Biographics love the content but it would be awesome if your channel covered more women. To my recollection there have only been a handful of women and quite a few men. A little bit more equity would be great. Again, thanks for the great content 👌🏾
The model T build was so efficient that the boards of the packing case that the engine was delivered in were made to the correct size to enable them to be used for the floorboards of the car.
In the 90s I worked at a machine shop in Oak Park Michigan. Right outside of Detroit. The owner was old and ran it as something of a hobby. He related the "crate to floorboard," story. Sounds possible given Fords frugality. True??
I'm a native of Dearborn, Michigan, and many aspects of life are still overshadowed by Ford. We have Ford Healthcare and hospital services, Ford Motor Company HQ, the Henry Ford Museum, Ford Road, and the first mayor of Dearborn was a Ford. Even the Detroit Lions are owned by the Fords and the Ford Estate is a place people can visit in fact.
Simon is a classical example of the combining of the purest example of the teacher archetype and the storyteller archetype. I think when you say "teacher" people tend to carry a somewhat negative connotation of superiority and authority, but that's not at all what I mean. You can ask almost anyone about their experience with school and I think most of them had, at one time or another, "that one teacher", who did it because they genuinely loved the subject, had great personal passion for it, and wanted to try to bring the hidden wonders of said subject into view of their student's, and that's what I mean by "teacher." On the other hand, the storyteller archetype is something that humans have largely lost track of, I think, but since the earliest days of humanity the "storyteller" has been one of the most important and revered people in society. The storyteller has was the Historical Society before they existed, the teacher who came before schools, the entertainer long before concerts, and much more. Both of these things have to come from passion. They can't be faked and they can't be learned, at least not to the same level as those who do it out of passion.
Yeah I wouldn't take everything here as factual though guys, this is just stuff researched on the Internet. Bit like Wikipedia facts, I think they already did a show on scotspedia. Nuff said.
A little rhyme for your amusement: "There was an old man His name was Henry Ford He took a piece of rubber and a 2 inch board A little bit of gas and an old tin can Put it all together And the damn thing ran!"
@Y B i find it truly fascinating and a true "sign of the times" that people do everything they can to find something bad about any figure in history (these days white males in particular) and try and demonizing them then calling for them to be "struck from history" . its really easy to trash someone long dead and cherry pick thier life to make them seem evil. Even more obnoxious is these same people declare freedom of speech and protection for the "downtrodden" to ensure they arent deplatformed, harassed, bullied and physically threatened while literally trying to do that very thing to people they dislike or disagree with. Show me one person who DOESN'T have a skeleton in thier closet or has an unpopular view! You cant because we crucified the only man that fit that bill!
@@drakemcfee9138 I'm assuming your talking about Jesus? He had a lot of opinions that were unpopular at the time. That's why his government had him executed. That seems to happen to a lot of people who stick up for the little guy. 😞
Both my grandfathers worked directly for Henry Ford. My paternal grandfather worked as an engineering executive specializing in research and development and my maternal grandfather worked Plant Security, both of them at Highland Park. When Ford finally agreed to concede to the union, the only representative from Ford Corp. the workers would talk to, at first, was my Mom's Dad, because he was so well-loved. After WW2, my Dad was trained through the Ford, in-house apprenticeship program and became a journeyman and eventually a master mechanic by working at a dozen Ford dealerships throughout the Great Lakes area, in the US and Canada. When I was 18, the Ford company offered to train me as a mechanic. I had listened too well to my Dad's tales and politely declined. I was such an idiot.
I'm from a tiny village in Scotland but 2 years ago I moved to Essex. I drive past the Ford plant at Dagenham every day and for whatever reason I have this feeling that I'd like to work there!!! Something magical about the brand Even after the Mk5 Escort.... An automotive puddle of pee😂😂
I like how he crossed paths with Cadillac and the Dodge brothers early on. BTW Ford was also responsible for the creation of Kingsford charcoal. He wanted to find a way to utilize the leftover wood from the production of the floorboards of the model T.
One thing that I really appreciate about this series is how thorough they present the individuals. We have a tendency to oversimplify people as all good or all evil or to just boil them down to a charicature of themselves... it's important to remember that no matter how great our idols and heroes, they're still just people. Flawed, normal, everyday people. Except Mr Rogers. That man was a saint and I'll argue anyone who says otherwise. Lol
Like George R. R. Martin once said, "I think the battle between Good and Evil is waged within the individual human hearts. We all have good in us and we all have evil in us, and we may do a wonderful good act on Tuesday and a horrible, selfish, bad act on Wednesday, and to me, that’s the great human drama of fiction. I believe in gray characters, as I’ve said before. We all have good and evil in us and there are very few pure paragons and there are very few orcs. A villain is a hero of the other side, as someone said once, and I think there’s a great deal of truth to that, and that’s the interesting thing."
Simon really exemplifies this philosophy in Biographics, i agree, its definitely something to appreciate. Even the most "good" or "evil" people in history were more complicated than just being a hero or villain.
Soichiro Honda has a really cool story, and it all started with a model T Ford, would be great to see a video on more automobile industrialists like him, would love to watch that!
Henry Ford responded to the British call for tractors to expand agriculture. The kerosene fueled Fordson Tractor which out performed all others and was built in the British Isles. This saved many lives.
Ford is producing cars in Cologne since 1931 up to today for the European market. Mr. Ford had close ties with the Nazi regime back in the days and has been awarded some medals by Hitler himself. Your vid points out how much of an inspiration to him Ford has been. Man, the world is a weird place. 😊 Thx for the vid, keep up the work.
The medal was the "Grand Cross of the Supreme Order of the German Eagle". Lindbergh was the other american to get one. Lindbergh sent his back in 1941 but Ford did not.
@@MEMEMEMEMELOL 6 day work weeks. you only got Sundays off because of Church. Which is part of why Ford gave all his workers another day off that they could use for themself, instead of church. This isn't all the reason, but its the basic knowledge I know for certain. Working hours weren't quite so rigid as they are now though, so while 6 day weeks seem bad, it often wasnt as bad as a 6 day work week would be now.
