Henry stamped his genius on more than automobiles
Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Automotive News Canada
  • Automotive News Europe
  • Automotive News Mexico
  • Automotive News China
AN-LOGO-BLUE
Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • Account
  • login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • Dealers
    • Automakers & Suppliers
    • News by Brand
    • Cars & Concepts
    • Shift
    • Mobility Report
    • Special Reports
    • Digital Edition Archive
    • Turn self-driving cars into offices? That'll take 30 years
      The bus stops here
      Last mile
      Self-driving cars might make people sick to their stomachs
    • GM launches 'Vehicle Locate' app
      Audi expanding regions where drivers can 'ride the green wave'
      Former Intel exec to lead Mich. mobility center
      Who wants VW's MEB architecture?
    • Dealerships owned by ex-NFL stars face collapse, litigation
      Want a luxury car? Try a Kia
      Costly lesson of tortuous legal battle: Get it in writing
      Denny Hecker: A changed man?
    • Access F&I
    • Fixed Ops Journal
    • Marketing
    • Used Cars
    • Sales
    • Best Practices
    • Dealership Buy/Sell
    • NADA
    • NADA Show
    • Automakers
    • Manufacturing
    • Suppliers
    • Regulations & Safety
    • Executives
    • Leading Woman Network
    • PACE Awards
    • CES
    • Management Briefing Seminars
    • World Congress
    • Aston Martin
    • BMW
      • Mini
      • Rolls Royce
    • Daimler
      • Mercedes Benz
      • Smart
    • Fiat Chrysler
      • Alfa Romeo
      • Chrysler
      • Dodge
      • Ferrari
      • Fiat
      • Jeep
      • Maserati
      • Ram
    • Ford
      • Lincoln
    • General Motors
      • Buick
      • Cadillac
      • Chevrolet
      • GMC
      • Holden
    • Honda
      • Acura
    • Hyundai
      • Genesis
      • Kia
    • Mazda
    • Mitsubishi
    • Nissan
      • Infiniti
    • PSA
      • Citroen
      • Opel
      • Peugeot
      • Vauxhall
    • Renault
    • Subaru
    • Suzuki
    • Tata
      • Jaguar
      • Land Rover
    • Tesla
    • Toyota
      • Lexus
    • Volkswagen
      • Audi
      • Bentley
      • Bugatti
      • Lamborghini
      • Porsche
      • Seat
      • Skoda
    • Volvo
    • (Discontinued Brands)
    • Auto Shows
      • Detroit Auto Show
      • New York Auto Show
      • Los Angeles Auto Show
      • Chicago Auto Show
      • Geneva Auto Show
      • Paris Auto Show
      • Frankfurt Auto Show
      • Toronto Auto Show
      • Tokyo Auto Show
      • Shanghai Auto Show
      • Beijing Auto Show
    • Future Product Pipeline
    • Photo Galleries
    • Car Cutaways
    • Design
  • OPINION
    • Blogs
    • Cartoons
    • Keith Crain
    • Automotive Views with Jason Stein
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send us a Letter
    • Is Honda's U.K. plant closure the beginning of a Japanese Brexit?
      Tesla introduces 'Dog Mode' to keep pets cool inside the car
      A GM investment in Rivian would send the wrong messages
      Bad policy, worse political strategy on auto tariffs
    • Dealers need to be ready for anything
      EVs will come with economic cost
      Spend money on sales, not stores
      Put it on your bucket list
    • Feb. 15, 2019: EV startup gets Amazon, GM interest
      Jan. 4, 2019 | Bumpy road ahead for Detroit’s automakers and suppliers?
    • Bad policy, worse political strategy on auto tariffs
      Elaine Chao: A speedier path for innovation
      Industry initiatives seek to ease tech shortage, but challenges remain
      Drivers for ride-hailing services can be a prime source of fixed ops profits
    • NADA can help fight stair step incentives
      Let dealers invest in innovation, not renovations
      Hackett's vision for Ford is still a blur
      The last temptation of Elon Musk
    • Thank you, Sting, for Oshawa efforts
      Customer-centric approach set Tesla apart
      Cadillac falls short on marketing, luxury
      Deeper issues in tech shortage
  • DATA CENTER
  • VIDEO
    • AutoNews Now
    • First Shift
    • Special Video Reports
    • Weekend Drive
  • EVENTS & AWARDS
    • Events
    • Awards
    • World Congress
    • Retail Forum: NADA
    • Canada Congress
    • Marketing 360: L.A.
    • Europe Congress
    • Fixed Ops Journal Forum
    • Retail Forum: Chicago
    • Leading Women Conference Detroit
    • 100 Leading Woman
    • 40 Under 40 Retail
    • All-Stars
    • Best Dealership To Work For
    • PACE Awards
    • Rising Stars
    • Europe Rising Stars
  • JOBS
  • +MORE
    • Webinars
    • Leading Women Network
    • Custom Features
    • Classifieds
    • People on the Move
    • Newsletters
    • Contact Us
    • Media Kit
    • Ally: Do It Right
    • Guide To Economic Development
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Automakers & Suppliers
June 16, 2003 01:00 AM

