Henry Ford's Mirror Of America

e in so many ways Henry Ford was a simple man he liked to go camping with his friends that's Thomas Edison behind him he enjoyed oldtime country dancing here he is with BOS the naturalist skating with his grandchildren they plant a garden together Henry Ford II and Benson his first car he called it a quadricycle that's his wife Clara he began with an idea that most people thought wouldn't work but he made it work and the tools he used were Common Sense Ingenuity and perseverance along with a natural instinct for knowing how to put machines together and make them run he was born into a world of limited Horizons and though he left the farm that might have been his Heritage he never lost his love for the land and the Everlasting cycle of seed time and harvest what he accomplished helped men put the burden of work on machines and broke the barriers of space and time of isolation and distance his life was a paradox while his mechanical genius helped to change forever the lives of people everywhere he sought to preserve in some permanent form a record of the world around him and his ever widening interest in it he collected buildings the way others collect stamps and put them in a village where time stands still he assembled Acres of machines and put them under cover in a vast Historical Museum and early he discovered the astonishing capacity of the motion picture camera to document for all time whatever it saw when the crank was turned in April 1914 at his Highland Park plant he organized a motion picture Department which through the years produced films that were shown in theaters and schools throughout the country trialogues news reels and documentaries that touched on nearly every facet of American Life [Music] this is the way the country looks in the years before the first World War Rich rolling but often inaccessible the man on the farm works as his forefathers have it's a hard life for man and Beast [Music] and a long day for the farmer's wife [Music] too many have quiet evening at home because there's no place to go and no light to read by a man thinks twice before he goes to Market on roads like this and sometimes he never even gets there it's a long walk to school on a muddy Road more fun to go by sleigh in the winter during recess there's time for a snowball fight of a climb up the old elm tree if you've got the spunk for daring Deeds like [Music] this the one sure way to get someplace is on a train [Music] but you can only go where the tracks go life in the city moves at a slow pace this is Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington no trip to the capital is complete without a tour of the White House President Wilson lives here now the East room with it and shiny floors there's more hustle and bustle down at the market Fel Hall in Boston or New York City on the Lower East Side always plenty to do and see in the Big Town ride elevated train all the way from the battery far up town There's the Hippodrome one of the big theaters in New York another way to see the city is a boat ride around Manhattan Island All Aboard watch out some City Slicker may try to sell you the brook [Music] Bridge we're passing the battery with its famous aquarium there's a Navy Cruiser at anchor great ocean liners along the Hudson River Mighty tall buildings in New York City the flat iron building shap like a triangle and the Woolworth Building 60 stories high tallest in the world look at that traffic on fth Avenue kind of peaceful over on Riverside Drive Grant's Tomb always one of the favorite sites to see Sunday in Central Park there's no place like it for a leisurely stroll or a boat ride on the Lagoon [Music] [Music] Thrills and Spills at Coney Island [Music] they say some folks even get wet if the water's warming [Music] up and where do we go on vacation once a year Atlantic City of course no that's not a real elephant it's a hotel at the end of the boardwalk look they're waving out the elephant's eye the Atlantic Ocean and a few hearty acrobats most of the time we'll stroll along the boardwalk or ride along in the rolling chairs [Music] every city has a pretty Park this is bile near Detroit with lagoons for a quiet afternoon ride in a canoe if you don't mind the crowds some like to dance While others gather around the piano to listen in the winter The Adventurous go ice skating it's easy if you know how with the really daring there's nothing like the thrill of an ice boat on a clear cold day or the fast track on a tobogan slide and there's plenty of speed at an auto r once they get going Buffalo Bill himself William F Cody in his 71st year and straight as an arrow it's 1916 and he's out on tour with his circus again Indian War dances and Broncos the opening of baseball season and time to throw out the first ball snapshots of other people we know John Burrows the naturalist Wes to admirers Luther Burbank an expert in horiculture in his experiments he's removed the spines from the cactus says it's good to eat too we'll take his word for it Thomas Edison in San Francisco in 1915 he's out for a drive with his wife and Mr and Mrs Harvey Firestone Joseph G Cannon of Illinois former Speaker of the House of Representatives Will Rogers America's favorite humorist out west a few hearty Souls visit Glacier National Park they go for a climb a little short on equipment but strong in spirit [Music] the view is worth the effort so they say uh-oh there goes dad [Music] it's not all play there's still work to be done and no limit it seems to our natural resources the cameraman can't resist his little joke you see a lot of women in the factories now these girls are making footballs when these are making hats there is a difference down at the post office they're teaching the girls to sort the mail one thing they learn in a hurry don't pick up too many at once too bad here's a clean place for women to work and steady too some men change their collars twice a week machines do more and more of the hard work these days for instance here's the way they assemble the spokes and make the wheels for the Model T Ford in Highland Park Michigan [Music] [Music] the 8h hour workday ends and the men go home mostly by trolley not many can afford to buy a car of their own yet these men went home long ago when the War Between the States ended but the Hardy survivors both blue and gray still meet together once a year to renew old