H E N RY F O R D
H i
sL i f
eH i
sW
o rk
H i
sG
e ni
u s,
W
I L L I A M A D A M S S I M O N D SCo py righ t 1 94 3 by Th e Bo bbs -Me rri l l C o .
Re vi se d 1 946
Pri nte d i n U S A . by spe ci al arrange m e nt
w i th The B o s - Me rri ll Co .
FL O Y D C L Y M E R
PUBLIS HER
o f Bo o ks Pe rta i ning to A u to mo b il e s a nd Mo to rcy c le s
2 1 25 W . Pico Stre e t Lo s A ng e le s 6 , Ca lif.
‘To
W I L L I AM ADAM S I I I
ROB E
R
T BR
U CEMAR JORY CHARL OTTE
K
L
U AN E JU N EA N N O U N C E
M
E N TThrou gh exc l u sive arrangem ent with th e Bobb s- Merril l
C
ompany Ih ave ta ken over th e pu b l ic ation o f H E N RY F O RD , H I S L I FE , H I S
W O RK
, H I S G E N I U S . I n my desire to incl u de in th e list o f book s I
pu b l ish o n th e h istory o f th e a u tomotive indu stry, I sel ected th is book a s
th e o ne offering th e m ost com pl ete and a ccu rate sto ry o f th e l i fe and
activities o f a great A m erican .
Th e origina l text o f th e book rem ains unch anged w ith th e e xce p tion o f some revision n ec essary to b ring th e events in th e l i feo f H enry
Ford and th e h istory o f th e F ord Motor
C
om pany u p to date. Th i s h a sb een done b y Mr. Sim ond s, th e au th or. Som e a ddition al il l u strations
h ave b een added in th e form o f a Su ppl em ent by m e a s pu b lish er
M r. Sim onds w as associated with M r. Ford fo r n early 20 years,
du ring wh ich tim e h e h a d th e opportu nity o f no t on l y k nowing M r. Ford intim ately b u t gath ering th e w ea lth o f h istorical m ateria l th at i s incl u ded
in this book . In m y opinion no au th or cou l d h ave done th e jo b a s w el l a s
M r. Simonds . I am h appy to recom m en d th is book to th e th ou s an ds o f
cu stom ers who h ave pu rch a sed my oth er pu b l ications .
A CLO S E- U P O F THE CHA RLES CL I FTO N A W A RD
T
h i s st a t u e tt e , we i gh i n g n i n e p o u n ds , s t a n di n g 1 4 i n ch e s h i g h a nde i gh t i nch e s wi de , w a s pr e s e n te d t o
H
e n ry F o r d a n d th i rt ee n o t h e r a u t om o t i ve pi o n e e r s a t th e Go l d e n J u
b
i l e e Ce l eb
ra ti o n o f th eA
u t o m o t i veIn du st ry h e l d i n D e t ro it , Ma y 3 1 , 1 9 46 . —D e tro xr N e w P ho to .
H e nry F ord a s a y oung a
pp
re nt ic e in De t roi t , e nl a r g e d fro ria g rou
p p
h ot og rap
h .I THE YEA
R
OF
G ETTYS B URG II
I BOYH OODIII
C O U R T SHI E A N DL AZIA BR L I GEI V THE F I R S T F ORD‘ CA R
V x G O I N G
I
NTO TH E A UTOMOB IL
E BU SINE SSVI ‘
S
TR
UGGL
EF
OR
RECOG
NITIONVI I B I
R
TH OF
TH E C OMP ANYVI I I x G ETTIN
G
U ND ER W
AYI X C ONT
R
OL
X
S
MASH ING
THE MONOP OL
YXI A G IANT S TI
R
S$ 5
F
OR
EIGHT H OUR
SXIII TH E PEACE S H I P
XI V
W
ORL
DW
AR
N O . I — L IB ER
TY MOTOR
S AN D EAGL
EB OAT S
BUI
L
D ING
THE ROUG
E PL
ANTW
EATHER
ING
THES
TOR
MXVII T H E A M END E HONO
R
ABL
EI f I N ME MO
R
Y OF
A FR
I ENDXI 'X THE BAN K H O
L
IDAYXX
U A W
T W O AN NIVE
R
SAR
IESTHE G AME O
F S
M EAR
MI
LL
ION SF
OR
D EF
ENSEPEACE W ITH L AB O
R
A L L - O U T
F
OR
VICTOR
YW
ILL
OW R U Nf T D D A D V
P hoto b y F o rd Moto r Co D ea rborn
The fi rst F o rd s
h
op, wh
e re the fi rst F o rd car was b u ilt in 1893 , in the re ar o f H e nry F o rd’sh
o me o n B a gle y Avenu e , D e tro I t.