1:05 - Chapter 1 - Early years 2:30 - Chapter 2 - Out on his own 3:35 - Chapter 3 - Family man 5:05 - Chapter 4 - The petrol engine 7:35 - Chapter 5 - The ford motor company 9:20 - Mid roll ads 10:50 - Chapter 6 - The model T 13:15 - Chapter 7 - The living wage 15:10 - Chapter 8 - The peace ship 16:45 - Chapter 9 - Controversial views 18:00 - Chapter 10 - The model A 19:15 - Chapter 11 - Union opposition 20:35 - Chapter 12 - Anti semitism 22:05 - Chapter 13 - Final years
The “any colour you like as long as it’s black” line predated Ford by 50 years. It was uttered by Francis William Webb, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London & North Western Railway Company and is credited in the official company minutes as saying it.
I believe he also attempted to do a great deal for people facing financial woes during the great depression. A complicated man but everyone has their flaws.
@@ledzeppelin27 - Yeah, but Buddah wasn't an inspiration to Hitler, was he? 🙄 Henry Ford WAS. And it was all due to his hatred of Jewish people. For being such a "pascifist" he didn't give a damn that human beings were being exterminated in Germany. He was a racist, point blank period. I don't give a damn what he invented. Some character flaws can never be ignored or forgiven.
@@KabbalahSherry I suppose you need to look up the history of the swastika being a sacred symbol in Buddhism and you'll have your first answer. Otherwise you're looking at the entirety of his life in a modern racism lens for a guy who lived in a pre-holocost world. I don't know Ford's whole life story, maybe there were Jewish people who treated him or his family/friends terribly. Does that justify everything he said? No. But in the same modern scope I see white people, Russian people, etc. blamed and persecuted daily for crimes they don't commit. This biased bigoted world view where only one side is correct for their hate is a bad joke
@@ledzeppelin27 the Holocaust was far from the first genocide of Jewish people, so “pre-holocaust world” doesn’t mean anything. Your willingness to invent excuses is an example of why anti-semitism still thrives after millennia. I had a pretty bad run-in with some evangelists, but I’d still be horrified if someone started rounding them up and putting them in concentration and death camps. No decent human being would be proud of inspiring a person who commits atrocities at that level.
Thank you so very much for this fantastic choice of persons to chronicle! Henry Ford worked for my Great Grandfather as a draftsman at one point of his young life!
A little disappointing that you didn't discuss how much Ford HATED the Model A, as he had always envisioned the Model T as being "the car", forever. It was also one of the earlier rifts between Henry and Edsel that began driving the wedge further between them as father and son.
Very true. The History ch had done a segment on the founders of the auto industry, and Ford thought his son Edsel was an idiot and derided every idea he came up with. The problem was Ford did not like independent thought, Edsel however was no fool, he was not an engineer like his father but was a brilliant designer and understood marketing. He told his father that model T sales were dropping and other company's were taking their market share away from them, he begged him many times to come out with a new model and Ford shot him down every time. Finely, his wife stood up to him and basically told him to get over his ego and see that Edsel was trying to save the company and if he refused to help Edsel, she would leave him! This was the baseball bat to the head that knocked some sense into him and he reluctantly gave in and Edsel's model A design saved the company.
I'm also surprised he didn't mention Fordlandia. He built a whole ass town in Brazil to collect and harvest rubber from rubber trees. That's a whole other can of worms lmao, Wendigoon made a really good video about it.
There are so many great people in the world. Please consider doing segments on writers like Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark Twain, Roald Dahl, Agatha Christie etc...
My grandfather was in that first sit down strike at Ford motor company. Oh the stories he told me about what happened, not good. For example, if you were relieved of duty for the day you went outside and had to sit on the lawn. If they needed you they would come and get you. If you had gone home you were fired....My grandfather and I used to ride our bikes out to lake St Clair and would ride right up to the Ford mansion.
MAN, please do one on Francis Bacon, that guy has a really insane, touching, interesting and dark life story and is one of the greatest painters to ever live.
Efficiency and the importance of a large and loyal customer base to spread business costs across as many units sold as possible. That, combined with the realisation that a healthy employee base results in stability, which is in the company's best interest.
Henry Ford adored Adolph Hitler as well. During the 30s he gave Hitler special present for his birthday every year: brand new car or large sum of money.
@@alcapone5876 Henry Ford wrote a book called The international Jew in 1920, translated in german in 1922 and 15 other languages as arabic. He owned a very antijudaïque journal called The Dearborn Independent from 1920 to 1927.
The Model T was the most impressive and important car in automotive history. Model T was like the cell phone today--Everyone wanted one and when a new Model came out, they wanted to upgrade..
The man did do a lot of important things that we're good. He too had his faults and failings. He gave lots of people who normally wouldn't have been hired jobs. And that is a good thing most definitely.
Ford got the idea of mass production assembly line from waltham watch company. He said whether you think you can or whether you think you cant you are right both ways.
...I've been sitting here for the last 15 minutes trying to come to grips with the fact that Ford paid his people more than I'm making after being with a company for 2 1/2 years.
Ford was extremely profitable at the time and could easily afford it. Look at Amazon today, their starting wage of $15 an hour is more than many people are making even after years at their job.
@@2584024 - And yet, that's nothing compared to what they COULD be paying people. 🙄 An honest to God, LIVING wage. As in, something a family could live on, even w/just one breadwinner in the house. $15 an hour isn't enough for that anymore. People act like that's a lot of money? It's like $34k a year bro. Nobody can raise a family on that, unless you're living very poor. Not w/rent & housing prices being what they are today. Nobody wants to admit this, but $15 just isn't enough. And these companies know that but they don't give a damn, cuz they just want to keep living in obscene luxury at the very top.
in defense of Ford, here in Mexico we have some of the most corrupted, richest and infamous Union bosses you could imagine, literal criminals with law immunity...
