The Ford Model-T, The

Assembly Line, & The

Failure of Fordlandia

Research Question
How did the Ford Model-T
revolutionize Americas thoughts
about transportation and
technology?

The Assembly Line

http://www.johndclare.net/America
4.htm

Background

The assembly line developed by Ford Motor

Company between 1908 and 1915
Made assembly lines famous in the following decade
through the social ramifications of mass production,
such as the affordability of the Ford Model T and the
introduction of high wages for Ford workers.

Henry Ford was the first to master the assembly line

and was able to improve other aspects of industry
by doing so
such as reducing labor hours required to produce a
single vehicle, and increased production numbers and
parts

General Info
In introducing the Model T in October 1908,
Henry Ford proclaimed, "I will build a motor car
for the great multitude." Before then, the
decade-old automobile industry generally
marketed its vehicles to only the richest
Americans, because of the high cost of
producing the machines. Ford's Model T was
the first automobile designed to serve the
needs of middle-class citizens: It was durable,
economical, and easy to operate and maintain.
Still, with a debut price of $850, the Model T
was out of the reach of most Americans. The
Ford Motor Company understood that to lower
unit cost it had to increase productivity. The
method by which this was accomplished
transformed industry forever.

General Info
Prototypes of the assembly line can be traced
back to ancient times, but the immediate
precursor of Ford's industrial technique was
19th-century meat-packing plants in Chicago
and Cincinnati, where cows and hogs were
slaughtered, dressed, and packed using
overhead trolleys that took the meat from
worker to worker. Inspired by the meat
packers, the Ford Motor Company innovated
new assembly line techniques and in early
1913 installed its first moving assembly line at
Highland Park for the manufacture of flywheel
magnetos. Instead of each worker assembling
his own magneto, the assembly was divided
into 29 operations performed by 29 men
spaced along a moving belt. Average assembly
time dropped from 20 minutes to 13 minutes

Confused History
In order to keep up with the increasing demand
for those newfangled contraptions, horseless
carriages, Ransom E. Olds created the
assembly line in 1901. The new approach to
putting together automobiles enabled him to
more than quadruple his factorys output, from
425 cars in 1901 to 2,500 in 1902.

Olds should have become known as "The

father of automotive assembly line," although
many people think that it was Henry Ford who
invented the assembly line. What Ford did do
was to improve upon Olds idea by installing
conveyor belts. That cut the time of
manufacturing a Model T from a day and a half
to a mere ninety minutes. Henry Ford should

The Ford Model-T

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Mo
del_T

Background of The Ford

Model-T

The first production Model T was produced on

August 12, 1908 and left the factory on
September 27, 1908, at the Piquette Plant in
Detroit, Michigan.

Informally known as the Tin Lizzie, Flivver,

TModel Ford, or T

Internal Combustion Engine

Rudimentary steam-powered automobiles were

invented near the end of the 18th century, but
it was not until the invention of the internal
combustion engine in 1889 that the technology
improved enough to replace traditional horsedrawn carriages. Henry Ford revolutionized the
production of the automobile and made it

Cost

The standard 4-seat open-tourer of 1909 cost $850

(equivalent to $20,709 today), when competing cars
often cost $2,000$3,000 (equivalent to $48,726
$73,089 today)

In 1913, the price dropped to $550 (equivalent to

$12,181 today)

And $440 in 1915 (equivalent to $9,521 today).

In 1914, an assembly line worker could buy a Model

T with four months' pay.

By the 1920s, the price had fallen to $290

(equivalent to $3,289 today)

Because of increasing efficiencies of assembly line technique

and volume.
Henry employed vertical integration of the industries needed

Sales
Sales were:
69,762 in 1911
170,211 in 1912
202,667 in 1913
308,162 in 1914
And 501,462 in 1915.

Competitions
Advertisements

Automobile Problem
& Future
Development

Henry Ford simplified the automobile problem.

He made one automobile in one style at a one
chassis price and manufactured it, advertised
it, and sold it, in such quantities to astound not
only his fellow manufacturers in Detroit but the
civilized world.
Building in Large Quantities Reduces
Original Cost
Big Saving On Materials
A Sedan and Coupe Are Placed on the Market
by Henry Ford (October-18th-1914)

Fordlandia, Brazil

http://www.innovationsinnewspapers.com/index.php/tag/
microsoft/

Fords Failed Jungle Utopia

Amazon experiment
Designed to be a city focused around building
the Ford Model-Ts
For securing cultivated rubber for manufacture

Quickly fails as a result of distrust by Brazilian

Government
Now a ghost-town

Oral Report

Questions 1-4
Do you have any prior knowledge of the Ford
Model-T or assembly line?
No I do not. That was before my time.

What about Fordlandia, Brazil?

Never heard of it.

Have you ever bought a car?

Yes, I have.

What did you look for in the car?