Henry stamped his genius on more than automobiles

Mary Connelly
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print
    This and that

    Henry Ford led the early Ford Motor Co. into

  • Hydroelectric plants

  • Iron and coal mining

  • Railroads

  • Wireless telegraphy

  • Radio broadcasting

  • Airplane production

  • Shipbuilding

  • Experimental farming

  • Lumbering

  • Education

  • Newspaper publishing

  • Brazilian rubber production

  • Hospitals and medical projects
  • Henry Ford, the genius of yesterday, is so much the man of today that his ideas are still printed on milk cartons in grocery stores.

    Not ideas about cars.

    Ideas about soybeans.

    "Henry Ford: A Man Who Used His Bean" trumpets a panel on a White Wave soymilk carton.

    "By 1936, Ford was using a bushel of soybeans in every car that rolled off the line," the milk carton states. "Soybean meal was converted to plastic used to make over 20 parts, including horn buttons and gearshift knobs." Henry Ford also invented soybean fiber that found its way into automobile upholstery and a suit he wore on "special media occasions," notes the carton.

    Exploring the potential of soybeans was among numerous ventures undertaken by Henry Ford, according to Ford R. Bryan, author of Beyond the Model T. Indeed, the mere recitation and dating of Henry Ford's diverse ventures - and adventures - beyond automobiles requires more than 225 pages in Bryan's book.

    Henry Ford's relentless curiosity led the early Ford Motor Co. into hydroelectric plants, iron and coal mining, railroad operation, wireless telegraphy, radio broadcasting, airplane production, shipbuilding, experimental farming, lumbering, education, newspaper publishing, Brazilian rubber production, hospitals, medical projects and numerous other ventures.

    Coffee, tea and toothpaste

    Long before Sam Walton and the value prices of Wal-Mart there were Ford commissaries. And just like Wal-Mart stores, the commissaries even had a greeter known as a "service man" at the entrance.

    Aware that inflation was undermining his employees' purchasing power, Henry Ford in 1919 opened the first Ford commissary across from the Ford Highland Park plant powerhouse, according to Bryan. More than a dozen stores would follow.

    Henry Ford wanted to operate "high-volume outlets" where his employees "could buy high-quality commodities at rock-bottom prices," Bryan says in his book. "Ford's system for providing high-quality, low-cost merchandise was very straightforward. It simply employed bulk purchasing together with production-line delivery."

    Henry Ford's stores even offered products bearing a private label, a merchandising phenomenon embraced by retailers of every stripe today. Rather than advertised brand names, the stores sold coffee, tea, flour, butter, toothpaste, aspirin, cold tablets and antiseptic mouthwash bearing the Ford label, according to Bryan. Ford flour, a blend of spring and winter wheat grown on Ford farms, was a big seller.

    Barbecue briquettes

    The philosophy behind the Ford stores found its way into many ventures. For example, in 1919 he went into lumbering in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Today, backyard-barbecue aficionados still enjoy an offshoot of that venture.

    Henry Ford acquired 313,447 acres of forest for about $3 million with the aid of E.G. Kingsford, a Ford dealer in the Upper Peninsula, according to Bryan. At the time, each Model T used 250 board feet of hardwood in body framework, floorboards and wheels.

    "Wood wastes from the Iron Mountain sawing operations were used not only to produce steam,'' Bryan notes. "Hardwood chips were charred, ground, mixed with starch, and compressed to form nearly a hundred tons per day of the well-known Ford charcoal briquettes sold by Ford dealers all over the United States. These pillow-shaped briquettes are still manufactured by Kingsford Products Company of Oakland, Calif., and sold by the name of Kingsford."

    Tireless agenda

    Bryan's chronicle of Henry Ford's far-ranging interests creates a portrait of a man whose mind never lay idle, who saw possibilities within possibilities that others could not begin to articulate.

    The Ford farm tractor. The Fordson Estates Ltd. agricultural experiment in England. Ship building and the production of the U.S. Navy's submarine chaser, the Eagle, during World War I.

    For example, Bryan points to Henry Ford's schedule as Ford contemplated entering the wireless business, in 1919. Henry Ford's corporate agenda would put to shame that of a global CEO today.

    "A wireless station, to be sure, was not a major item on Ford's 1919 agenda," Bryan writes.

    "This was the year he was fighting dissident stockholders by putting Edsel (Ford) in charge of Ford Motor Company and threatening to start his own company and build a new $250 car as competition. He was trying to build the Rouge plant, fight the Chicago Tribune in a lawsuit, launch the Dearborn Independent, start the Ford Technical Institute, build a gasoline streetcar, plan a dirigible factory, locate timber and mining properties, take over a railroad, start a new tractor plant in Ireland, and introduce modern manufacturing methods in Japan. Yet wireless intrigued him."