The fi rst F o rd ( 1893 ) W it
h
H e nry F o rd at the t ille r. Th
is c ar wa s bu ilt a nd Ope rate d te n ye a rs be fo re H e nry To rdo rga niz e d the F o rd Mo to r Co m pa ny a nd be ga n to mak e e ve n a sli g
h
t s u cce ss a s a ma nu factu re r.I
L L US
T R A TI
O NS
He nry Ford F ro nt ispz'e c e
. Ford ’s Automobile Plow
Henry Ford a
s
a YoungM
achinis
t. ApprenticeTh e Fir
s
t Ford Car L eaves its
G arageIn ter
i
or Of the Bagley
fi Avenue WorkshopThe Car that Beat Winton and the Famous 999 Racer
Three E arl
y
Ford Plants
An E arly Ford Advertisement
S enator James Cou
z
ens
and H enry FordModel T N O .
M
eets the Firs
t Ford Car, Fi
rst Ford Car Meets the 25,000,000thTh e Fo rd Rouge Pl ant
M
r . E dison S igns his Name in Concrete Henry
Ford and T homas
AlvaE dis
onM
r. Ford ’s S event y
- fift h Anni
versaryThe Ford
s
G O t o Ware c o n s
T h
eR
e c o rd
of H
e n ry F
o rd
Btu lrlm g tlu wo nde rful "999, and dm m g it to t
h
is nmn r lo m I'n -o rd . wlm h Is 0 t—J sec
o nds fa s te r th
an a nyn utrmmb i lt c u r went be fore , H mm l y tim past i me o f Ho u r) t u rd I l ls r ml Wo rk — the busine ss that enga ge s all
hi s br i m s k i ll and e xpe rien
c
e i s tlu bu ild ing gf I' O R I ) ( A BS —4 M bu t runab out mach
ine s th
ath
a veW. Imu se
c
ured the New Yo rk Agenc
y fo r the s e su lu rl) cm . a nd no w lim e them on sa le , at the Automobi leS ho w. and i t o u r A utomo bile S ta tion.
[ In r a t m whi
ch
Mr. Fo rd made hi s wonderful run i s pa rt o f o u r la rge e xhi bit a t the Automobile S how O f“ gu ru . ru n bu d \ mtt'f t'stt'd in a uto mo b ilm g m ll want to wr I t
E lm “ u m t lw ft’um lu rncv r, a s we ll as the nplt l ul u! F U I tI ' “ U FU R
T h e F o r d Fl o t o r
n r unmat
c
hed po wm , but I t rt‘d m'rs the u brab o n. whic
h. tu g! tin-r wi l l: tlu fo u r fu ll i ll i ptu a l s prings . pro duc
e s a nw. 1m . H m!) MOTO R ( A ns read y rm I mme dn ti (mu m .
Ford Runabouts, $800. With Tonneau, $900.
Tt'mpo ra ry S a k-xroiym mt o u r Automo bile S ta tio n, H B- l w l -ust 7 7 s tre e t
J
oh
nW
a n am
ak
e rAn e a rly ad ve rtis e me nt b y Jo hn Wa nama k e r a nn o uncin g th e b re a k ing o f
th e Wo rl d’s s
p
e e d rec o rd in 1 904 by Mr. s H e nry F o rd. N o ti c e in th e fo u rthpa ra gra ph th e a po l o gy s ta ti n g tha t th e o nl y s pa ce th e y we re a b le to se cu re
a t th e a u to mo b il e S h o w wa s in th e b a s e m e nt o f th e b u il ding.
F a mo u s pe rs o na l i ti e s e nj o y ing a n o u ting : L e ft to ri gh t, H e nry F ord, Th o m a s A .
E di s o n a n d P re s i de nt Wa rre n G. Ha rding.
F O R E
W
O R DTH IS i
s
th es
tory
O f an em inent A m eric an , wh os
e retirem ent from active participation in affairs
in 1 94 5 brou gh t to a clo se a fab u lous
c areer.
B
orn in th e year O f th eB
attle O f G ettys
b u rg, lau nch ed inth e th en infant a u tomob ile indu
s
try
at th e age O f 40 , h e createdOne O f th e greate
s
t organiz ations
O f all tim e and w h en h e retired ,w a s t h e onl
y
one O f t h e early
pioneers
w h o h a d retained c On t rO IO f t h e b u
s
iness
th at h e h a d fo u nded .“ Along a
w
wh erever m ass
produ ction forgedweapon
s
O f defens
e and m unitions ofO
ffens
e du ring th e worlds
tru ggle, A meric a gave th anks
fo r th e au tomob ile maker w h ostarted D etroit on it
s
road O f enorm ous
produ ctive activity
. O nth e da
y
th at h e mars
h alled h i s tech nic a ls
kil l and res
ou rces
toh elp defeat th e A xi
s
pow ers
, h i s previous
accomplis
h m ents
de