Then came charcoal.......

[Bob Wright]

Kevin's post about the grill reminded me of this:

Did you know the the Kingsford, of charcoal fame, worked for Henry Ford at Fore Motor Company? The story goes that the bodies of early Ford automobiles were made of wood, and piles of scrap wood began to pile up, pieces too small for further auto use. Ford asked Kingsford to find a way to use the scraps. After some trial and error, Kingsford hit on a way to blend the wood scraps with clay and mold them into bricks, or briquets. Thus began the Kingsford Charcoal company.

Bob Wright

 

[Kevin]

Thanks, Bob, I didn't know this.

 

[dannyd]

Mr. Ford was the Bill Gates of his era.

 

[Getduck]

Henry Ford was given credit for the first major "industry revolution" with his assembly line. we are now in the middle of the 4th industry revolution. google Industry 4.0 for the nine spokes of the areas impacted. the amount of technology rollout in the next 5 years will be amazing.

 

[Tenbore]

I have heard it said that Ransom Olds actually had the first assembly line. But as Oldsmobile
was much smaller he didn't get any credit for it.

 

[RSIno1]

Every car at the time used wood framework in their bodies. Henry was smart enough to see a business opportunity for recycling. He really wanted zero suppliers who could jack up prices or not meet shipping dates. He had his own steel mill (Rouge River plant - now owned by the Russians). His own rubber plantation, his own ore mines, even forests.

https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/366487/
In pursuit of self-sufficient automobile manufacture, Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company purchased over 313,000 acres of timberland for logging in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A massive sawmill complex and powerful hydroelectric plant were constructed at Iron Mountain. Here, sawmill workers produced huge quantities of lumber for wooden automobile framework, floorboards, and wheels.
BTW: that's almost 500 square miles of land

Today Morgan in England still uses wood in their bodies - but BBQ will never fit into the bland Brit diet.

 

[t-reg]

Heard that he specified transmissions to be shipped in boxes such that they could easily be repurposed to floored boards in model T's.

 

[gramps]

Henry Ford was given credit for the first major "industry revolution" with his assembly line. we are now in the middle of the 4th industry revolution. google Industry 4.0 for the nine spokes of the areas impacted. the amount of technology rollout in the next 5 years will be amazing.

Yeah, BIG BROTHER (read that loss of freedom) a la China cometh! Thanks to technical advances from SILICON VALLEY!!!
gramps

 

[sceva]

Heard that he specified transmissions to be shipped in boxes such that they could easily be repurposed to floored boards in model T's.

That is my understanding also. I recall reading that Ford specified the wood type, size, hole size and spacing for the boards as well as the crate size. All they needed to do was take them off and bolt them in place

 

[harley08]

My Thinking about Henry Ford reminded me that my Mother knew him. My Farther was stationed in Detroit when he was in the Navy. My Mother went with him and she got a job in a diner as a waitress. Henry Ford would come in every day for lunch and my Mom would serve him.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

Henry Ford was notoriously frugal. Many attributed that to the Scottish blood in his veins! I've got a couple of bags of Kingsford charcoal in the garage and I think they still have "the story" of Ford and Kingsford on them. Maybe embellished ever so slightly?

One could spend all day reading tales tied to Mr. Ford. Here are just a few minutes' worth of them to enjoy with that next cup of coffee:

https://unrememberedhistory.com/201...ory-of-the-charcoal-briquette/comment-page-1/
Rick C