The Essence of Henry Ford

Henry Ford was an eccentric individual. He never cared about money and was often unaware that his wealth was rapidly increasing.

Henry Ford (right), Charlie Taylor (middle right), Orville Wright (middle left)

One day, he visited a bank and withdrew $150,000 in cash. He counted the money suspiciously before moving to another teller’s window to deposit the entire amount into his account. He was simply exercising control!

Henry Ford was indeed a peculiar man. He only trusted himself and no one could convince him that he was mistaken. At his Fair Lane estate in Dearborn, Henry Ford heated birdbaths with electric power, believing that if warm water was provided for the birds, they would no longer migrate south for the winter.

Henry Ford had a great fondness for birds and folk dances. He collected violins, books, and historical artifacts from the United States. He also had particular views on hygiene and diet. At times, he would eat carrots for days, and at other times, he favored soybeans, leading to meals that included soy products like soybean bread, soybean porridge, and soybean ice cream… Due to his beliefs about hygiene, Henry Ford banned everyone from smoking in the office and factory. His decisions could sometimes be quite odd. When someone complained to him that the company was lacking an experienced metallurgical engineer, he pointed to a janitor working in the room and said: “Make this guy a metallurgical engineer!” and strangely enough, that janitor later became a renowned metallurgist.

In 1929, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the electric light bulb, Henry Ford organized a grand party to honor the great inventor Thomas Edison. He invited President Hoover and over 500 prominent figures from around the world. It is said that he spent over a million dollars on that event!

After the banquet, Ford commissioned artist Irving Bacon to paint a portrait of the guests. It took many years for Bacon to complete the 2-meter tall, 5-meter long painting featuring portraits of 266 guests. The lengthy process was partly because Ford would occasionally walk into the studio, point at the image of a director’s wife, and instruct the artist: “Remove her; my wife can’t stand her!”

Henry Ford with his wife, Clara

Henry Ford would often show guests the painting. He would point to Clara’s image and say, “Among all of them, she is the most beautiful!” Clara played a crucial role in some important decisions regarding the automobile company. One notable incident occurred in 1941 when the United Auto Workers (U.A.W.) of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (C.I.O.) went on strike to demand the right for Ford Motor Company employees to unionize. At that time, Henry Ford was adamantly against the term “Union,” and there was bloodshed at Gate 4 of the River Rouge plant. He outright stated that he would never agree with the Industrial Union and would close the factories.

The next day, the situation changed dramatically. Henry Ford announced on the radio that he would concede to the Union by allowing the establishment of unions in Ford’s factories, and even more surprisingly, he raised wages for workers, a demand no one had dared to make. This change occurred because Clara threatened to leave the house if he did not find a way to reconcile with the Union. Henry Ford admitted, “My wife told me that there had been violent incidents, and she did not want to see such things happen anymore. Today, I know for sure that she was right!”

Previously, in 1913, Henry Ford had built the Fair Lane mansion entirely of white stone, situated on a sprawling 554-acre estate, close to where he and Clara spent their early years after marriage. He designed a billiard room with indirect lighting, a first-of-its-kind feature in Detroit. The Fair Lane estate also included a bowling alley, a $30,000 pipe organ, a swimming pool with heated stone benches to prevent guests from getting cold, a recreation room, and an ice skating rink. He built this mansion for his only son, Edsel.