comprehensive doco on Henry Ford

[Pis-ton broke]

a new doco on Henry Ford is now on netflix. at 2 hours long , its very comprehensive. subjects covered are his youth , early cars ,his "quadrocycle" horseless carriage in 1896 (with pics). a brief mention of K & N models, heaps on T, how the A came about and that Henry initially didn,t want it, etc.

his son Eddsill (sp?). and this disapproval,etc. Edds influence and the unions. the five dollars a day rate, Henrys disliking of jews and his social engineering.Henrys headkicker Harry Bennet. the development of the company in the early years. and stacks of interesting bits of info. his friend ship with edison ( edison was bit of an A.H. i think, treated tesla poorly). Henrys racecar in 1901, and he drove it. making airplanes in the ww2. etc. etc.

very well narrated and full of very interesting pictures and film from 1901.

defiantly worth a look at.

[Trump]

What is the title of this doco Mr Piston?

[zipping]

Is it the same as the one on history channel? If so was pretty good but hopefully its a new one.

I picked up a biography written in the late 70's on Henry. Fascinating read.

[Pis-ton broke]

yes, i am watching again zipping

"American experience : Henry Ford "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcr3YQK0eEY

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2547528/

an is on netflix.

[Trump]

Watching now, looks good. Thanks Piston.

[scotty_dee]

Sounds very similar to the book I just finished on Henry Ford and FoMoCo. Called 'Wheels for the World', highly recommend it an awesome read.

[Moby Vic]

The American Experience documentary is pretty good. Edsel was his son (an ill-fated division was named after him).

Robert Lacey's Ford: The Men and the Machines is the best book I've ever read on the history of Ford Motor Company.

[tranquilized]

Originally Posted by scotty_dee

Sounds very similar to the book I just finished on Henry Ford and FoMoCo. Called 'Wheels for the World', highly recommend it an awesome read.

I read that book a few years back, it's great isn't it. Incredibly detailed and fascinating, but not only from a Ford fans perspective - it's just an amazing part of human history.

[Mesa]

As posted by Moby Vic, if you haven't read it, I too highly recommend reading Robert Lacey's book on Henry Ford, 'Ford-The Men and Machine'. At the time it was regarded as one the most honest biographies ever written on a particular subject. It wouldn't surprise me if that what the current documentary was based on.

[Spurious]

I agree that Robert Lacey's book is well worth the read.

Turns out Henry ford was a bit of a pig headed A'hole, but he knew how to run business.
I bet the doco doesn't mention the affair Henry had with one of his housekeepers...resulting in an illegitimate child !!!

I for one would like to know what became of this child & if he ever benefited from the success of the company.

[tranquilized]

Originally Posted by TasmanWW

I agree that Robert Lacey's book is well worth the read.

Turns out Henry ford was a bit of a pig headed A'hole, but he knew how to run business.
I bet the doco doesn't mention the affair Henry had with one of his housekeepers...resulting in an illegitimate child !!!

I for one would like to know what became of this child & if he ever benefited from the success of the company.

Actually I'm not so sure Henry had much of a business brain. At one point the financial position of Ford was calculated by weighing the amounts receivables vs bills, the difference being their net position. True story apparently.

[Moby Vic]

Originally Posted by superpursuit05

As posted by Moby Vic, if you haven't read it, I too highly recommend reading Robert Lacey's book on Henry Ford, 'Ford-The Men and Machine'. At the time it was regarded as one the most honest biographies ever written on a particular subject. It wouldn't surprise me if that what the current documentary was based on.

There was a TV miniseries (of greatly reduced scope) based on it titled Ford: The Man and the Machine. It's available on DVD, at least in the US and Canada.

It's decent, but nowhere near as good as the book. Cliff Robertson plays Henry Ford. Michael Ironside plays Harry Bennett. Most of the rest of the cast is Canadian nobodies.

[BluXR6T]

Originally Posted by Moby Vic

The American Experience documentary is pretty good. Edsel was his son (an ill-fated division was named after him).

Robert Lacey's Ford: The Men and the Machines is the best book I've ever read on the history of Ford Motor Company.

Hi Moby, took your tip and did a search for the Robert Lacy book and found one signed by him from a place in Detroit and bought it. Thanks for the tip.

[mattaus1]

I'll have to watch this one on netflix when the missus is out...

[Moby Vic]

Originally Posted by BluXR6T

Hi Moby, took your tip and did a search for the Robert Lacy book and found one signed by him from a place in Detroit and bought it. Thanks for the tip.

I got a paperback of it back in the '80s and the binding fell apart. A few months back I was in a used book store and found a first edition hard copy! It's not in mint shape, but it was cheap and the binding is good.

