I think Mr. Ford is leaving us...

[freak]

Henry Ford died today in 1947. The day after Easter.

For those of you interested in his private life here is a short (87 pages) interview of his maid and butler.

http://cdm15889.contentdm.oclc.org/c...id/3542/rec/18

[Mikeinnj]

Ford was quite an innovator and business man.

Unfortunately he is remembered as a louse of a father and a failure at being a parent and guilty of unethical treatment of his employees.

[Larry Jenkins]

How can you say that? He was the first to offer $5.00 a day and housing for his employees?

Examples of "unethical treatment" please..

Larry Jenkins

[my1930coupe]

I watched a documentary that really soured me on Henry Ford. For example he would send his men into the homes of the five dollar a day earners to make sure they where living the way Henry expected them too. No drinking, house work done. Keeping of certain company, bed time etc..IMHO a real ass.. He was also a Nazi sympathizer..

[Russell in Tulsa]

I don't look up to an adulterer either.

However what an innovator. Did quite well for himself and others, eh?

[rscardina]

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I know that he hated the Jewish. He also hired a gang of thugs packing guns to monitor the factory workers. If the employees were happy with there working conditions and pay, why did they fight so hard to bring in the union? It was common for very difficult working conditions throughout the industry. There are a couple of good documentaries on Netflix. Just search Henry Ford for one them. The other one is The Men Who Built America. It is not so much about Ford. It is still very good.

[rogerkb1936]

in the context of the times, i believe he thought he was doing the right thing. there were company nurses on the job, the plant was kept clean. and he likely thought he was helping the employees by "guiding" them to an uplifting life. but that wouldn't work well today, would it?

[my1930coupe]

Yes they are. A real eye opener..

[mhsprecher]

I am finishing up the book about Ford Motor Company, Wheels for the World. It is a great read. He had many of the bad qualities listed above and many very good ones. I actually think a little better of him after reading this. He was an anti-Semite for sure, but he offered jobs to Arabs and African Americans when few others would. He introduced the five dollar day, but not everyone got that amount. He had thugs run the place under the odious Harry Bennett and did treat his only son poorly. He was a utopian thinker in many ways.

People are not all good nor all bad, but a mixture. We live in a world that wants heroes, but are quick to jump on someone for one transgression.

[Larry Jenkins]

Thanks Guys.. It's always nice to know "The rest of the Story.."

In the end I still think he was a pretty good inventor and provider of low-cost transportation back in the day..

Larry Jenkins

[ericr]

thanks for the post, which I found fascinating. it sounded like the help preferred him to her.

one thing I did not see discussed, unless I missed it, is how much security was around him. my understanding was that he was very security-conscious, especially after the various kidnappings that were national news in the early '30s. I have to believe the estate was well-guarded and perhaps not so subtly.

[hardtimes]

Originally Posted by Larry Jenkins

Thanks Guys.. It's always nice to know "The rest of the Story.."

In the end I still think he was a pretty good inventor and provider of low-cost transportation back in the day..

Larry Jenkins

I agree. And, how many, worldwide, was he responsible for employing. and making millions mobile.
So, MAYBE he had more 'warts /foibles' than some. But, here we are all talking about HIM. How many do you think will write about us....good/bad or ugly ? He was exceptional, warts and all

[Bill Underwood]

Two things:

"I did what I did at the time and when I knew better I did better"
Loosely quoted .....Angelou

"Let him among us cast the first stone"
Jesus

Not equivocating but two good thoughts!

Ford was not a great guy but who of us is? He did a lot of good for his workers albeit much of the above is chronicled and likely close to true. He revolutionized automaking and industrialization.
Let's just call it what it is?

[Mitch//pa]

don't forget Henry's famous quote

" it's all nuts and bolts"

[mhsprecher]

He was concerned about security as he was good friends with Charles Lindberg and the kidnapping of the Lindberg child was big news back then. As to being a Nazi sympathizer, I don't think that was the case, but he was an isolationist and pacifist and against involvement by the U.S. in both the first and second world wars. He also resisted having Ford produce war materiel, although, as is well known, did produce military supplies during both conflicts.

Alfred P. Sloan, of GM, was also an isolationist, but William Knudsen, who worked for Ford and later ran Chevrolet, joined the government to gear up production prior to our entry into WWII.

[Joe K]

Originally Posted by Mitch//pa

don't forget Henry's famous quote

" it's all nuts and bolts"

And that other great quote -

"History is bunk"

From a man who slept in his childhood home in this childhood bed and assembled/recreated/preserved much of what had passed during his life and times.

Still, where would we be had he not been?

More on the "history is bunk" quote at http://www.science20.com/chatter_box...ory_bunk-79505

Joe K

[Mitch//pa]

who ever can find and provide documentation of where Henry said "it's all nuts and bolts" wins a Mitch's auto t- shirt

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by Bill Underwood

"Let him among us cast the first stone"
Jesus

And as a stone wizzed past His head, he looked around to see who threw it. His gaze stopped on a woman and he said, "AH geez Mom".

[H. L. Chauvin]

Just one humble opinion of a remarkable individual who gave us much.

If one tries to concentrate on life in general, one can begin to decipher & experience the difference between the World's human "hate" & "envy", even going on today as mentioned further below.

Just as described by those scholars who wrote dictionaries, (which include the basic same meanings in all languages), one sees that:

1. Hate basically only means we want to have nothing to do with a person or thing; & is really not too harmful ........... like if one hates anchovies.

2. On the other hand, envy is a feeling of ill will towards someone because of his possessions, wanting to hurt, & having a strong desire for the something belonging to another.

If one ever experiences honestly climbing the corporate ladder, or meritoriously climbs in any sort of rank, anywhere, one easily experiences the enormous difference between 1. & 2. above.