Didn't Mexican union workers just win a huge victory sometime back? One of the more democratically-run unions organized massive strikes and they won something like a 20% pay raise and one time bonus of around $1600 USD.
Here we have pretty good unions in the netherlands although sometimes unrealistic in thier demands. Your unions are corrupt becouse your country is corrupt. Corruption is generally caused by rich folk buying the union leadership. A much more effective way to dismantle them. Unions are not inherently corrupt niether are governments. It just falls to the poeple to ensure it. If you worship the rich and elite and pretend they can do no wrong and blame the union instead you get this type of corruption. Its like blaming immigrants for wage supression instead of the ones hiring them. The best defense of ford would be that he paid decently eventually. Something almost unheard of nowadays for low skill work. There would not be a need for unions if wages where fair and conditions where good. So ford is somewhat justified in not wanting them in his business. But just becouse Ford did ok by his workers does not mean others will.
@@tacob0 Don't be naive. Everyone are greedy and selfish, it's only natural that both the employers and the employees want the best deal possible for themselves. There will be never a "fair" wages, (vast majority of) employees will always feel they are underpaid, while (vast majority of) employers think their workers are overpaid. That's just the fact of life. The government should not interfere on the behalf of either, because it will only create skew in the market, which will leave it vulnerable against competition abroad. IMO it's best to let the workers/union and the employers settle it themselves.
thing is, Ford never made the 7.3 engine. They never made their own diesel until the 6.4. International made the 7.3 and it was a hell of a good engine.
Henry Ford is one of my favourite pioneers in history, been waiting a long time for his Bio too come out, would love a Bio on Adolf Hitler, I know not many know who Peter Brock is around the world, he was an Australian motor racing hero, also can you do a Bio on James Alexander Holden, would love that, as history on him is hard to find, even in Australia, once again love this Henry Ford Bio.
Blinkist is the first mid role ad I have listened to with out muting it. Good delivery made that happen. It is one of the few ads that have gotten my interest. You have my permission to use this statement.
He wasn’t. He was a great American who loved his country. When you call out the “rootless international elite”... they re-write history and make you the bad guy. His books are a good way for average people to understand the world. People saying different are lying.
@@zackattack635 ~ I do remember his competition questioning him about his personal knowledge of an automobile to try and get his company disbanded. It was thrown out of court because of his reply ~ “You are correct. I do not know. However, I DO know the men that can answer these questions and they work for me.”
ExtraCredits did a series on Otto von Bismarck and it was amazing. I mean everything EC does is amazing but Bismark lends himself very well to TH-cam style documentaries. Must watch series.
Him and Edison were apparently very big on the occult, as were a lot of rich people in the 1920s .I read some time ago that Edisons son once spoke how he had to catch Thomas' last breath into a jar and deliver it to Henry Ford, but couldnt find anything to back that rumor up
Good idea... Uncle Otto and his brave Waffen SS commandos were _"just following orders"_ 😊😊😊 Seriously though, didn't he become like an Irish Sheep farmer or something like that after the war?
He was certainly an interesting figure. I remember reading about his rescue of Mussolini when I was in college which is a fascinating story. Still, he was a Nazi bastard and he deserved a worse end than what he received.
You've got to do a episode on isinbard Brunel. He was a pioneer in so many thing from casons to tunnelling all the way to suspension bridge's. Steel hulled boats. You name it that guy made it..
Great video. For those interested in learning more about Henry Ford’s early years , I recommend reading “I Invented the Modern Age: The Rise of Henry Ford” by Richard Snow. This book does into depth on how he came to be and (more importantly) the people who worked for him who came up with the ideas of the downdraft carburetor, assembly line, the $5 workday, etc. (ideas usually credited to Henry Ford).
Correct ! Henry Ford was one of the main movers behind the Detroit Motor Car Company. After HF left , Henry Martin Leland was brought in to help liquidate the company. Instead , Leland lead the reorganization of the company into Cadillac. Later on , in 1921 , Leland was running the Lincoln Motor Company. Having financial issues , Lincoln was purchased by Ford Motor Company. Many think it was a power move for Ford to get even with Leland.
You are incorrect about the skilled workers working the assembly line. He used unskilled labor that's one of the reasons why he was able to make such an affordable car and yet make a lot of money at the same time. Unskilled workers cost less. They were paid less than skilled tradesman, and they were easier to replace. By utilizing this massive working class to just be good at one thing. He was able to cut the time it took to build a car from more than 12 hours to two hours and 30 minutes.
Got to work for an old man whose grandfather worked for H.F. the man loaned him farming equipment when he started farming. I don't remember the details, but it was a good story.
Actually, Henry senior was forced to hand over the firm to Henry II. Ford had war contracts and production was falling behind. The government had to intervene and requested Henry II ( who serving in the War) to step in and to revamp the output of bombers.
I would recommend you do Bob Denard, the last dog of war, a Mercenary who's coup operations outed Zanzibar president 3 times and he was involved in more than 7 coups around the world in 9 different countries.
The Model T between 1908, and through the 1913 model year buyers had a choice of several colors, grey, green, blue, red. Black was the only color the Model T came in from 1914 through 1925, because black could be dried quickly, and speed was important at the Ford plant because of its enormous volume. Then, in 1926 and 1927, colors included green, light blue, brown, maroon - and, of course, black. I hesitate to point this out because Daven has said that you guys check the absolute hell out of your videos but you didn't spend a lot of time on colours and I worry.
my grandpa allways said Ford was a great man, the ford trucks made for the Wehrmacht were made with all parts in metric and nearly indestructable - he - who had prior to army service never owned a pair of boots but only handcarved wooden shoes filled with straw saw a marvel of engineering in it - he allways said Ford must have been such a bright head and one of the first people in the USA to acknowledge and use the metric system in the calculation and construction of mass produced civilian products also a neighbar got a Model T- and while the motor is ceased for almost 50 years the original black paint is still spotless rust free and has no damage from UV light, something that certainly cant be said abaut cars that are less than 1/3 of its age
I was hoping to hear C.R. and J.C. Wilson's name here, as Ford used their parts, etc! These innovative men are my relatives, and are a very important part of the beginnings of the automobile in Detroit, Michigan!