Happy reading!

[castellan]

Originally Posted by Pis-ton broke

a new doco on Henry Ford is now on netflix. at 2 hours long , its very comprehensive. subjects covered are his youth , early cars ,his "quadrocycle" horseless carriage in 1896 (with pics). a brief mention of K & N models, heaps on T, how the A came about and that Henry initially didn,t want it, etc.

his son Eddsill (sp?). and this disapproval,etc. Edds influence and the unions. the five dollars a day rate, Henrys disliking of jews and his social engineering.Henrys headkicker Harry Bennet. the development of the company in the early years. and stacks of interesting bits of info. his friend ship with edison ( edison was bit of an A.H. i think, treated tesla poorly). Henrys racecar in 1901, and he drove it. making airplanes in the ww2. etc. etc.

very well narrated and full of very interesting pictures and film from 1901.

defiantly worth a look at.

People like to make out his dislike of the Jews as something of a highlight but back in his day and before that, most people did not look up to the Jews at all and it's only from around 1990 or so that the majority have only started to idolise the Jews.
So young people come to think there is something sinister with the man.

Fact is he was trying to help out the less wealthy people to get transport when all the others only looked to the rich mans money.

[Pis-ton broke]

Originally Posted by castellan

People like to make out his dislike of the Jews as something of a highlight but back in his day and before that, most people did not look up to the Jews at all and it's only from around 1990 or so that the majority have only started to idolise the Jews.
So young people come to think there is something sinister with the man.

Fact is he was trying to help out the less wealthy people to get transport when all the others only looked to the rich mans money.

yeah, i don,t know much about jews, its a bit of a hot potato , so i won,t go there, and heavily censored etc.

but yes you are right , Henry did want to help the working class, and they say that more mobile people affected the country in a good way.

in some review i read on the doco, someone said the first half of the show ,they built him up and second half they tore him down, i think thats about right.

but an interesting "fact" i read was that Henry was paying the coloured people (the green ones, lol) the same as the whities. i that time there wasn,t equal pay amounst the different races.

imo , he was a great man, a pioneer of of many things, he wasn,t perfect, but who is. and someone who had a go.

[Fordster91]

I am amazed by how henry ford revolutionized the automotive industry. A lot dont know that but he also inspried literature such as "Brave New World" by A. Huxley

[castellan]

Originally Posted by Pis-ton broke

yeah, i don,t know much about jews, its a bit of a hot potato , so i won,t go there, and heavily censored etc.

but yes you are right , Henry did want to help the working class, and they say that more mobile people affected the country in a good way.

in some review i read on the doco, someone said the first half of the show ,they built him up and second half they tore him down, i think thats about right.

but an interesting "fact" i read was that Henry was paying the coloured people (the green ones, lol) the same as the whities. i that time there wasn,t equal pay amounst the different races.

imo , he was a great man, a pioneer of of many things, he wasn,t perfect, but who is. and someone who had a go.

Not too many people could look down their noes at Henry Ford but some dull educated or people with criminal intent try to bag him.

Things are censored, only because the one who does so is only trying to hide from being exposed for what they are.

[zipping]

Found my copy of the Ford book I read and its the Robert Lacy written book. Fascinating reading for those that haven't read it.

When I watched the doco it seemed mostly based on the Lacey book.

[Whitey-AMG]

Just finished watching the American experience doco on YouTube. A great insight into a very complex human character. Explains a lot about why we Ford owners are so stubborn and demanding ! Must be passed down from the vehicle genes to the owner. So many things to hate and so many things to admire about him.

[castellan]

Originally Posted by Bluey-GT

Just finished watching the American experience doco on YouTube. A great insight into a very complex human character. Explains a lot about why we Ford owners are so stubborn and demanding ! Must be passed down from the vehicle genes to the owner. So many things to hate and so many things to admire about him.

What is their to hate about him ?

I admire a dude called Ty Cobb for a lot of things and he was a very complex person, but most do not understand what he is putting forward and end up get it all wrong, because they only have a limited understanding and a narrow mind set.
The crowd hated him and he loved that and said it was wonderful.
No one ever came close to his ball game average and he was also one of the most successful business men in the world.

But as always their is some twerps having a crack at something they have bugger all true understanding of.

[scotty_dee]

Watched this documentry also, thanks for sharing. Was good too to put faces to a lot of the names out of the books. Actually the Author of the book I mentioned earlier, Wheels for the World - Douglas Brinkley, features heavily in the documentry as one of the Historians.

Brilliant man Henry Ford. A lot of businesses today could learn to operate successfully and efficiently just by seeing hoe Henry did it over 100 years ago...

