Henry Ford produced an affordable car and created an urbanized middle-class by engineering the economic environment to create mass consumption. He established factories that could produce high-quality cars, and paid his workers enough money so that they could buy their own.
Biography of Henry Ford in a Nutshell
Henry Ford was born on a farm near Dearborn, Michigan, on July 30, 1863, and was educated in the local schools. He loved building machines, and in 1892, he developed a working gasoline automobile. He founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903, and five years later, he brought out the economical Model T.
It took few more years before Ford and what is commonly called "Fordism" changed the economic world. What he did was to initiated the conveyor belt assembly line and introduce the 8-hour day with a $5 minimum wage, at the same time opposing unionization. Briefly, Henry Ford setup a closely controlled and self-reliant organization
He died on April 7, 1947, four years later after the death of his only son Edsel. He, with his son, endowed his fortune to charitable causes through the Ford Foundation.
The American Car Maker
The first car Ford built was in 1896, a quadricycle with two cylinders, rated at four horsepower and had forward gears only.
He unveiled his Model T in 1908. In 1913, he started using standardized interchangeable parts and assembly line techniques. He adopted mass production so rigorously that the immediate consequence was almost disastrous to his company. His workers found the work monotonous and unpleasant, so staff turnover soared.
Philosophy of Have Money then Afford to Spend
Ford worked out that if he paid his factory workers a high wage, and produced more cars in less time for less money, then everyone would have enough money to buy a car. He famously said, "I will build a motor car for the great multitude… constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired…"
In 1914, he shocked the business world by introducing a minimum wage of $5 a day. That time, the average wage in the automobile industry was about $2.40 a day. Further, he reduced the working period from nine hours to eight. The Wall Street Journal called this "economic crime," and as he then increased the wages towards $10, "Fordism" was used as a term out of scorn. But Ford was convinced this was the way to go - pay workers more and the bill buys more, or find ways of manufacturing more cheaply and the masses will flock to the shops.
Thomas Alva Edison and Other Famous Friends
Shortly after marrying Clara Bryant, Ford started working as the Chief Engineer for the Edison Illuminating Company shortly after marrying Clara Bryant. He became good friends and business partner of the great inventor Thomas Alva Edison. It was Edison who convinced him to use a petrol-powered engine, although Ford preferred an electric motor.
Their other friends included naturalists John Burroughs and Luther Burbanks, former US president Warren G. Harding and Harvey Samuel Firestone, and famous aviator Charles Augustus Lindbergh.
Insight to Henry Ford
Henry Ford provided and practiced the law of supply and demand. His vision stimulated a middle class, and accelerated the pace at which people left the countryside moving to towns and cities. He created not just cars, but mass market and a money-spending large middle-class populations.
Sources:
- Clark, John, Ed. Illustrated Biographical Dictionary. London: Chancellor Press, 1978.
- McGovern, Una, Ed. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers Publishers, 2002.
- Moore, Pete. E=MC2. London: Quintet Publishing Ltd., 2002.
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