I’m not sure what country you’re from… But Henry Ford raced to create a Fordson.tractor model F to put on ships to send to England to help Great Britain with the food shortages before the United States got into the war
The driver of the Ford 999 was Barney Oldfield, and not Barrie. My Dad met Barney at the 1933 Chicago Fair, and had a few stories to tell about him. So did Dad's grandmother, who was Barney's cousin. Always fun being a shirt-tail relative of a celebrity!
This seems to me a rather sanitized version of Ford's biography. Although it mentions Ford's ideological links to Nazism, there is no mention of the material support. Ford Motors and GM both had plants in Nazi Germany. Ford plants even benefited from slave labor provided by the Reich. Ford and GM trucks were used in the invasion of Poland and France. They were crucial in the logistical support of military operations. Hitler even awarded him the Grand Cross of the German Eagle in 1938. He never returned it, even after the US officially entering the war.
So often great men are greatly flawed . You have to marvel at his accomplishments . More important then the model T he established the middle class and modern manufacturing. He has stubborn and difficult he embraced an Evil ideology . A great man who was greatly flawed
Thank you Blinkist for making this possible! Get unlimited access for 1 week here: www.blinkist.com/biographics
If you haven't already you should do John Deere.
Biographics love the content but it would be awesome if your channel covered more women. To my recollection there have only been a handful of women and quite a few men. A little bit more equity would be great. Again, thanks for the great content 👌🏾
What happen to Brilliant?
but did he flattening any jews?
How have you not done Hypatia yet???
The model T build was so efficient that the boards of the packing case that the engine was delivered in were made to the correct size to enable them to be used for the floorboards of the car.
John Hargreaves Damn son !!!
Why is everyone saying this
@@HipsterBot2000 Is it not true?
In the 90s I worked at a machine shop in Oak Park Michigan. Right outside of Detroit. The owner was old and ran it as something of a hobby. He related the "crate to floorboard," story. Sounds possible given Fords frugality. True??
I’ve heard this story as well and believe it to be true.
I'm a native of Dearborn, Michigan, and many aspects of life are still overshadowed by Ford. We have Ford Healthcare and hospital services, Ford Motor Company HQ, the Henry Ford Museum, Ford Road, and the first mayor of Dearborn was a Ford. Even the Detroit Lions are owned by the Fords and the Ford Estate is a place people can visit in fact.
Also just thought of the Ford Historic Homes District, which my grandma lives in, etc.
@@seanmiller643that’s wild
Henry Ford, one of the most complicated and revolutionary industrialists who ever lived.
These videos feel like they're really coming from a place of personal passion. Keep up the great work, the quality, and consistency.
It's so true, they are well researched and the stories are told with passion and absence of bias.
Simon is a classical example of the combining of the purest example of the teacher archetype and the storyteller archetype.
I think when you say "teacher" people tend to carry a somewhat negative connotation of superiority and authority, but that's not at all what I mean. You can ask almost anyone about their experience with school and I think most of them had, at one time or another, "that one teacher", who did it because they genuinely loved the subject, had great personal passion for it, and wanted to try to bring the hidden wonders of said subject into view of their student's, and that's what I mean by "teacher."
On the other hand, the storyteller archetype is something that humans have largely lost track of, I think, but since the earliest days of humanity the "storyteller" has been one of the most important and revered people in society. The storyteller has was the Historical Society before they existed, the teacher who came before schools, the entertainer long before concerts, and much more.
Both of these things have to come from passion. They can't be faked and they can't be learned, at least not to the same level as those who do it out of passion.
and they help me learn english ahha
Yeah I wouldn't take everything here as factual though guys, this is just stuff researched on the Internet. Bit like Wikipedia facts, I think they already did a show on scotspedia. Nuff said.
A little rhyme for your amusement:
"There was an old man
His name was Henry Ford
He took a piece of rubber and a 2 inch board
A little bit of gas and an old tin can
Put it all together
And the damn thing ran!"
Roses are red, Violets are blue.
Henry made cars, and hated the jew.
@@Itsallgoodtogo Roses are red, violets are blue,
*_ONE DAY WE'LL CRUISE DOWN BLOOD GULCH AVENUE_*
@Y B i find it truly fascinating and a true "sign of the times" that people do everything they can to find something bad about any figure in history (these days white males in particular) and try and demonizing them then calling for them to be "struck from history" . its really easy to trash someone long dead and cherry pick thier life to make them seem evil. Even more obnoxious is these same people declare freedom of speech and protection for the "downtrodden" to ensure they arent deplatformed, harassed, bullied and physically threatened while literally trying to do that very thing to people they dislike or disagree with.
Show me one person who DOESN'T have a skeleton in thier closet or has an unpopular view! You cant because we crucified the only man that fit that bill!
@@TheTariqibnziyad Evidently you do enough to leave nasty remarks from the safety of your computer.
@@drakemcfee9138 I'm assuming your talking about Jesus? He had a lot of opinions that were unpopular at the time. That's why his government had him executed. That seems to happen to a lot of people who stick up for the little guy. 😞
Both my grandfathers worked directly for Henry Ford. My paternal grandfather worked as an
engineering executive specializing in research and development and my maternal grandfather
worked Plant Security, both of them at Highland Park.
When Ford finally agreed to concede to the union, the only representative from Ford Corp. the
workers would talk to, at first, was my Mom's Dad, because he was so well-loved.
After WW2, my Dad was trained through the Ford, in-house apprenticeship program and
became a journeyman and eventually a master mechanic by working at a dozen Ford
dealerships throughout the Great Lakes area, in the US and Canada.
When I was 18, the Ford company offered to train me as a mechanic.
