Sun, 12 Jan 2014

Henry Ford Started As An Engineer For Thomas Edison


Henry Ford is a name that people from all walks of life have come across once. He founded the Ford Motor Company that is known as one of the most reliable and most profitable manufacturers of automobiles in the world. However, his most notable contribution to the modern capitalist world is the development of the technique of mass production.


Henry Ford Worked In The Edison Illuminating Company


Ford may be known for his successes and his important contributions but he, like ordinary people, started from humble beginnings. Before Henry Ford started his career as an engineer for Thomas Edison, he was the son of a farmer who went on and pursued his interest in mechanics despite the disapproval of his father.

In 1891, Henry Ford started his career as an engineer for Thomas Edison when he worked in the Edison Illuminating Company. After a mere two years, he was promoted to Chief Engineer. Henry Ford managed to renew and refocus his efforts on his hobbies and personal experiments like gasoline engines due to his increased pay and free time.

Three years later, he managed to create a self-propelled vehicle which he called the Ford Quadricycle. Ford performed various tests on the vehicle but kept on improving the machine.


Ford Model T In 1908


It was in 1896 when Ford was first introduced to Thomas Edison through a meeting of important people in Edison's company. In that convention, Edison managed to encourage Ford and gave his approval of Ford's experiments on automobiles.

This led to Ford creating a second vehicle which was completed in 1898. With his invention and with the financial banking of William H. Murphy, Ford resigned from Edison's company and created the Detroit Automobile Company in 1899. However, the company was dissolved in 1901 due to low quality of the machines and their high prices.

Ford then went through to a series of unsuccessful ventures. His mainstream success was due to the Ford Model T in 1908. The Model T sold widely in the USA until sales flagged in 1925. Henry Ford then created another vehicle, The Model A which was also a huge financial success.

Throughout Ford's ups and downs, his friendship with Thomas Edison remained constant. The two often collaborated on scientific projects and would often go on summer road trips together with mutual friends like John Burroughs.


Ford And Edison Were Friends Until Their Very Last Breath

They were inseparable. In fact, they lived side by side. Their houses were separated only by a gate which remained open. This gate later on became known as the "friendship gate". It is also known that when Edison was ordered by his doctors to a wheelchair, Ford bought one as well so they could race on their estates.

Their relationship changed immensely from when Henry Ford started his career as an engineer for Thomas Edison. The two were friends until their very last breath. In fact, according to a source, Ford convinced Edison's son to capture his father's dying breath on a test tube. The test tube containing Edison's breath is displayed on the Henry Ford Museum in the USA and is available for viewing.



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