Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 14:04:09 -0600
Reply-To: Wesley Alden Pegden <wes@CS.UCHICAGO.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Wesley Alden Pegden <wes@CS.UCHICAGO.EDU>
Subject: Re: Henry Ford
In-Reply-To: <00a201c41356$4c7d1ec0$7d318045@e1i7g6>
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I know this response took awhile, but I while ago I wrote a short piece on
Henry Ford and his labor policies, to give to someone who I thought saw
Ford's relation to his workers in to positive a light.
The paper is up at http://cs.uchicago.edu/~wes/ford.pdf if anyone is
interested.
It's written from a fairly militant pro-labor perspective. It's
definitely NOT my intent to start debates on the list, but I welcome any
disagreements in my own inbox, of course. It is at the very least
well-researched, however, and factually correct, regardless of its
perspective, so I thought some might enjoy the information.
best,
wes
'84 vanagon
On Fri, 26 Mar 2004, Paul & Becky Oliver wrote:
> There are many impressive things that Henry Ford did in his life time. However he was (and it can be easily proved) a "skinflint, a tight wade." Not until he was going to loose everything to the Government in taxes, did he set up the Ford Foundation.
>
> My father told me many stories of his childhood. Even about spending his summers delivering food, telegrams and such, to Henry and Harvey (Firestone) as they camped, in the out skirts of Boise, Idaho. (Even spent some time with Roosevelt too.)
>
> You had to have correct change or you'd get "stiffed" by the pair of them (a penny meant a lot back then). But they'd let him hang around, cause he tended to listen more than talk. And when he did say something it usually was a pretty good question (one of them told him that a number of years later).
>
> It could be they liked him because he was smart (IQ above 150) and wasn't trying to get a favor, of something else, out of them.
>
> Here's one story:
>
> There were all out at the camp and it was getting late and a well dressed fellow came stumbling in. Said, he'd seen their fire and wondered if any of them could give him a ride to town. His car had broken down and would not run. Harvey asked him, what he was driving and he replied, "a Ford of course, but it don't run like my last one. Why, you know anything about Ford's."
>
> Old Henry looked over at Harvey giving him an ugly look as Harvey said, "no but my friend here's, worked on a few, maybe he could take a look at." Rather grudgingly Henry left camp, my dad and Harvey followed.
>
> There on the road was a brand new Ford. Henry told him to crank it over and he listened as it tried to start. He lifted the hood and "tinkered" a little, put the hood down and told him to "try it now." It started right up and run smooth as silk.
>
> The fellow jumped out praising him, how fine that engine sounded. Why it sounded better now than when he got picked it up a days before. (Now the kicker) The fellow says to Henry Ford, "Hey with your knack, did your ever think of working on these? You could make a lot of money!" Henry had just looked at the guy, exhaled some air in discussed, turned and walked back to camp with Harvey laughing all the way.
>
> As far as my father new the guy never found out that, "The Henry Ford" had fixed his car that night. But the rest of the summer whenever the two would have their "friendly" arguments Harvey could always end it in his favor by saying, "I know a way you could make a lot of money." This would always end things in Harvey's favor.
>
>
> If your not in business for the money, what then? For the pleasure of hearing complaints?
>
> Paul
>
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