I had listened too well to my Dad's tales and politely declined.
I was such an idiot.
A magnificent failure indeed
Omg I can tell a similar story!!! I was offered a job as a driver at the proving grounds, but turned it down due to grandpa's stories!
I’m a 3rd generation auto worker from Detroit. The auto industry has been good to my family
I'm from a tiny village in Scotland but 2 years ago I moved to Essex. I drive past the Ford plant at Dagenham every day and for whatever reason I have this feeling that I'd like to work there!!!
Something magical about the brand
Even after the Mk5 Escort.... An automotive puddle of pee😂😂
@@djquinn11 Really? are you still in Detroit ( dont have to answer) but I thought most the auto company's got shipped over seas like 15 years ago.
I like how he crossed paths with Cadillac and the Dodge brothers early on.
BTW Ford was also responsible for the creation of Kingsford charcoal. He wanted to find a way to utilize the leftover wood from the production of the floorboards of the model T.
Whoa I didn’t know that!
Thought it was the wood spoked wheels. Probably any wood or sawdust waste.
That charcoal was sold in every Ford dealership and the company still exists today!
Yes to Henry Ford
One thing that I really appreciate about this series is how thorough they present the individuals. We have a tendency to oversimplify people as all good or all evil or to just boil them down to a charicature of themselves... it's important to remember that no matter how great our idols and heroes, they're still just people. Flawed, normal, everyday people. Except Mr Rogers. That man was a saint and I'll argue anyone who says otherwise. Lol
Like George R. R. Martin once said, "I think the battle between Good and Evil is waged within the individual human hearts. We all have good in us and we all have evil in us, and we may do a wonderful good act on Tuesday and a horrible, selfish, bad act on Wednesday, and to me, that’s the great human drama of fiction. I believe in gray characters, as I’ve said before. We all have good and evil in us and there are very few pure paragons and there are very few orcs. A villain is a hero of the other side, as someone said once, and I think there’s a great deal of truth to that, and that’s the interesting thing."
Simon really exemplifies this philosophy in Biographics, i agree, its definitely something to appreciate. Even the most "good" or "evil" people in history were more complicated than just being a hero or villain.
He was a man of his troubled times and did a lot to define Detroit. Thank you for addressing his life.
he knew who and what was responsible for the troubles the world was facing.. central banks and those who own them..
Soichiro Honda has a really cool story, and it all started with a model T Ford, would be great to see a video on more automobile industrialists like him, would love to watch that!
I was just thinking this. A great story for real.
Henry Ford responded to the British call for tractors to expand agriculture. The kerosene fueled Fordson Tractor which out performed all others and was built in the British Isles. This saved many lives.
Ford is producing cars in Cologne since 1931 up to today for the European market. Mr. Ford had close ties with the Nazi regime back in the days and has been awarded some medals by Hitler himself. Your vid points out how much of an inspiration to him Ford has been.
Man, the world is a weird place. 😊
Thx for the vid, keep up the work.
And Ford was horrified when he learned what Hitler did. Many Americans viewed Hitler favorably before the war.
The medal was the "Grand Cross of the Supreme Order of the German Eagle". Lindbergh was the other american to get one. Lindbergh sent his back in 1941 but Ford did not.
Im greatly surprised at the lack of mention to the influence Ford had on the implementation of the 2 day weekend
Yea the 8hr workday too
Color me ignorant but what was the norm before that?
@@MEMEMEMEMELOL 6 day work weeks. you only got Sundays off because of Church. Which is part of why Ford gave all his workers another day off that they could use for themself, instead of church.
This isn't all the reason, but its the basic knowledge I know for certain.
Working hours weren't quite so rigid as they are now though, so while 6 day weeks seem bad, it often wasnt as bad as a 6 day work week would be now.
@@BobTheTesaurus Didnt know that at all. Thanks! :D
It was part of Fordism.Look it up.
1:05 - Chapter 1 - Early years
2:30 - Chapter 2 - Out on his own
3:35 - Chapter 3 - Family man
5:05 - Chapter 4 - The petrol engine
7:35 - Chapter 5 - The ford motor company
9:20 - Mid roll ads
10:50 - Chapter 6 - The model T
13:15 - Chapter 7 - The living wage
15:10 - Chapter 8 - The peace ship
16:45 - Chapter 9 - Controversial views
18:00 - Chapter 10 - The model A
19:15 - Chapter 11 - Union opposition
20:35 - Chapter 12 - Anti semitism
22:05 - Chapter 13 - Final years
Chapter 12 - based
I swear this guy almost singlehandedly created the 20th century.
John Dee really makes it hard to believe that his ancestors can't produce a winning football team!
John Dee really makes it hard to believe that his ancestors can't produce a winning football team!
I was really digging this one and would enjoy seeing one on Henry Ford II. This really left me with that "Well, what happened next?" feeling.
The “any colour you like as long as it’s black” line predated Ford by 50 years.
It was uttered by Francis William Webb, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London & North Western Railway Company and is credited in the official company minutes as saying it.
I believe he also attempted to do a great deal for people facing financial woes during the great depression. A complicated man but everyone has their flaws.
proudly being Hilter's idol is a pretty gargantuan flaw
@@AC8X I mean, He still spent his whole life helping people not genociding them. Buddha could have been a huge influence on Hitler for all we know
@@ledzeppelin27 - Yeah, but Buddah wasn't an inspiration to Hitler, was he? 🙄 Henry Ford WAS. And it was all due to his hatred of Jewish people. For being such a "pascifist" he didn't give a damn that human beings were being exterminated in Germany. He was a racist, point blank period. I don't give a damn what he invented. Some character flaws can never be ignored or forgiven.
