Stories about Henry Ford

[tmiller6]

Then he described the old Ford Rotunda and how Henry bought it from the worlds fair in Chicago

The Rotunda was always Ford's property. During the fair it was a popular exhibit and Ford decided to bring it back to Dearborn. At the fair, it was covered with a material resembling painted paper mache. Once in Dearborn, it was given a permanent covering and the open portion in the center was covered with a Fuller geodesic dome because the lightweight structure could only tolerate that load.

Henry Ford was embalmed in Detroit and then laid out for public viewing at Lovett Hall next door to the Henry Ford Museum.

[H. L. Chauvin]

A story I heard was that in public, with newsmen around, Ford was asked in the early 1920's how could he continue to offer cars for such a cheap price.

His response was that he had developed a new method of producing cars whereby
he really could give his cars away & make money selling parts.

The critics of the day in the 1920's began saying: Ford ...... Parts.

In my opinion, Henry Ford summarized the former 20th century America by demonstrating to the World what one (1) very brave individual could accomplish in one particular era of America by working hard & taking risks.

In lieu of preaching doom, even after the 1929 crash, he continued to bravely produce even better cars that many families of that era could afford.

He created meaningful, higher paying American jobs for extremely productive work that could benefit everyone & all of America.

He had his shortcomings like all humans; however, for those who can recognize, in visiting Greenfield Village, nobody has to write a story on how interested Ford was in his love for the America he was raised in, & his trying to share these same 19th & 20th century experiences with future generations to come.

Every brave person I ever met who accomplished so much with so little already knew what was said about them behind the scenes, & they knew the kinds of stories that would live on after their departure; however, these same brave men really never paid attention to what the non-risk taking cowards in the grand stand had to say in criticism -- they just kept moving forward & continued to succeed.

[Forker]

Henry Ford’s greatness in the pioneering of modern manufacturing and as a great industrialist are unquestionable.


Although he did have a dark side; he published and widely distributed his brand of anti-Semitism via the Dearborn Independent. All Ford dealers were required to offer his paper in their showrooms.

Henry Ford holds the dubious honor of being the only American Adolf Hitler thought enough of to mention in his book Mein Kampf. Hitler adored Ford because Henry was maybe the best known open anti-Semite’s in the world at the time. Hitler said he regarded Ford as his "inspiration," explaining his reason for keeping Ford's life-size portrait next to his desk.
In a letter written in 1924, Heinrich Himmler described Ford as "one of our most valuable, important, and witty fighters." Ford was held up as a shining example by most influential Nazis and Ford's anti-sematic writings were widely re-published by Nazi German and distributed widely.

In 1927 Ford recanted his anti-sematic articles stating they weren't written by him and weren't reviewed by him before being published under his name. He said he was appalled at some of what was written in his name, some say it was an enlightening and others say it had more to do with lawsuits being brought against him and Ford’s slumping sales figures?

It should be noted that Ford never advocated violance towards anyone in his writings and to his credit he was one of the first to hire women and handicapped works.

[Growley bear]

Originally Posted by matt92vr4

OK so I spent an evening with my great uncle who went to Ford trade school in 1937 and worked for Ford until 1982. His dad, my great grandfather, worked for Ford from 1910 to 1958.

I asked him to tell me some good old stories about his time at Ford. He came up with two stories and they both involved a guy named Harry Bennett. According to him, Harry Bennett, ex con, was Henry's henchman. Harry was in charge of the dirty work.

Story #1:
One day Henry Ford looked out into the parking lot and saw a number of employee owned non-Ford products. This upset Henry and he ordered Harry to oversee towing all of the non-Ford products out of the lot, as far away as possible, and don't tell anyone where you put them. Both my uncle and grandfather drove ONLY Fords their entire life so this did not directly affect them. Sometime later Ford instated the A plan which gave employees a discount on Ford products.

Story#2:
Henry and Edsel apparently did not get along very well. Henry did not approve of the way Edsel was living. One day, Henry sent Harry Bennett to Edsel's house to smash and destroy an entire cellar of wine.

He was also able to describe the first time he met Henry Ford. It was during his time as a student at Ford Trade School. Henry would come into the classrooms to listen and observe. Then he described the old Ford Rotunda and how Henry bought it from the worlds fair in Chicago (I think), had it dismantled and reassembled across from the plant. Last he spoke about attending Henry Ford's funeral (viewing) at the Rotunda and then the funeral outside of the church.

He finished with a joke regarding how you know when someone has completely failed at life. The punchline was racist so I will not repeat it but it had to do with driving a Ford Edsel.

Regarding story #1. My father was a FORD man to the point that he could look at a lot full of cars and only see an empty spot unless it had a Ford parked in it.
Years ago I used to work with a guy who for a time was Harry Bennet's son in law. According to him, Harry was very tight fisted when it came to money, even with the family.

