The Henry Ford, July 6

One the way to the Henry Ford

They call it The Henry Ford Museum  but it is not just a museum  tracking the evolution of the automobile, it is a look at America from its beginnings to present day. The original ideal was to build a structure that would house Ford's fledgling collection and construction started in the 1930's.  It's 12 acres under one roof and is more like eight or more different museums, which is a little over whelming. We were told the Automobile in American Life was undergoing a complete makeover so I was sure our tour would be short.  Internet research suggested the place was big and AAA suggested allowing a minimum of 3 hours...both wrong.  The place is huge and it took a full day to see everything, even though the Automobile in American Life exhibit was closed. Towards the end of the day I was in brain overload and rushing through exhibits to see everything.

The museum is divided into "departments" each with its own theme.  We managed to see most everything, but my brain certainly didn't absorb all the museum had to offer. I'll try to paraphrase some of the exhibits.


Automobile in American Life:

There were old cars

lots of Model A-T

The above is an exhibit on putting together one of the earlier  Ford models.  Museum goers were encourage to participate and install some of the parts.  It's hard to see but the body is in the lower left and the two ladies in the upper right are getting ready to put the top on the body.

Then there was the Wiener Mobile.


The Made in American exhibit detailed evolution of manufacturing equipment.

There were looms

and machines for making screws

and drills

huge turbine engines for running the Ford plants.

Below is an old train made of hitching buggies together.

Then there was this different type of snow plow attached to a steam engine.

This contraption makes light bulbs and continued in service until the 1970's

This exhibit demonstrates how much energy it takes to make a light bulb work.

Liberty and Justice for All was an exceptional exhibit of American Democracy.  There was a detailed, but simple time line of American Democracy. The exhibit  included  Lincolns Chair that he was assassinated in and the Rosa Park Bus. It was really hard to photograph the time line so no photos here and the photo of Lincoln's chair didn't turn out will

Heroes of the Sky showed the evolution of the airplane.  I didn't know Ford manufactured airplanes.

There was even a modern prototype

as well as a model of the Wright brothers plane

The Agriculture exhibit included early agriculture equipment :

and more modern machinery

Fully Furnished explored different furnishings from the lat 1600's to present day along with a good sampling of Eames chairs. Below is an example of a chair made out of horns of some sort.  It doesn't look very comfortable.

Eames chairs are found everywhere today and represent utility and are fairly comfortable.

Your Place in Time explores everyday artifacts of American life by decade and includes the Dymaxion House.  Only one prototype of The Dymaxion House was built.  The concept was to provide affordable housing for WWII vets returning from the war.  Fuller's had a hard time getting financing for the project and traditional mass produced housing continued on.  The idea was maximizing storage and stream lining living spaces...much like our RVs.

The walls pushed down to reveal windows

The stove, sink, refrigerator were all one unit

Nice cozy living room

Other parts of the My Time exhibit included old record players and printers.  I remember these:

How about an old Apple 2c computer from the 80's.  I remember this one.

The card phone was suppose to make dialing much easier, but you had to remember which card to use to dial.  I used one when I worked for an attorney many years ago...what a pain!!

The Museum Gallery provided a detailed exhibit of the Civil War Soldiers.  Photographs were not allowed in the exhibit.  I'm not sure why, because the rest of the Henry Ford allowed photos without restriction. The exhibit was very detailed and personalized many of the soldiers who fought in the war.

In addition to the main exhibits there were smaller exhibits which included clocks, jewelry, silver and pewter and an IMAX theater.

The crowds were starting to thin out about closing time and I was rushing through the exhibits hoping not to miss anything.  We had purchased a combo ticket which also includes Greenfield Village, an 80 acre theme park depicting more of Ford's collection of homes and Americana.  Its a good thing the ticket is good for a year, so we may wait a few days to return to the Ford complex.  I think my brain needs a little rest.