@@KabbalahSherry I suppose you need to look up the history of the swastika being a sacred symbol in Buddhism and you'll have your first answer. Otherwise you're looking at the entirety of his life in a modern racism lens for a guy who lived in a pre-holocost world. I don't know Ford's whole life story, maybe there were Jewish people who treated him or his family/friends terribly. Does that justify everything he said? No. But in the same modern scope I see white people, Russian people, etc. blamed and persecuted daily for crimes they don't commit. This biased bigoted world view where only one side is correct for their hate is a bad joke
@@ledzeppelin27 the Holocaust was far from the first genocide of Jewish people, so “pre-holocaust world” doesn’t mean anything. Your willingness to invent excuses is an example of why anti-semitism still thrives after millennia. I had a pretty bad run-in with some evangelists, but I’d still be horrified if someone started rounding them up and putting them in concentration and death camps. No decent human being would be proud of inspiring a person who commits atrocities at that level.
Thank you so very much for this fantastic choice of persons to chronicle! Henry Ford worked for my Great Grandfather as a draftsman at one point of his young life!
Complicated man. Aren't we all. I can t wait for the Biographics about you Simon. God only knows what lurks beneath.
"aren't we all" bro was a literal Nazi 😭😭
he met her in 1888 100 years later lol they got married on April 11 1988 you got a misprint
oH rEaLly?
wait so waiting 100 years isn't normal?
Yep. I laughed. Lol
Seems like this happens every other video 😂
I love the respect they used to show in those old-timey relationships.
A little disappointing that you didn't discuss how much Ford HATED the Model A, as he had always envisioned the Model T as being "the car", forever. It was also one of the earlier rifts between Henry and Edsel that began driving the wedge further between them as father and son.
Very true. The History ch had done a segment on the founders of the auto industry, and Ford thought his son Edsel was an idiot and derided every idea he came up with. The problem was Ford did not like independent thought, Edsel however was no fool, he was not an engineer like his father but was a brilliant designer and understood marketing. He told his father that model T sales were dropping and other company's were taking their market share away from them, he begged him many times to come out with a new model and Ford shot him down every time. Finely, his wife stood up to him and basically told him to get over his ego and see that Edsel was trying to save the company and if he refused to help Edsel, she would leave him! This was the baseball bat to the head that knocked some sense into him and he reluctantly gave in and Edsel's model A design saved the company.
Henry destroyed the prototype model A in front of Edsel...
I'm also surprised he didn't mention Fordlandia. He built a whole ass town in Brazil to collect and harvest rubber from rubber trees. That's a whole other can of worms lmao, Wendigoon made a really good video about it.
There are so many great people in the world. Please consider doing segments on writers like Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark Twain, Roald Dahl, Agatha Christie etc...
My grandfather was in that first sit down strike at Ford motor company. Oh the stories he told me about what happened, not good. For example, if you were relieved of duty for the day you went outside and had to sit on the lawn. If they needed you they would come and get you. If you had gone home you were fired....My grandfather and I used to ride our bikes out to lake St Clair and would ride right up to the Ford mansion.
MAN, please do one on Francis Bacon, that guy has a really insane, touching, interesting and dark life story and is one of the greatest painters to ever live.
And a very cool last name
Knowledge is power. France is bacon.
Efficiency and the importance of a large and loyal customer base to spread business costs across as many units sold as possible. That, combined with the realisation that a healthy employee base results in stability, which is in the company's best interest.
Henry Ford adored Adolph Hitler as well. During the 30s he gave Hitler special present for his birthday every year:
brand new car or large sum of money.
Yes very true....
"They'll tell you over and over that HENRY FORD WAS AN ANTI-SEMITE but They'll NEVER Tell You Why"?
@@alcapone5876 Henry Ford wrote a book called The international Jew in 1920, translated in german in 1922 and 15 other languages as arabic. He owned a very antijudaïque journal called The Dearborn Independent from 1920 to 1927.
👀😮😬🤦🏾♀️
The Model T was the most impressive and important car in automotive history. Model T was like the cell phone today--Everyone wanted one and when a new Model came out, they wanted to upgrade..
The only photo of an American that Adolph Hitler kept on his desk was a photo of Henry Ford.
That's because Henry Ford supported the Nazi's
@@Jay-jb2vr I've also heard that Henry Ford was a dunce.
Ah they were in love, so cute.
The man did do a lot of important things that we're good. He too had his faults and failings. He gave lots of people who normally wouldn't have been hired jobs. And that is a good thing most definitely.
@@Eric_Hutton.1980 barfly's aren't reliable sources.
Even in a crowd, you'll pick him out. Makes a bloke feel so proud.
Now let me tell you about our sponsor halfway through *skips 60-70 seconds ahead*
Ford got the idea of mass production assembly line from waltham watch company. He said whether you think you can or whether you think you cant you are right both ways.
...I've been sitting here for the last 15 minutes trying to come to grips with the fact that Ford paid his people more than I'm making after being with a company for 2 1/2 years.
Ford was extremely profitable at the time and could easily afford it. Look at Amazon today, their starting wage of $15 an hour is more than many people are making even after years at their job.
That's because they were SKILLED labor ;-)
@@2584024 - And yet, that's nothing compared to what they COULD be paying people. 🙄 An honest to God, LIVING wage. As in, something a family could live on, even w/just one breadwinner in the house. $15 an hour isn't enough for that anymore. People act like that's a lot of money? It's like $34k a year bro. Nobody can raise a family on that, unless you're living very poor. Not w/rent & housing prices being what they are today. Nobody wants to admit this, but $15 just isn't enough. And these companies know that but they don't give a damn, cuz they just want to keep living in obscene luxury at the very top.
@@KabbalahSherry you sound angery
Henry Ford was great business man who loved his country.
"a man who defies description...and now we are going to describe him" lmfao
please do one of these on Henry Ford II, He did a lot for Ford and was an interesting person in his own right...
in defense of Ford, here in Mexico we have some of the most corrupted, richest and infamous Union bosses you could imagine, literal criminals with law immunity...
Henry Ford had Harry Bennett to take care of the unions.
The UAW now is exactly what Henry Ford thought of them in the early 20th century.