[Ross/Kzoo]

In the 70's my ex-wife's uncle said that he couldn't wait to retire from Ford so that he could buy a Buick. he'd always wanted a Buick but was afraid what would happen to it in the company parking lot.

[Growley bear]

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Originally Posted by Ross/Kzoo

In the 70's my ex-wife's uncle said that he couldn't wait to retire from Ford so that he could buy a Buick. he'd always wanted a Buick but was afraid what would happen to it in the company parking lot.

I went to work for GM after my discharge from yhe Army in 1970, mainly to needle my father. He truly believed that if it wasn't a Ford it didn't exist.

[roccaas]

I'm still trying to verify the story that was a case study during an IE Class back in the dark ages between the Jet/Space Age and the Information Age...

As I "vaguely" remember it, Henry sent his engineers to junk yards nationwide to look at Ford products to determine which parts were overbuilt and still functional even after the rest of the machine had gone to the wrecking or parts yard.

As I recall, the report came back that the King Pins were WAY overbuilt compared with the rest of the machine; Henry then had the specs changed for King Pins to "de-content" their quality to align with the rest of the car.

The Optimist sees the glass half full, the Pessimist sees the glass half empty; the Industrial Engineer sees the glass as twice as large as it needs to be....

[Joe K]

I have heard a story aligned to the kingpin story above. It was in the 1920s when Ford and Edison and Firestone and Burroughs embarked on their "camping trips" - which was not really camping but rather an "excursion" attended to by an entourage of 20 to 80 servants who set up the tents, cooked the food, and chopped the wood.

The gentleman campers could take some or all of these activities to themselves (usually for Photo ops for the newspapers) but could defer at their leisure.

But Ford and Edison particularly looked for "history" in their travel and took in powerplants and junkyards along the way. It is reported that Ford took an especial delight in not finding a large quantity of Fords in the junk.

Later, after the death of Edison and after his camping period ended, Ford sent out teams of investigators to again scan the junkyards and see where his competition stood - with similar results.

These same teams also scanned available steam engines, antiques, buildings, and artifacts that Ford might incorporate into Greenfield Village.

My Manchester, NH friend went to the HFM auction in 1984ish and bought an Atlas Steam Engine which had formerly been in a small factory in Nashua, NH. He had visions of "taking it home" to Cow Hampshire (although the Atlas engine was a midwest product IIRC.) The engine was in good functional shape and included the tag which indicated it's location and date of purchase by Ford back in 1929.

The curious thing about that steam engine was that when Ford bought it, it was only about 20 years old: not really an antique but certainly representative of an age that had passed. Central station power had put the small independent steam plant out of business by the early 1920s in New England cities. Ford from his association with Edison was certainly aware of this - and Ford had the resources and manpower to take advantage of it.

So today - buy up all the VHS players and tapes you can find. Even CDs and their playback equipment. TV sets with a CRT rather than a plasma or LCD screen? In doing so you'll be forward looking - just like Henry Ford.

Joe K

[Ross/Kzoo]

Originally Posted by Joe K

So today - buy up all the VHS players and tapes you can find. Even CDs and their playback equipment. TV sets with a CRT rather than a plasma or LCD screen? In doing so you'll be forward looking - just like Henry Ford.

Joe K

I've got some, you buying? LOL

[Joe K]

Originally Posted by Ross/Kzoo

I've got some, you buying? LOL

I think not. New fangled inventions all of them. Below is the telephone in my shop.



Mine does have a digital keypad below the writing shelf. Sort of like driving a Model A with LED tail-lights.

Joe K

[roccaas]

You can almost hear Andy Griffith, ...Sarah, please get me the Mayor..."

[Brad in Germany]

Originally Posted by Forker

...
Henry Ford holds the dubious honor of being the only American Adolf Hitler thought enough of to mention in his book Mein Kampf. Hitler adored Ford because Henry was maybe the best known open anti-Semite’s in the world at the time. Hitler said he regarded Ford as his "inspiration," explaining his reason for keeping Ford's life-size portrait next to his desk....Ford was held up as a shining example by most influential Nazis and Ford's anti-sematic writings were widely re-published by Nazi German and distributed widely.

Below is a cover from the original issue of the "Ford Werkzeitung" (Ford Factory Newspaper) from April 1940 celebrating Hitler's birthday. The "Ford Werkzeitung" was the official newspaper of the Ford factory in Germany during WWII, with lots of interesting articles about how Ford supported the German military build-up, the German soldiers and the strong work ethic that was promoted by the German government during WWII. Most issues also feature a list of German Ford employees who were killed in action supporting their motherland.



Fordially,
Brad in Maryland