During prohibition, & even today, there is not too much difference between the greed of the Unions & the Mafia; & if one had a thriving business during the lawless prohibition era & was not armed like Ford, one was in big trouble.

I met and greatly admired an elderly retired couple while living in Detroit in 1966 .... he assembled Model A differentials & retired from Ford Motor Co. ...... both he & his wife discussed Ford at length, & both adored Henry Ford.

After visiting the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, I placed more credence in this couple's description of Ford than the envious guys & organizations who tried to destroy him.

After Ford climbed the corporate ladder, to maintain his mental peace, he later learned another method to handle critics; i.e., just turn people "OFF".

Not much different today. Punish the rich with taxes, they do not deserve what they earned. And with over 50% believing this, they fell for the comment that they did not earn what they have, the Government gave it to them.

History in my opinion is really the "Present", just occurring at a different time.

Maybe funny ............ but not that funny.

[Ron/IA]

Below is part of an article I wrote for our club's newsletter. It came from a book written about Henry Ford by an author whose name I am forgetting. It gave me a more realistic interpretation of Henry's real thoughts about wages.

[B]One chapter that first caught my eye is titled – “Wages”. It is interesting to me that Chapter VIII was titled with only one word, but as we know of Henry’s thoughts on wages; one word is more than enough description.
In 1923, Ford was paying $6/hr. Of course we know that he was the first manufacturer to offer $5/hr. in 1914, and for good reason. Model T production began its meteoric climb in 1913; more than doubling production of 1912 (68,773 to 170,211). This meant he needed more workers, and he wanted them to be the best in skills (or at least that was what most people think-more on this below). (Note – I think 1912 was the time Henry stated in a newspaper interview – “You can have any color you want as long as it’s black!”)
In actuality, it wasn’t high production, or paying workers enough money so they too could buy automobiles; it was the high rate of turnover. At the time, workers earned about $2.25/day, for which they worked 9 hour shifts. That was actually good money for those days, but the work pace was too much for many workers, and they would simple walk off the job. The line production would be disrupted, and a replacement would have to be found and trained; this was costing Ford a lot of money. To give you another perspective of the turnover rate; in 1913, Ford hired more than 52,000 men that year just to keep a workforce of 14,000. By offering a wage that more than doubled what workers of the day were earning; Ford dramatically lowered the turnover, and it now was actually costing him less money to produce a Model T.

[H. L. Chauvin]

Always easy to criticize others, even among critics, Ford can be admired for many things, not just for his keen foresight in what he remarkably "saw".

My Dad's hobby was horses & buggies; Model T's & Model A's were far too modern for him. LOL.

After experiencing riding 5 miles many times in a buggy to visit someone, & after buying my first car, a Model A ........ it was so easy to see why someone would go so far as to even mortgage their house to buy an inexpensive Ford that could cut such so very slow travel time with horses.

Ford's success could be attributed to his ability to simply & clearly "see" what people wanted ....... so he produced it, & rendered service to maintain it.

In our country today, this same philosophy always works well, even on a much smaller scale, with anyone who can "see" & recognize our freedom ...... from there on out all it takes is determination to produce.

One of Ford's desires was to try to build a car to last ........ after seeing what goes on this & similar Forums ...... maybe in the end, he could be given just a little credit for succeeding in this one area.

[Bob-A]

I've read that Adolf Hitler so admired Henry Ford he had a portrait of Henry on the wall of one of his private apartments. Henry might have been a great man. But, his son, Edsel Ford, the real father of the Model-A, was a better man! Just my opinion.

Bob-A

[GordonJ]

I have read / studied a lot of material about the start of Ford Motor Company. While I respect both the unwavering vision (an affordable car for the masses that could provide transportation instead of a toy for the rich) and mechanical genius of Henry Ford, I believe that the early success of the company is equally the result of having James Couzens on the payroll. Couzens managed the finances and kept the company going through some very tight times. He was excellent in financial matters, incredibly practical and a tireless worker who was constantly trying to push the company forward. He created the first advertising copy for the company. He also established the basic principles of the Dealer sales network - insisting on the "right kind of salesmen" for the dealers and putting in place many of the OEM / Dealer relationship requirements that survive even to today.

While Henry could deliver the right car for the right time, James Couzens made sure there was a company to make it and dealer network to sell and service it.

[southfork]

I agree about no successful Model T and Model A without James Couzens. He held the early company together. Also "cast Iron Charlie" Sorensen, who put made Henry's ideas tangible and made mass production happen. I just finished reading "my 40 years with Ford" by Charles Sorensen. Very Good Book.

[H. L. Chauvin]

FWIW:

I just had a meeting this morning with a very young self-made multi-millionaire farmer who started with nothing & now has over 3,700 acres under cultivation.

While in his field, he was telling me about how his new Ford diesel truck out performs all of his other Ford & other makes of trucks.

While he was describing all of the new Ford diesel engine features, I started thinking about how Henry Ford was quite aware that his funeral suit would not have a wallet full of cash, & his vest pockets would not have stocks & bonds, & that he well knew that everything he worked for & earned had to be left behind.

He did not choose to sit back & run a 5 cents lemonade stand .......... he did not choose to periodically sell peanuts at a baseball game .............. but like this young farmer & his young sons, he got off of his butt & taught an entire generation of Americans that what we leave behind is of most importance because it can last until today ........... books written afterwards to tell Ford's stories can even generate income for those who are still writing pro or con about him.

In my opinion, Henry Ford was only what was then called an American .......... living in a unique, one-of-a-kind country ......... & he did it all in his own American way.

This young farmer thought Ford's legacy is still living ..... but he remarked that one just has to look for it.