Of the 1920’s The History of The Ford Motor Company

Of the 1920’s

• The History of The Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company

• The Ford Motor Company was incorporated in 1903 with Henry Ford as vice-president and chief engineer.
• The infant company produced only a few cars a day at the Ford factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit. Groups of two or three men worked on each car from components made to order by other companies.
• Henry Ford realized his dream of producing an automobile that was reasonably priced, reliable, and efficient with the introduction of the Model T in 1908.

• In 1910 the company opened a large factory at Highland Park, Michigan.
• By 1918, half of all cars in America were Model Ts.

Ford Factory

• Henry Ford was able to sell cars cheaply because they were mass-produced and standardized.

• Car-making used up 20% of America’s steel, 80% of of her rubber, 75 % of her plate glass, and 65% of her leather.

The Model T

• As Henry Ford said “ You can paint it any color you like, as long as it is black.”
• The early Model Ts actually did come in a variety of colors, but beginning in 1914 and for the next eleven years, the Model T would be sold in only one color: black.
• The reason for this was the black enamel used dried more quickly than other paints and sped up production.
• Consumers were not offered a choice of colors again until 1926, due in part to slumping sales.

• We’re all BLACK

They called it the car for Everyman

• They called it the car for Everyman
• Henry Ford himself called it a car for the “great multitude”
• It was functional and simple like your sewing machine or cast-iron stove.
• You could learn to drive it in less than a day…
• And you could paint it any color, so long as it was black.
• When Ford first conceived the Model T it took 13 hours to assemble.
• Within 5 years he was turning out a vehicle every 90 seconds.
• And of course, the real invention wasn’t the car… it was the assembly line that built it.

• Credits

• Graphics Arthur Chan and Owen Kang

• With Special Thanks to Mr. Letters & audience

• Handouts Arthur Chan

• Executive Producer Arthur Chan

• ©2004 AOG