood caused the river to crest and over flow it's banks which cut off the power from the plant as well as it severed the phone lines. The power plant did not fail. Ford died of a Brain Hemorrhage in 1947 and the river flooding only prevented help form arriving sooner. No amount of time in 1947 would have saved or prolonged Ford's life and the flooding of the power plant had no effect on him living for another minute. In the 40's, a cerebral hemorrhage was not something doctors could easily diagnose or alleviate and the extra minutes it took for help to arrive made no difference as to how long he would have remained conscious. I have read much of Sorenson's work and never have I read that Ford dictated that that people could not own or drive a Austin, Desoto or a Buick. But if it was my property, I wouldn't let you park your Toylola near my American Flag for fear that it would be shat upon by my pet Elephants. .
the rackham family donated land to build the detroit zoo and rackham golf course and gave both properties to the city of detroit kwame kilpatrick tried selling the golf course to one of his buddies but the rackham family stoped it more from wikopedia In 1894, he partnered with John W. Anderson to open a law firm. The partnership was very successful, counting among their clients Alexander Y. Malcomson, a Detroit coal dealer. In 1903, at Malcomson's advice, Henry Ford hired Rackham and Anderson to draw up papers incorporating the Ford Motor Company. Ford (and Malcomson) also convinced the partners to buy stock in the company. Rackham scraped together $5,000 by borrowing some money and selling some real estate parcels. With great uncertainty, and against the advice of others, (the president of the Michigan Savings Bank infamously told Rackham "The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad,") Rackham bought 50 shares of Ford stock (from a total of 890 shares); Anderson bought another 50. In addition to Ford, Anderson, and Rackham, seven other people were awarded stock in the company, including Malcomson, James J. Couzens (future mayor of Detroit and Michigan Senator) and John Francis Dodge and Horace Elgin Dodge (who later founded the Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicle Company). At the first meeting of stockholders, Rackham was elected chairman. ford bought rackham out
Sound point, Hotrod1940. Just a couple of more notes on this: President Roosevelt and his advisers were aware of Henry Ford's increasing senility. After Edsel's death, FDR did not want to take any chances on an important war-supplier such as Ford. Franklin "arranged" for Henry Ford II's honorable early discharge from the military, so that he could take over the reins. So, effectively, FDR had Bennett already out of the way by the time Henry II put his business suit back on. RE the Grand Service Cross of the Supreme Order of the German Eagle, I hope the point isn't lost that Henry did not court, in any formal sense, Hitler to get this medal. But, though it was unsolicited, there was also certainly NO compelling reason for Ford to refuse it (a la Brando turning down an Oscar for publicity gain). All in all, the German medal fell into the Ford PLUS publicity column. This is for the simple reason that Hitler was not yet universally seen as a mad man bent on conquering half of the planet. Even major media of the U.S. approached coverage of Hitler (and Mussolini, too) with a sort of ambivalence (if not ambiguity!), through most of the '30s -- adopting a more clear position only with the events of '39 and '40. (And this, in spite of the fact that Hitler had already retaken the Rhineland by force of arms in 1936, in direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles, and then, beginning in 1937, meddled heavily in the Spanish Civil War.) In fact, TIME named Hilter "Man of the Year" for 1938. Lastly, THANKS, DerbyDad, for mentioning the crucial contributions of John and Horace Dodge in Henry Ford's early success. For their contributions, they certainly did hold quite a block of Ford stock. And, when the time came when Ford was able to offer them a buy-out, they gladly took the dough to the bank and kicked the company they'd already started on their own into high gear. I appreciate this being mentioned, because (other than car people) most folks don't have the slightest clue that the Dodge brothers had any dealing with Henry at all -- much less helped get him started!