    And Henry Ford turned into reality things that intrigued him. By November 1920, the Ford wireless station was among the first to broadcast presidential election returns.

    Ford Motor Co. has tried to capture a sense of Henry Ford's insatiable curiosity. It produced a 2003 concept car that pays homage to the interests of the company's founder. The concept vehicle, dubbed the Model U and created as part of the centennial celebration, even uses soy-based materials in the tailgate and in seating foam to invoke the explorations of the company's founder.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    Digital Edition
    THIS WEEK'S EDITION
    See our archive
    Fixed Ops Journal
    Thumbnail
    Read the issue
    See our archive
    Sign up for free newsletters
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    You can unsubscribe at any time through links in these emails. For more information, see our Privacy Policy.

    Get Free Newsletters

    Sign up and get the best of Automotive News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Now

    Get access to in-depth, authoritative coverage of the auto industry from a global team of reporters and editors covering the news that's vital to your business.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter

    Our Mission

    The Automotive News mission is to be the primary source of industry news, data and understanding for the industry's decision-makers interested in North America.

    AN-LOGO-BLUE
    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit, Michigan
    48207-2997

    (877) 812-1584

    Email us

    Resources
    • About us
    • Contact Us
    • Media Kit
    • Subscribe
    • Manage your account
    • Reprints
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    Copyright © 1996-2019. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • HOME
    • NEWS
      • Dealers
        • Access F&I
        • Fixed Ops Journal
        • Marketing
        • Used Cars
        • Sales
        • Best Practices
        • Dealership Buy/Sell
        • NADA
        • NADA Show
      • Automakers & Suppliers
        • Automakers
        • Manufacturing
        • Suppliers
        • Regulations & Safety
        • Executives
        • Leading Woman Network
        • PACE Awards
        • CES
        • Management Briefing Seminars
        • World Congress
      • News by Brand
        • Aston Martin
        • BMW
          • Mini
          • Rolls Royce
        • Daimler
          • Mercedes Benz
          • Smart
        • Fiat Chrysler
          • Alfa Romeo
          • Chrysler
          • Dodge
          • Ferrari
          • Fiat
          • Jeep
          • Maserati
          • Ram
        • Ford
          • Lincoln
        • General Motors
          • Buick
          • Cadillac
          • Chevrolet
          • GMC
          • Holden
        • Honda
          • Acura
        • Hyundai
          • Genesis
          • Kia
        • Mazda
        • Mitsubishi
        • Nissan
          • Infiniti
        • PSA
          • Citroen
          • Opel
          • Peugeot
          • Vauxhall
        • Renault
        • Subaru
        • Suzuki
        • Tata
          • Jaguar
          • Land Rover
        • Tesla
        • Toyota
          • Lexus
        • Volkswagen
          • Audi
          • Bentley
          • Bugatti
          • Lamborghini
          • Porsche
          • Seat
          • Skoda
        • Volvo
        • (Discontinued Brands)
      • Cars & Concepts
        • Auto Shows
          • Detroit Auto Show
          • New York Auto Show
          • Los Angeles Auto Show
          • Chicago Auto Show
          • Geneva Auto Show
          • Paris Auto Show
          • Frankfurt Auto Show
          • Toronto Auto Show
          • Tokyo Auto Show
          • Shanghai Auto Show
          • Beijing Auto Show
        • Future Product Pipeline
        • Photo Galleries
        • Car Cutaways
        • Design
      • Shift
      • Mobility Report
      • Special Reports
      • Digital Edition Archive
    • OPINION
      • Blogs
      • Cartoons
      • Keith Crain
      • Automotive Views with Jason Stein
      • Columnists
      • Editorials
      • Letters to the Editor
      • Send us a Letter
    • DATA CENTER
    • VIDEO
      • AutoNews Now
      • First Shift
      • Special Video Reports
      • Weekend Drive
    • EVENTS & AWARDS
      • Events
        • World Congress
        • Retail Forum: NADA
        • Canada Congress
        • Marketing 360: L.A.
        • Europe Congress
        • Fixed Ops Journal Forum
        • Retail Forum: Chicago
        • Leading Women Conference Detroit
      • Awards
        • 100 Leading Woman
        • 40 Under 40 Retail
        • All-Stars
        • Best Dealership To Work For
        • PACE Awards
        • Rising Stars
        • Europe Rising Stars
    • JOBS
    • +MORE
      • Webinars
      • Leading Women Network
      • Custom Features
        • Ally: Do It Right
        • Guide To Economic Development
      • Classifieds
      • People on the Move
      • Newsletters
      • Contact Us
      • Media Kit