[Whitey-AMG]

Originally Posted by castellan

What is their to hate about him ?

Henry Ford ?
Well his business acumen was brilliant and his original vision and philosophy was revolutionary. As a father figure and parent and mentor to his son....questionable to the point of cruelty. That side of him was easy to dislike.

[castellan]

Originally Posted by Bluey-GT

Henry Ford ?
Well his business acumen was brilliant and his original vision and philosophy was revolutionary. As a father figure and parent and mentor to his son....questionable to the point of cruelty. That side of him was easy to dislike.

It may of been the way he was brought up himself and he was just pushing his son, to be hard in his light. as was the way in them days with people who strive as such.
Henry pushed himself hard to get where he got, and without such he would never of been anything near what he achieved.

My dad pushed me as hard as he could, because he knew I would never make it in this business if he just pampered me. was he cruel ? in todays world he would be said to be, but not in years gone past.

He just could not understand why people did not wont to work hard labour 7 days a week flat out and no lunch brake, you would just eat on the run and work big hours from before sun up and he would work to 10 at night on the job or doing paper work and have cold dinners most of the time as someone would ring to do with business.
If one did not work 7 days a week, you were considered a bludger and a no hoper, a good for nothing who would never amount to anything at all.

[joolz]

I watched one this time last year on the way to Vietnam. It included Australia (Geelong) as well. Was quite good. This one was more in depth on the friction between Henry and his son along with the unions.

[Bill M]

One of the best reads is by Charles E Sorenson "My Forty years with Ford" 1904 -1944. Sorenson was Henry Ford's Production manager and pioneered many of the innovative use of castings in engine production hence the nickname "Cast iron Charlie" he was also responsible for the green field construction of Ford's Willow Run B-24 Liberator plant in Ypsilanti Michigan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_E._Sorensen

http://www.amazon.com/Forty-Years-Gr...les+e+sorenson

[Whitey-AMG]

Originally Posted by castellan

It may of been the way he was brought up himself and he was just pushing his son, to be hard in his light. as was the way in them days with people who strive as such.
Henry pushed himself hard to get where he got, and without such he would never of been anything near what he achieved.

My dad pushed me as hard as he could, because he knew I would never make it in this business if he just pampered me. was he cruel ? in todays world he would be said to be, but not in years gone past.

He just could not understand why people did not wont to work hard labour 7 days a week flat out and no lunch brake, you would just eat on the run and work big hours from before sun up and he would work to 10 at night on the job or doing paper work and have cold dinners most of the time as someone would ring to do with business.
If one did not work 7 days a week, you were considered a bludger and a no hoper, a good for nothing who would never amount to anything at all.

No
Nothing to do with working his son hard. More to do with his dismissive attitude towards some of Edsel's own brilliant ideas that may have carried FoMoCo even further sooner. Henry invented the industry, but he was poor at reinventing. If it wasn't for push to shove on the model A, you kinda wonder what may have happened.
Anyways, like I said. A great character and a very good doco. Highly recommended.

[castellan]

Originally Posted by Bluey-GT

No
Nothing to do with working his son hard. More to do with his dismissive attitude towards some of Edsel's own brilliant ideas that may have carried FoMoCo even further sooner. Henry invented the industry, but he was poor at reinventing. If it wasn't for push to shove on the model A, you kinda wonder what may have happened.
Anyways, like I said. A great character and a very good doco. Highly recommended.

But He was old dude then and set in his ways and American public was then getting much more wealthy to buy such things.

[Fairlane 500]

Originally Posted by Pis-ton broke

a new doco on Henry Ford is now on netflix. at 2 hours long , its very comprehensive. subjects covered are his youth , early cars ,his "quadrocycle" horseless carriage in 1896 (with pics). a brief mention of K & N models, heaps on T, how the A came about and that Henry initially didn,t want it, etc.

his son Eddsill (sp?). and this disapproval,etc. Edds influence and the unions. the five dollars a day rate, Henrys disliking of jews and his social engineering.Henrys headkicker Harry Bennet. the development of the company in the early years. and stacks of interesting bits of info. his friend ship with edison ( edison was bit of an A.H. i think, treated tesla poorly). Henrys racecar in 1901, and he drove it. making airplanes in the ww2. etc. etc.

very well narrated and full of very interesting pictures and film from 1901.

defiantly worth a look at.

I had never heard of the documentary & after seeing this thread
watched it last night & I will watch it again in the next few days.

I found it very interesting, amazing how many cars they were building
& I never knew how unusual the man was in so many ways.

Thanks for posting.