Didn't Mexican union workers just win a huge victory sometime back? One of the more democratically-run unions organized massive strikes and they won something like a 20% pay raise and one time bonus of around $1600 USD.
Here we have pretty good unions in the netherlands although sometimes unrealistic in thier demands. Your unions are corrupt becouse your country is corrupt. Corruption is generally caused by rich folk buying the union leadership. A much more effective way to dismantle them. Unions are not inherently corrupt niether are governments. It just falls to the poeple to ensure it. If you worship the rich and elite and pretend they can do no wrong and blame the union instead you get this type of corruption. Its like blaming immigrants for wage supression instead of the ones hiring them. The best defense of ford would be that he paid decently eventually. Something almost unheard of nowadays for low skill work. There would not be a need for unions if wages where fair and conditions where good. So ford is somewhat justified in not wanting them in his business. But just becouse Ford did ok by his workers does not mean others will.
@@tacob0 Don't be naive. Everyone are greedy and selfish, it's only natural that both the employers and the employees want the best deal possible for themselves. There will be never a "fair" wages, (vast majority of) employees will always feel they are underpaid, while (vast majority of) employers think their workers are overpaid. That's just the fact of life.
The government should not interfere on the behalf of either, because it will only create skew in the market, which will leave it vulnerable against competition abroad. IMO it's best to let the workers/union and the employers settle it themselves.
I’ve always loved ford trucks especially the old 7.3s the sound of that loud diesel it could pull a freight train if you let it
thing is, Ford never made the 7.3 engine. They never made their own diesel until the 6.4. International made the 7.3 and it was a hell of a good engine.
Henry Ford is one of my favourite pioneers in history, been waiting a long time for his Bio too come out, would love a Bio on Adolf Hitler, I know not many know who Peter Brock is around the world, he was an Australian motor racing hero, also can you do a Bio on James Alexander Holden, would love that, as history on him is hard to find, even in Australia, once again love this Henry Ford Bio.
Don't forget about Possum Bourne, Mark Skaife, Loundes, Dick Johnson
Seton, Bowe.
My Ford Ranger has the 4.0 Cologne engine in it. Extremely strong engine.
Ahh, I loved my old '84 Ford LTD. Before it fell apart, that is...
Blinkist is the first mid role ad I have listened to with out muting it. Good delivery made that happen. It is one of the few ads that have gotten my interest. You have my permission to use this statement.
Do a video about jazz vocalist Billie Holiday. She had a tough life.
Even when telling something not popular or negative about someone, Simon remains unbiased and FACTUAL. SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND!!!!🤘
Ok lol
Me: Lol
Them: What?
Me: Nothing
**af"ford"able**
Great video! Really enjoying the quality of these videos lately!
Never realized how controversial he was as an individual.
He wasn’t. He was a great American who loved his country. When you call out the “rootless international elite”... they re-write history and make you the bad guy. His books are a good way for average people to understand the world. People saying different are lying.
@@zackattack635 ~ I do remember his competition questioning him about his personal knowledge of an automobile to try and get his company disbanded.
It was thrown out of court because of his reply ~ “You are correct. I do not know. However, I DO know the men that can answer these questions and they work for me.”
@@zackattack635 hitler also loved his country. Loved Ford as well. Funny that. Loving your country doesn’t make you a good person
@@emilybarclay8831 lol, humanity lost WW2. The bad guys won and wrote the history.
Simon's channels are one of the few ones on which I don't need to speed up the videos.
Can you please do one on Robert Ripley? He's such a interesting and quirky man! Well deserving of a biographics!
The more I watch these the more evident it becomes that everyone is a mishmash of good and bad.
Yeah it's a shock that humans are surprisingly human.
@@Erin-bd6jg Sarcastic much?! Yes, take the good with the bad
You should do Otto von Bismarck. He isn't spoken of much. After all, if it weren't for him, the German Unification would have never happened.
ExtraCredits did a series on Otto von Bismarck and it was amazing. I mean everything EC does is amazing but Bismark lends himself very well to TH-cam style documentaries.
Must watch series.
Him and Edison were apparently very big on the occult, as were a lot of rich people in the 1920s .I read some time ago that Edisons son once spoke how he had to catch Thomas' last breath into a jar and deliver it to Henry Ford, but couldnt find anything to back that rumor up
Could you cover Otto Skorzney?
Good idea...
Uncle Otto and his brave Waffen SS commandos were _"just following orders"_ 😊😊😊
Seriously though, didn't he become like an Irish Sheep farmer or something like that after the war?
@@graeme3023 I'm reading a book about him called The Devils Disciple. He was one of the early Nazis.
Anyone read "world war" by Harry turtledove?
@@graeme3023 And yes he did live in Ireland.
He was certainly an interesting figure. I remember reading about his rescue of Mussolini when I was in college which is a fascinating story. Still, he was a Nazi bastard and he deserved a worse end than what he received.
My roommate introduced me to his channel, love your content keeps me going while working from home
Could you please do one on the Swamp Fox ( Francis Marion)
Awesome idea.
Wow great idea
I didn’t know the Ford Edsel that was made in the late 50s was named after Henry’s son until now
video about Aiko Toyoda the founder of Toyota?
I know people study history but you're taking the biscuit.
You know more brilliant stuff and explain so well than 10 Norris McWhirter's
You've got to do a episode on isinbard Brunel. He was a pioneer in so many thing from casons to tunnelling all the way to suspension bridge's. Steel hulled boats. You name it that guy made it..
I know you're doing three channels at once. But I am through happy you guys decided yo make Biographies. GREAT Channel!!!
Great video. For those interested in learning more about Henry Ford’s early years , I recommend reading “I Invented the Modern Age: The Rise of Henry Ford” by Richard Snow. This book does into depth on how he came to be and (more importantly) the people who worked for him who came up with the ideas of the downdraft carburetor, assembly line, the $5 workday, etc. (ideas usually credited to Henry Ford).
Ave the Great Henry Ford
Ford: A copy of Mein Kampf in every glovebox
No mention of how his former company being turned into Cadillac inspired him to create Lincoln?
