For the Henry Ford historians...

[RcT]

I haven't posted in a while, but I was going through some of the old stuff saved by my parents, and found a "News and World Affairs" newspaper Called "Pathfinder"; It is dated June 22, 1940 (in their 47th year, so it says). In it I saw a stern picture of Henry Ford and found the following text:

"Acting on auto manufacturer Henry Ford's offer to build 1,000 warplanes a a day within six months, if he is left free of government influence, the U.S. Army sent him one of its speedy, new Curtiss P-40 pursuit planes for inspection. Afterwords, Ford declared that construction of similar planes at a 1,000-a-day rate would not only be a simple task, but they could be rolled off his assembly lines without interrupting his normal output of autos."

The caption under Mr. Ford's picture reads "Ford: 1,000 planes a day - easy."

I am positive that this pamphlet will mean absolutely nothing to anyone in my family when I check out, so, if any of you are interested in this or know where it could be placed for historical purposes, I would be glad to donate it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all...

Richard Tatoyan

[Big John]

how about the gilmore auto museum in hickory corners, michigan.....or the maffi...?????????

[LukeDahlinger]

I would like it for my Henry Ford collection if you decide not to donate it to a museum.

Some of you may or may not know, but I am in the process of writing a book on Henry Ford/Ford history and have been accumulating research materials for the past 12 years.

If you donate it to the Henry Ford Museum, there's a chance it would be sold in their annual literature sale which is held every year in conjuction with the Old Car Festival.

[RcT]

Thank you to all who responded. I received a personal message and have decided to donate it to the Owlshead Transportation Museum in Owls head , Maine, as they have both auto and aircraft collection, this just seems to make sense.

I don't know how the rest of you may feel about making donations, but in my case, it would have probably been tossed after my passing. Take a look at the stuff you may have and ask yourself what will probably happen to this after you buy the farm... I've been doing a lot of this lately and it feels good to know your stuff is going to people who will appreciate, preserve and hopefully, pass it on someday.

I have a large collection of old Stanley handtools, and the old tool maket has peaked and passed... I'm having a great time giving this stuff to woodworkers in the neighborhood. Think ahead.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Before you sent it off maybe a few quality copies should be made for guys like Luke that would want them.

I read about a nice toy train collection that was donated to a museum, in fact if I remember right, it was the Henry Ford museum, and they sold them rather than display them.

[Craig Lewis]

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Originally Posted by RcT

Thank you to all who responded. I received a personal message and have decided to donate it to the Owlshead Transportation Museum in Owls head , Maine, as they have both auto and aircraft collection, this just seems to make sense.

I don't know how the rest of you may feel about making donations, but in my case, it would have probably been tossed after my passing. Take a look at the stuff you may have and ask yourself what will probably happen to this after you buy the farm... I've been doing a lot of this lately and it feels good to know your stuff is going to people who will appreciate, preserve and hopefully, pass it on someday.

I have a large collection of old Stanley handtools, and the old tool maket has peaked and passed... I'm having a great time giving this stuff to woodworkers in the neighborhood. Think ahead.

.......nice one.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

RcT,
GIVING is a GREAT pastime, really fun!!
When you sell stuff, in a FEW days you say to yourself, "SELF, where'd that money go from that crap I sold?? OH! I picked up bread & milk & $47.77 for gas & it's GONE!" Bill W.

[H. L. Chauvin]

"build 1,000 warplanes a day within six months, if he is left free of government influence"

1940 vs. 2012 Production of Goods & Services:

Today, in 2012, "with" government influence, probably takes about three (3) years to obtain government permits from FAA & EPA plus run on part ethanol; maybe 10 warplanes a day with government monitoring emissions & details of every part, etc etc; then, this crucial war effort job halted for 8 months after the first 50 planes roll out to settle a workers strike demanding more pay & less hours of work; & finally, in desperation, to speed up production, entire project & all plane building jobs are probably sent out to Mexico to avoid constant government influence causing delays.

How we have fallen from a strong private, free enterprise system in just a few years to a degenerating government controlled society that only creates obstacles to progress with not much end in sight in the near future.

[Tom Wesenberg]

H.L. I agree. It takes years just to go through the paperwork for the environmental impact study before any building can even begin. That's what happens when you change from a manufacturing economy to a paperwork economy.

[ivoryjohn]

[QUOTE=RcT;539110]I haven't posted in a while, but I was going through some of the old stuff saved by my parents, and found a "News and World Affairs" newspaper Called "Pathfinder"; It is dated June 22, 1940 (in their 47th year, so it says). In it I saw a stern picture of Henry Ford and found the following text:

This paper has historical value for several reasons but there is just so much of it out there that it is hard to find things like it a home. I have several of my father's things from WWII that belong in a museum but like the man said if you donate it to a museum it will likely be sold. It is how they pay the lights and for the displays they design that fit the direction the museum desires to go. Your donation helps the museum but not in the expected way. Even the AACA library has a sale each year of cars donated and of documents. It would be nice if it fit someone's collection and filled in a slot in their collection even if it isn't a museum.

If I remember correctly there is some historical reference to "The Pathfinder" being a communist idealist type of publication. Does anyone else know more about the "Pathfinder?" How does the timeline fit with Henry's Nazi Party connection?

Could you scan a bit of the publication for us to see?

[Patrick L.]

One thing I find interesting about Fords airplane is that my father flew B24s and always said that those built by Ford flew best and with the least problems..

[Jack 34pu]

Yes, a museum would be a wonderful place for the document. My great grandfather was John L Ford, a distant relative of Henry Ford. My 1st son's middle name is 'Ford' in his honor. I would be willing to pay to have a copy of the article mailed or emailed to me. I realize that you will probably get a lot of requests and if it is overwhelming, I would certainly understand. I wonder if there is any way on line to find the article? If someone comes up with a link, please let me know.

On a side note, my father worked at Fairchild Aircraft for 41 yrs. Our family has a lot of documents, photos and some model shop prototype models that will probably go to the Avaition Museum in Hagerstown.
Thanks,

Jack 34pu

[H. L. Chauvin]

In response to reply #11, prior to being concerned about capitalist business giants such as Henry Ford, Joe Kennedy, & U. S. corporate executives of General Electric, IBM, etc,,etc., they all knew that the real WWII era enemy was not the 1934 established Fuhrer of Germany, nor the German citizens; but, a worldwide movement to destroy the Capitalist Governments as practiced at that time by all of Western Europe & the United States, including Germany.

In addition, with all due respect to Henry Ford & our other U. S. Giants, they were cognizant that the Fuhrer was against this very same movement which even continues today as we speak; hence, not knowing the immediate future, it was difficult for these U. S. respectable Giants to decide what to do when existing between a rock & a hard place.

Thanks to Winston Churchill & these few U. S. Giants, at Yalta, Roosevelt did not give "all" of Western Europe to his mentor Joe Stalin. Our much needed U. S. trade with all of Western Europe would have ceased.

The eye opening Pathfinder Press archives are preserved & located in the Hoover Institution Archives -- definitely not the Roosevelt archives.

If one wants a "hair raising" U. S. education that cannot be found anywhere else, one can still read details about this Pathfinder movement against capitalism which continues today.

One excerpt of particular interest is found on Google under: "Read an Excerpt - Pathfinder Press Copyright 1975 World War II" which thoroughly describes this movement -- other most shocking Pathfinder exerpts will also pop up with controversial names that we all recognize today.

In my humble opinion, in defense of Henry Ford in the 1930's, after visiting the historical preservation items in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn in 1966, & in 1972, I have no doubt that Henry Ford loved all of America with a deep passion for generations to come; & furthermore, Henry Ford was America.