Well I recently bought a car and I was looking for good
gas mileage, good performance in bad weather, and a
low car payment.

Questions 5-6
Can you relate that to the Ford Model-T?
Well, being that the Ford Model-T was one of the first
cars made, am I right? (Yes)Im assuming it wasnt very
good in inclimate weather such as snow. I dont know
how it would be on gas but Im assuming in those days
if you had a car you were wealthy so you werent too
concerned with the price of gas.

Why did you look for good performance in

inclimate weather & low gas mileage?
Because today the price of gas is through the roof & I
spend a lot of time on the road driving you around. &
uh just because it snows doesnt mean you dont have
to go to work and be places so its important to me to
feel safe when I am driving in the snow.

Questions 7-9

Do you have any comments on the assembly

line?
Well, not only was the Ford Model-T built on an
assembly line but they supplied many jobs many
people worked on assembly lines. & there are still
assembly lines today but they are union (union
workers). They are a faster way to mass produce things
even today although many are manned by machines.
When they had big assembly lines more people had
jobs.

Did your parents ever have any interactions

with the Ford Model-T?
No, no my dad got his first car probably in the 1950s.

So they never saw or had one as a child?

No, because Pap was raised by Great Grandma who
was a single mother who never drove because she was
legally blind. As for Grandma I dont know, I dont know
what her parents might have drove as she was growing

The Big Question

How did the Ford Model-T and the assembly
line revolutionize the way America thought
about technology and transportation?
Well thats a really long question. Youll have to repeat
that.
Oh I dont know, how do you think?

Not much to say

Not much of an answer

Time to Decide

Your
Turn!

Citations (General)

Google Images
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_line
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T
John Steele Gordon "10 Moments That Made American
Business," American Heritage, February/March 2007.
"Chronicle of 1908". Library.thinkquest.org.
http://library.thinkquest.org/27629/chronicle/1908.html
. Retrieved 2010-11-15
.
Ward 1974, p. 1562.
Georgano 1985

http://www.autonorth.ca/display/ShowJourna
l?moduleId=650998&categoryId=66964

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthr
ead.php?t=397594&page=116

http://www.city-data.com/forum/history/836263

Citations (General)
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/ford.htm
http://www.johndclare.net/America4.htm
http://www.motortrend.com/features/auto_new
s/2008/112_0807_ford_model_t_100_year_celeb
ration/large_photo_02.html
http://www.cnet.com.au/ford-model-t-celebrat
es-its-centenary-339292667.htm
http://www.innovationsinnewspapers.com/index
.php/tag/microsoft/
http://www.vestaldesign.com/blog/2006/09/hen
ry-fords-ghost-town-in-the-amazon
/
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/29
424
http
://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/30/fordla
ndia-forgotten-jungle-city-grandin

Citations (General)

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/arti
cle/0,28804,1658545_1657686_1657663,00.html
http://free-extras.com/images/ford_model_t-61
40.htm
http://trucks.about.com/od/specialtytrucks/ig/
Old-Ford-Trucks-Ads/Ford-s-1911-Model-T-Lineup
.htm
http://www.samsgarage.com/ford_centennial_in
_atlanta.htm
http://www.topspeed.com/cars/ford/1908-fordmodel-t-ar32509.html
http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/
http://ford-model-t-guidesntips12.blogspot.co
m/2011/03/model-t-assembly-line.html
http://www.lovefords.org/workers
http://imagearchivesusa.com/catalog/i195.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/49
74229245

Citations (General)

http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Labor/L_Ov
erview/Ford_Assembly_Lines.htm
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/aut
omotive-library/1410-day-automotive-history25.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/feb/01/fo
rdlandia-brazil
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2009
/06/14/fordlandia_recounts_auto_tycoons_doom
ed_attempt_to_establish_rubber_plantations_i
n_amazon/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/se
ts/72157623342733670/
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/AScn1A
4aKie3tbtZjmr5Zg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/pag
e58/
http://cityplanning.tumblr.com/post/938892705/
fordlandia

Citations (General)

New York Times (1857-1922)

New York, N.Y.: Jan 3, 1909 pg. 1

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/movi
ng-assembly-line-at-ford
1996-2011, A&E Television Networks, LLC. All Rights
Reserved.

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/a
ssbline.htm
1997 - 2007 The Great Idea Finder All rights
reserved

http://hn.bigchalk.com/hnweb/hn/do/topicresu
lts?set=topic&subtopicid=86838&start=1
Wall Street Journal (1889-1922)

New York, N.Y.: Jan 8, 1914 pg. 1

New York Times (1857-1922)

New York, N.Y.: Jan 3, 1909 pg. 1
The Washington Post (1877-1922)

Citations (General)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fordl%C3%A2ndia

Dempsey, Mary A.: Fordlandia, Michigan History 1994 78(4): 24-33.