Stories about Henry Ford

[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.