Henry Ford

Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and the sponsor of the development of the assembly line  technique of mass production.
Although Ford did not invent the automobile or the assembly line, he developed and manufactured the first automobile that many middle class Americans could afford. In doing so, Ford converted the automobile from an expensive curiosity into a practical conveyance that would profoundly impact the landscape of the 20th Century. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry. As the owner of the Ford Motor Company, he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. He is credited with "Fordism": mass production of inexpensive goods coupled with high wages for workers. Ford had a global vision, with consumerism as the key to peace. His intense commitment to systematically lowering costs resulted in many technical and business innovations, including a franchise system that put dealerships throughout most of North America and in major cities on six continents. Ford left most of his vast wealth to the Ford Foundation and arranged for his family to control the company permanently.

Assembly Line

An assembly line is a manufacturing   process (most of the time called a progressive assembly) in which parts (usually interchangeable parts ) are added as the semi-finished assembly moves from workstation to workstation where the parts are added in sequence until the final assembly is produced. By mechanically moving the parts to the assembly work and moving the semi-finished assembly from work station to work station, a finished product can be assembled faster and with less labor than by having workers carry parts to a stationary piece for assembly.

Ford Foundation

The foundation was established January 15, 1936, in Michigan by Edsel Ford (president of the Ford Motor Company ) and two other executives "to receive and administer funds for scientific, educational and charitable purposes, all for the public welfare."  During its early years, the foundation operated in Michigan under the leadership of Ford family members and their associates and supported the Henry Ford Hospital and the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, among other organizations.

Model T

The Ford Model T ( known as the Tin Lizzie, Leaping Lena, or flivver) is an automobile that was produced by Ford motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927.  It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile , the car that opened travel to the common middle-class American; some of this was because of Ford's efficient fabrication, including assembly line production instead of individual hand crafting.

Ford Creations

Henry Ford long had an interest in materials science and engineering. He enthusiastically described his company's adoption of vanadium steel alloys and subsequent metallurgic R&D work.
Ford long had an interest in plastics developed from agricultural products, especially soybeans.   Soybean-based plastics were used in Ford automobiles throughout the 1930s in plastic parts such as car horns, in paint, etc. Furthermore, it ran on grain alcohol (eithanol) instead of gasoline. 
Ford was interested in engineered woods  ("Better wood can be made than is grown"(at this time plywood and particle board were little more than experimental ideas); corn as a fuel source, via both corn oil and ethanol; and the potential uses of cotton.Ford was instrumental in developing charcoal briquets, under the brand name "Kingford". His brother in law, E.G. Kingsford, used wood scraps from the Ford factory to make the briquets.
In 1927 Ford partnered with Thomas Edison and Harvey Samuel Firestone (each contributing $25,000) to create the Edison Botanic Research Corp. in Fort Myers, Florida, to look for a native source of rubber.

Heritage Farm Transportation Museum

View More