This black and white, silent film is a collection of footage related to the Ford Motor Company from the early 1920’s through the early 1940’s (though not in chronological order: Footage from 00:06 to 01:56 is from the 1920’s, 01:56 to 03:25 appears to be early 1940’s, and the remaining segments are from the early 1930’s.) You’ll see Ford’s River Rouge factory, acres of newly built cars, Model T’s, Model A’s, workers, trains, planes, a fire, and the twenty-millionth car Ford built!
The Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 by Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. Henry Ford built his first experimental car in a workshop behind his home in Detroit in 1896. The first Ford car was assembled at the Mack Avenue plant in July, 1903. Five years later, in 1908, the highly successful Model T was introduced. Demand for this car was so great that Ford developed the world’s first moving assembly line for cars; and in 1914, to further improve labour productivity, he introduced the $5 daily wage for an eight-hour day (replacing $2.34 for a nine-hour day). Weathering wars and recessions, the Ford Motor Company continues to be a leader in the automotive industry today.
00:06 Squadron of U.S. Army Air Service Curtiss JN-4 Jenny aircraft land, taxi, and take off from a grass airstrip 00:55 Long room filled with men working at drafting tables 01:03 Long room filled with men working at lathes 01:10 Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad Rogers 2-8-0 steam locomotive pulls Ford-marked gondolas 01:18 Hundreds of newly built Ford vehicles outside a factory 01:31 Workers cross a pedestrian bridge over Miller Road at the Ford River Rouge factory, Dearborn, Michigan 01:56 Workers walking 02:10 Exterior of River Rouge factory, early 1940’s 02:41 Fire at River Rouge factory, early 1940’s; firemen spray water, climb ladder truck up to a tall building 03:25 River Rouge assembly line; workers assemble the Twenty Millionth Ford (a Town Sedan 160B) on April 1, 1931 4:10 Ford Model A pulls into a garage 04:31 Exterior of Milford Garage (Mil “Ford” Garage); Model A pulls out of garage and up to a Red Crown Gasoline pump 04:58 Man pumps gas into Model A 05:12 Model A drives in a circle 05:44 Various trim levels/body styles of the Ford Model A 07:15 Ford Model A drives off-road through a forest.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