I would be careful of what is or is not posted in Wikipedia. For instance, Companies like GM have heavily manipulated what content is posted on their page. GM, after many month's of haggling was able to have the history of GM removed from the actual article regarding General Motors. This maneuver handily removed all info regarding their manipulation in destroying public transport in most cities in the states in the 30's 40's. -Almost all city trolleys and bus lines were bought up by GM and subsequently dismantled in order that GM could eliminate public transit and sell more cars to single drivers, (over and over again). Other info that they were able to disambiguate form the main article is their close participation with the German war machine before, during and/or after WW ll. (GM building Messerschmidt engines and supplying synthetic technology and oils to the Axis war machine (among other things)) The main General Motors article, unlike any other article on Wikipedia was split into the main body while all negative press about GM was placed into another page that is not easily found on the website. This took much wrangling to do as the actual 'history', including bad press used to be part of the main article until anonymous people applied many month's of pressure. While much of Wikipedia contains accurate and historical information, it also contains articles that have been heavily manipulated by persons/corporations with an ulterior motive. We, as 21 century citizens have a much harder time finding realistic facts and find it handy to reach out and search into places like Wikipedia. Although hard to find and access, places like The society of Automobile Engineers, The Library of Congress and even the annals of the Smithsonian have decades and century old articles and artifacts that are less biased and more accurate than Wikipedia can ever be. Other historical/accurate information can be found in early newspaper articles from the time period. I am not disrespectful of Wikipedia, just mindful that it at times is a user supported site and as such it is and has been manipulated (at times) to serve someone's needs. Unfortunately there is little to no alternative -or anything quite like Wikipedia on the net and until the entire historic pages of the SAE, the Library of Congress and/or all major/minor newspapers etc. are published, we may have a hard time finding a less biased and/or the actual historic/accurate info we require. jmho. .
Moe, you and I may not agree on every detail. But if we DID, that wouldn't make much of a basis for serious, constructive conversation! LOL. Agree or not on details, I REALLY appreciate your candor and courage. I suppose that is why you and I are on each other's friends list! My post here is not political, nor do I feel it is irrelevant to the great thread presented here. Where so-called information is concerned -- and the handling, processing and dissemination of it -- societies, at least in the Free World, necessarily get into interpretative (read that philosophical and political) debate. Having said that, this post is NOT about politics but assessing information from various sources, posters and speakers analytically. If we do not do this, we have little basis for objective conversation -- whether we're talking about hotrods, next-gen missile defense or the price of bread. No one should take anything at mere face value. Though it's been stated that some folks within the Ford family (not necessarily the company) have resented folks discussing details of Henry Ford's negative side, I give them credit for generally letting the historical record speak for itself. This has been, IMO, a worthwhile thread; and the upshot is that Henry's pluses outweigh all his shortcomings shortcomings. But as for information in general, even writers of the latter 1800s and early 20th Century warned of a "big brother" trend with regard to controlling information and behaviors of the general populace. Subsequently, we've seen this borne out, domestically and in various foreign countries, at various times. Even American (Canadian as well as U.S.) concepts of advertising and public relations can be subverted by one power or another (usually insert adjective, "monied"). Your bottom-line message is as critically important in June 2011 as it was in 1776, 1861, 1953, 1968 or just about ANY year or era! LOL. Folks, if you want the truth, you have to search for it, check multiple sources against one another, THEN make up your own mind where the "truth" of anything lies. Myself, I feel way too many people swallow whatever the media feed them without question. Is this how you decide to VOTE in an official election? Of course not (or you shouldn't). Merely questioning is not simply dismissing EVERYTHING you hear and crawling under a rock. You have the RIGHT to an opinion -- but you can still be dead wrong. Though everyone has the right to freedom of thought, with FREEDOM always comes responsibility to ask questions, think and know some facts.
In a lighter vein, I wonder where his score goes when the prof sees the Hokey Ass Message Board as one of the sources!
It has been years since I have picked up and read my copy of Robert Lacey's book "Ford the Men and the Machines". If I recall correctly the accounting department at Ford Motor Company used to pay suppliers by weighing thier invoices, since they produced pretty much the same amount of cars each month and purchased the same supplies they had a formula for apying invoices by the pound. Correct me if I am wrong on this. Also, the crankshafts for the Model "T" engines were produced for Ford by the Dodge Brothers. Henry Ford had the crates that the shafts were shipped in made to his specifications, so they could be broken down and used for the floor boards in the Model "T".
I somehow believe that Henry Ford would fire an accountant on the spot if he thought they were paying out his money by weighing invoices. Probably the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard about Ford. The floorboard thing is certainly plausible and does sound like something Ford would do.
The V8 60 engine was designed in the U.K. it first appeared in 1935 in the Model 48 which they called the Model 60 when it had the smaller engine.In 1936 the Model 60 was replaced with the Model 62 As you say Tax was the reason the 221 inch flathead was rated at 30 Taxable Horse Power (nothing to do with real horse power. The V8 60 was only rated at 22 horse power. Something similar to the Model 62 was also built in France and Germany, but never in the U.S
Well I must say that my teacher for this class is one of the machine shop teachers. I have gathered that this is not one of his favorite classes but comes with the territory. He will be very impressed with this kind of info and I will be putting the hamb as a reference. I bet I have info no one else has used in his class. The hard part is putting it all together.