acquaintance it's 1917 and they're camped at Vicksburg Mississippi what Memories they must have they have fought their War while these raw recruits at camp kuster in Michigan are being trained to fight another [Music] War the call goes out and youth responds enthusiastically [Music] how can they know what lies ahead just a year ago we reelected woodro Wilson as president now we're in a war we hope to avoid but we're confident he'll lead us to Victory the mood of the nation changes we talk about Liberty Loans and Liberty cabbage food will win the war and Uncle Sam needs you old heroes are popular again here's Theodore Roosevelt surrounded by crowds wherever he goes everything's just bully and there's a parade in every city and town [Music] the training is deadly serious now and we're learning to pronounce names of places we've never heard of before the Aron Bellow woods and Chateau tier our factories convert to the production of engines and arms these are the famous Liberty Eng she's doing her bit here's a certificate for buying $500 worth of Liberty Bonds Henry Ford receives a Navy contract to build Eagle boats here he is in Washington with Josephus Daniel Secretary of the Navy using the technique of the automobile assembly line the hulls of Eagle boats are riveted together at Ford's New River Rouge Plant [Music] the launching of an eagle boat sleek and fast built for anti-submarine Warfare at Highland Park Ford experiments with a small tank powered by two Model T engines can it cross the trenches not every time well back to the drawing board the city of Detroit turns out to say goodbye and good luck to those who go to fight in Foreign Fields [Music] [Music] they don't give up on the small tank maybe those skids and back will help it's going great too bad Big Brother shows how it should be done at Highland Park the men turn out for a patriotic parade and rally [Music] [Music] another new weapon in this war not very effective as yet but there's glory for the men who fly them this is the first model of the Martin [Music] bomber Eddie Rickenbacker America's flying ace comes home to encourage more plane production here's how they manufacture Curtis htype flying [Music] boats a liberty [Music] engine the faces of America at War these are men working in the shipyard at Hog Island the Red Cross girl a familiar and friendly site Captain K he's worked at the Bureau of Engraving in Washington since [Music] 1864 Barrack's life in an army camp more and more troop trains head for point of [Music] embarcation the last cup of coffee before we shove [Music] [Music] off a sobering moment but we won't come back till it's over over there [Music] meanwhile back at the tank test there goes another one but soon the bugs are all ironed out and the government places an order for 15,000 tanks Lord northcliffe in Detroit sent by King George to arrange for the shipment of forts and tractors to Great Britain to speed up the production of food he tries a new for followed by Henry Ford parades and more parades to keep the home fires burning Now's the Time to buy Liberty Bond so we can finish the job we've started keep buying them mister and then it's over all over and the world is safe for [Applause] democracy one more parade in Washington there's President Harding and general Blackjack persy they're marching to Arlington Cemetery to bury the Unknown Soldier lots of changes around the country now seems like everyone's on the move but we've got to do something about those roads [Music] it takes forever to cross a river this way [Music] [Applause] we begin to build New Roads as fast as we [Music] can Mighty smooth riding now there's one car that takes you anywhere you want to go the Model T strong sturdy with a will of its own [Music] [Music] [Music] here's how they put them together at the Highland Park plant [Music] [Music] a car comes off the end of the line every 10 [Music] [Music] seconds dealers sell them in just about every town in the land there's no end to what you can do when you own a car no longer locked on the lane the farmer's wife can get away from the farm for a while and take the baby down the road for a visit trucks take over the job of moving produce to Market [Music] the Sunday afternoon Drive becomes a national habit this is the Columbia River Highway out in Oregon built in [Music] 1917 magnificent sights to see in America and a car is the way to get [Music] there watch that be is [Music] hungry for a real vacation nothing beats a camping [Music] trip picnics in the park or alongside the lake you can even sleep in a car if you want Henry Ford and his friends go camping in style President Harding arrives to pay a Sunday visit while they're in the Great Smoky Mountains here he is with Harvey fire Stone Ford chops wood for [Music] exercise while Thomas Edison takes a snooze Firestone offers some friendly advice the president takes a turn with the ax Ford Edison and the president read the [Music] papers one way to keep them down on the farm buy a tractor they're selling more every year modern equipment speeds up the work makes it easier and more efficient too now electricity does the chores for the farmer's wife [Music] [Music] and running water wherever you want it no more trips to the pump and no more churning for grandmother there's a growing problem in the cities what to do about all the traffic sometimes it seems to go like this [Music] and there's a parking problem even in small towns the policeman has a new responsibility directing traffic [Music] [Music] steps are taken to dramatize the need for safer driving [Music] [Music] special Motion Pictures Show what can happen when we're not alert the age of the automobile changes nearly every aspect of American Life the tempo quickens in city and Country no longer a luxury almost everyone can afford to own a car and sometimes it seems that we're all on the road at the same time We're a nation on Wheels and soon to take to the air as a slim young man in a silver plane opens up New Horizons here he is Charles A Lindberg landing at the Ford Airport another Pioneer gives us the courage to try something new in no time at all there are scheduled flights to anywhere you want to go the dimensions of time and space are further diminished a new age begins and we move forward with it yet as we go we preserve the past to mirror the accomplishments of those who have shown us the way to the Future [Music]