Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village

“ With a piece of gas pipe, an old wheel, some wire, and other scraps of metal assembled on a long board fastened 4 to the kitchen sink in the Ford home, he made his first model gas engine. Although it sputtered and jumped, it worked.
During the years that Henry Ford worked on his homemade engines, other men were also experimenting with gas engines, and they were just as determined as he was to make them operate successfully. The fair in Chicago had aroused the curiosity of many people, and the newspapers began to carry stories about “horseless carriages.” ”

“ During these decades, Henry Ford relentlessly pursued his idea—more cars for more people.
New Fields Beckon
Automobiles, however, were not the only thing that interested the man who put America on wheels. He had many other ideas, some of which failed while others succeeded.
There was, first, the matter of his interest in farming, and in the land. He had experimented with a gasoline farm tractor early in the 1900’s, but he was unsuccessful in developing a line of farm engines. In 1915, a tractor 18 plant at Dearborn was begun. ”

“ The increasing number of automobiles also brought death on the highways and city streets to hundreds of Americans each year.
As the years went by, automobile manufacturers changed too. At first, there were dozens of makers of automobiles whose names are all but forgotten now. As the number of manufacturers decreased, the number of cars made annually by the remaining companies grew larger and larger. Eventually people talked about the “big three” of the automobile industry.
Competition between rival makers and Henry Ford brought the days of the model T to an end. ”

“ While model T’s changed in appearance from year to year, there was an even greater and never-ending change in the process of manufacturing them. The resulting economies brought lower prices, and this meant more cars for more people.
Henry Ford was ever on the lookout for ways and means to produce cars more efficiently. By 1914, a floor conveyor was in operation at the Highland Park plant, so that the half-completed cars moved through the plant while the workers stayed in one place. This assembly line became the key to greater production. ”

“ In the 1930’s, with the world burdened under an economic depression, Ford revived his interest in a program which he had begun in 1919 of establishing small factories in the rural areas of Michigan. He hoped to reverse the tide that saw farmers rushing to become city dwellers, thereby bringing about a decline of agricultural areas. ”

“ Henry Ford might well have remained on the farm and followed in his father’s footsteps. The soil around Dearborn was fertile, and the products of the land found a good market in nearby Detroit, a busy lake port. Although farming meant hard work and long hours, it was an honorable trade. William Ford was not rich, but neither was he poor. ”

“ At last he could leave the Illuminating Company and devote all of 6 his time to automobiles. It was a bold move for a man with a family to give up a good job. Some of his friends and relatives told each other that he should have stayed where he was.
The original investment of Murphy and his friends was not enough. Improvements and changes in the model were made. Even though $68,000 was invested in the company, the hoped for production of many cars never materialized, and in January, 1901, Henry Ford left the Detroit Automobile Company. ”

“ Pilots called it the “tin goose,” and it became known far and wide as a “safe” airplane in a day when flying was hazardous. Aviation safety was also aided when a radio beacon system was first perfected at Dearborn. Then for a period of years, Ford dropped the manufacture of airplanes, but in 1941, with the coming of World War II, airplane production became a necessary part of war preparation, and Henry Ford made airplanes again. This time they were faster, bigger, and more deadly. Bombers moved down the assembly lines at the Willow Run plant, which was the “Rouge” of the bomber industry. ”

“ In order to do this, the Rouge plant was silenced until a “new” Ford could be designed and put into production. Machine tools had to be replaced, and new dies and fixtures made. To accomplish this in the largest factory in the world was a herculean task. Industrial leaders all over the nation watched with eager eyes for news from Henry Ford at Dearborn. Finally, in December, 1927, the new model A was shown to the public. ”

“ It is part of man’s spirit.” He thus provided a school not only for children but also for workers. Henry Ford once called the museum and Village that he had created “a people’s university.” Here at The Edison Institute the creator of mass production methods—now intensely interested in the hand work of village craftsmen—spent many hours. ”

“ During the next few years, those who marveled at progress in 1903 saw even greater changes in their way of living brought about by improved transportation and communication. The twentieth century had started off well. ”