Henry was indeed smart but during the Model T days the Dodge brothers were huge owners of the Ford Motor Co and also they were major suppliers of engine and driveline components for the T. Henry drove the prices so low that the Dodge boys figured they couldn't make any money with Ford and they left to start their own company Dodge Brothers, in direct competition with Ford. Dodge boys also got a HUGE settlement from Ford when he refused to distribute profits due them as share holders. I believe the amount was $110,ooo,ooo. So Henry was penny wise and pound foolish.
Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone were all close friends, and went on many camping trips together. For that purpose, Henry Ford designed and outfitted a vehicle that carried all the supplies, and cooking equipment needed for days out in the woods. 4TTRUK
Here's a pic of his autograph.He and Firestone were passing thru,stayed at a local motel and "tagged" the wall with an autograph.
The "nothing but black" idea was only in force from 1917-1925. Prior to 1917 and in the last years, 1926-27 Fords Ts were available in various colors.
In 1915 Ford opened up his factory and production processes to two reporters, Mr Arnold and Mr Faurote to document how Ford did things, to share with the world. This work was done as a series of magazine articles, that was then incorporated into "The Ford Methods and Ford Shope". It is available on Google free books here- http://books.google.com/books?id=Tc...dq=ford&lr=&as_brr=1#v=onepage&q=ford&f=false
I know this thread is 3 years old and it is far too late to do any good but I thought I would throw this in anyway. Have read a huge amount of books and magazine articles about Ford over the years. He really is a strange, quirky, fascinating character. After studying the matter carefully I have a few conclusions that might be of value to the original question. 1) Henry Ford was a farm boy from upstate Michigan, born in 1863 and with a grade school education in the old one room schoolhouse. He remained a half educated farm boy at heart his whole life. All the strange detours of his character, his suspicion of Jews, banks and capitalists, his belief in reincarnation and conspiracy theories, his love of square dancing and Hawaiian music. His hatred of smoking and drinking. His membership in the Masonic lodge. None of it would have raised an eyebrow if he had been a small town feed and grain dealer anywhere in the midwest. It all seemed strange on the large stage of world celebrity, and even stranger that he never changed or became more worldly as other rich men did. 2) He had an astonishing ability to stick to a good idea. For example, the Model T that he made for 19 years. It may not seem unusual to make the same car for a decade or more today but 100 years ago it was absolutely unique. The rate of progress was so fast, no one else made the same car for more than a year or 2. 3) He had an equally astonishing ability to drop a bad idea and go do something else without looking back. The thing that drove this lesson home was his Peace Ship. In the early days of WW1 Ford was a pacifist. He said in public that he would give half his fortune if he could end the war, and I believe he was sincere. He surrounded himself with radicals, socialists, reformers and do gooders of every kind. In 1915 he spent $400,000 to charter a ship, load it with pacifists and sail to neutral Denmark where he hoped to meet with government officials from Germany and England and negotiate an end to the war. After 2 weeks in Denmark he concluded that the effort was futile. He dropped the whole thing, returned to the US and never mentioned it again. Anyone who could learn those two lessons could be the greatest success in any field of endeavor. Remember, if you try something and it works, do it again. As long as it works, keep doing it. If it doesn't work - stop. Try something else until you find something that does work. This may sound simple. Try it. Now that I have made you aware of this you will start to notice how many people are successful doing one thing, who get bored and want to do something else. And how many people try something that doesn't work, get stubborn, refuse to admit they are wrong and ride it all the way into the ground.
This had as much to do with HFII's ascendancy as the infighting within the Ford family. Henry's increasing mental diminishment and ceding of power to Harry Bennett was causing problems at Ford's war plants, enough that the government was all-too-aware of them. Ernest Kanzler (who had been involved in the Office of War Production) met with Eleanor Ford after Edsel's death and they decided that HFII was the solution to the problem. Kanzler's government connections got him released from active duty, and coupled to the fact that Henry's widow Clara allied herself with Eleanor after Henry's death to insure that a Ford would run Ford Motor company sealed Bennett's fate.
I didn't read all of your posts and not sure if this has been posted. A video taken in 1938 of the Ford Plant. Notice ~ No OSHA .. Not many hard hats either. http://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/2014/04/05/video-a-tour-of-the-ford-river-rouge-plant/
To all those who think Ford and GM supported the Nazi war effort. Why didn't Roosevelt order them to shut down all their factories in Nazi occupied territories? Think it over, and see if you can figure out why this wouldn't work. GM actually wrote off all their property in Germany. After the war they got it back, what was left of it, and had to file revised income tax returns. I got this information from My Years With General Motors by Alfred Sloan who was Chairman of the Board.
The Jalopy Journal