Correct ! Henry Ford was one of the main movers behind the Detroit Motor Car Company. After HF left , Henry Martin Leland was brought in to help liquidate the company. Instead , Leland lead the reorganization of the company into Cadillac.
Later on , in 1921 , Leland was running the Lincoln Motor Company. Having financial issues , Lincoln was purchased by Ford Motor Company. Many think it was a power move for Ford to get even with Leland.
You are incorrect about the skilled workers working the assembly line. He used unskilled labor that's one of the reasons why he was able to make such an affordable car and yet make a lot of money at the same time.
Unskilled workers cost less. They were paid less than skilled tradesman, and they were easier to replace. By utilizing this massive working class to just be good at one thing. He was able to cut the time it took to build a car from more than 12 hours to two hours and 30 minutes.
Actually a relatively high wage allowed him to acquired and retain the best & most skilled workers.
That´s the whole point of mass-production. You don't need many skilled expensive people, just workers able to do one job fast and repeat all day long.
I continue to absolutely love your work Simon and team, seems a travesty to me that you still require a day job to commute to.
Got to work for an old man whose grandfather worked for H.F. the man loaned him farming equipment when he started farming. I don't remember the details, but it was a good story.
I think a video on Ezra Pound would be interesting.
Would it be allowed? ??
I saw a picture of pasolini with ezra
Actually, Henry senior was forced to hand over the firm to Henry II. Ford had war contracts and production was falling behind. The government had to intervene and requested Henry II ( who serving in the War) to step in and to revamp the output of bombers.
Charles Lindbergh next?
I would recommend you do Bob Denard, the last dog of war, a Mercenary who's coup operations outed Zanzibar president 3 times and he was involved in more than 7 coups around the world in 9 different countries.
My mother learned to drive with a Model T... in late 1950s. Too bad my grandfather sold the car later.
Who can drive that, can drive anything!
It's amazing to me how much people were able to get done before the distractions of our current paradigm.
I'm surprised that Edison didn't try to steal it from him 🤔
He Stole his body as a means to remain immortal.
The Model T between 1908, and through the 1913 model year buyers had a choice of several colors, grey, green, blue, red. Black was the only color the Model T came in from 1914 through 1925, because black could be dried quickly, and speed was important at the Ford plant because of its enormous volume. Then, in 1926 and 1927, colors included green, light blue, brown, maroon - and, of course, black.
I hesitate to point this out because Daven has said that you guys check the absolute hell out of your videos but you didn't spend a lot of time on colours and I worry.
Should have been pretty obvious early on that Henry would one day enter the automotive industry. His name was Ford, after all.
Oh wait...
😂😂😂
Thanks Simon and also to your production staff, keep up the good work and have a great day!
Henry Ford was an American hero. We need more like him today
Married in 1988! Ha ha. 3:53. It happens though. Just having some fun.
Please would you make and Lincoln I think he is such an interesting and important figure
I like the clean family living approach, I don't see it in a negative at all
Could you do William Wallace next? That's a story and a half!
😂 More like 1/100th of a story
I would have liked to have heard something about Ford's battles with the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers.
Do George Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel!
MattanzaMafiaFedora definitely! They need to do these!
@@Iamtheliquor Glad you agree! :)
Thanks so much for this I have to research him for my prep
Watching this in my Chevy
Waiting for the tow truck?
my grandpa allways said Ford was a great man, the ford trucks made for the Wehrmacht were made with all parts in metric and nearly indestructable - he - who had prior to army service never owned a pair of boots but only handcarved wooden shoes filled with straw saw a marvel of engineering in it - he allways said Ford must have been such a bright head and one of the first people in the USA to acknowledge and use the metric system in the calculation and construction of mass produced civilian products also a neighbar got a Model T- and while the motor is ceased for almost 50 years the original black paint is still spotless rust free and has no damage from UV light, something that certainly cant be said abaut cars that are less than 1/3 of its age
I was hoping to hear C.R. and J.C. Wilson's name here, as Ford used their parts, etc! These innovative men are my relatives, and are a very important part of the beginnings of the automobile in Detroit, Michigan!
I’m not sure what country you’re from… But Henry Ford raced to create a Fordson.tractor model F to put on ships to send to England to help Great Britain with the food shortages before the United States got into the war
Nothing says lets increase costs like instating a Union.
There was no coverage of Ford´s V8 development, outside the factory in a shed. For me, a highlight of Ford way to work.
He married his wife the year after I was born
I would love to see a Simon Whistler biographics video on John DeLorean
Have had ford tractors all my life the year 1991 till early 2000s after. Ford was sold to fiat they realy went down hill fast
FIAT = Fix It Again Tony
Fiat bought Ford tractors?
And thus helping the saying “FORD: found on the roadside dead” 😂
The driver of the Ford 999 was Barney Oldfield, and not Barrie.
My Dad met Barney at the 1933 Chicago Fair, and had a few stories to tell about him. So did Dad's grandmother, who was Barney's cousin. Always fun being a shirt-tail relative of a celebrity!
This seems to me a rather sanitized version of Ford's biography. Although it mentions Ford's ideological links to Nazism, there is no mention of the material support. Ford Motors and GM both had plants in Nazi Germany. Ford plants even benefited from slave labor provided by the Reich. Ford and GM trucks were used in the invasion of Poland and France. They were crucial in the logistical support of military operations. Hitler even awarded him the Grand Cross of the German Eagle in 1938. He never returned it, even after the US officially entering the war.
Yes, a complicated man. A great American. Very great Biographics.
Thank you for the view.
Not all good, but who is.
Thank you.
So often great men are greatly flawed . You have to marvel at his accomplishments . More important then the model T he established the middle class and modern manufacturing. He has stubborn and difficult he embraced an Evil ideology . A great man who was greatly flawed
What flaw?
That was an amazing video. I had no idea that Ford had such a broad influence on the world. Keep up the good work.