Every month our curators spotlight a different item from The Henry Ford’s collections for our Pic of the Month. This month, Cynthia Read Miller, Curator of Prints and Photographs, discusses the history of photobooth photography and the photobooth collection we posted on Flickr this fall. Watch for a new collection of historic images on our Flickr page later this month.
Read January’s Pic of the Month
In honor of Celebrate Black History! Month, starting Feb. 1 in Henry Ford Museum, Chef Nick Seccia has whipped up another fantastic recipe that we know you’ll love! You can also catch this dish in Michigan Cafe, with other delicious foods based on African-American traditions.
“Mattox House Chicken and Rice”
Yields: 6 portions
4# Boneless skinless chicken thighs, whole
1 small Spanish onion diced, medium
2 each red tomato diced, medium
2 Tablespoons garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
4 slices bacon, diced fine
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
2 Teaspoons ground black pepper
4 cups hot chicken stock
2 cups par boiled long grain rice
1. In a deep roasting pan add chicken, stock, bacon, butter, salt and pepper
2. Cover and cook for 25 minutes at 350F or until the chicken is cooked fully
3. Add remaining ingredients cover again and cook for 40 minutes at 350F or until the rice is tender
This guest post comes from Curator of Transportation, Bob Casey.
What do you get when you mix a war surplus fuel tank, an Oldsmobile engine, and a boatload of ingenuity? You get The Henry Ford’s latest automotive acquisition, the Lakester.
During World War II aircraft designers looking for ways to extend the range of fighter planes came up with the idea of hanging expendable auxiliary fuel tanks under the wings or fuselages of aircraft. These teardrop-shaped tanks could be jettisoned when they were empty. When Bill Burke, a California hot rodder serving in the Navy, saw some of these tanks on Guadalcanal, he thought they would make nifty bodies for streamlined racing cars. After the war, Burke put his idea into action.
You’ve seen these cars on the Museum floor, oohed and ahhed, marveled and even been awestruck. They are amazing, unique, priceless and well—just awesome.
Ever wondered what their engines look like? All that V8 power or steam as some are, kept hidden until now. This weekend starts an event that’s a first for us. Something in all our 80 years we’ve never done before.
Starting tomorrow, Jan. 9, for the first time ever – we’re popping the hoods on over 50 cars in the Museum. The definitive American muscle cars, European ingenuity, early steam power, concept cars – it’s all being opened for Engines Exposed in Henry Ford Museum.
Hours and hours have been spent by our curators, conservators and volunteers to clean, prep and reposition these cars for the ultimate viewing. For the devoted gear head, this rare opportunity is a must-see chronicle of automotive history.
Just a teaser of some of the cars you will see – but seeing these engines in person is the best way to get a glimpse of car heaven.
1956 Chrysler 300B Stock Car
1967 Ford Mark IV Le Mans Racing Car
Don’t miss out; we may never do this again! Have a great weekend!
Have some great photos of the cars? Post them to our Facebook Fan page – www.facebook.com/thehenryford. Not a fan? Make sure you become one to get all our updates with the goings-on at The Henry Ford. You can even follow us on Twitter at @thehenryford.
Engines Exposed is free with admission to Henry Ford Museum and free to members. (If you’d like to become a member, visit here.)
This post comes from Marc Greuther, Chief Curator and Curator of Design, published in the 2010 January-March issue of The Henry Ford’s Living History magazine.
Henry Ford Museum is filled with design. Autos, toys, furniture — even our beloved Wienermobile. In each case, someone designed it to look and perform the way it does for a very specific reason.
For 11 weeks, February 6-April 25, we’ll celebrate the world of design, from the magnificent to the mundane, from things that startle us to things we barely notice. In exhibits, tours and even a lecture series, we’ll explore how designers continually reshape the world around us.
The Herman Miller name is hardly new to visitors at The Henry Ford.
Work by Herman Miller designers such as Gilbert Rohde, George Nelson and Charles and Ray Eames have long been integrated into our furniture exhibit. Charles and Ray’s work on chair design for Herman Miller is the subject of a new mini-exhibit in Henry Ford Museum. Earlier this year, the design archive of the late Bill Stumpf — co-creator of the renowned Aeron chair — was donated to the museum by his family.
But our connection to Herman Miller runs even deeper than that. In 1988, we became the lead institution in The Herman Miller Consortium, a group of 13 art and historical institutions that share approximately 800 artifacts collected by Herman Miller, Inc. As the lead institution, The Henry Ford maintains the database of the collection and is the first museum offered new additions.
So while the exhibit Good Design: Stories from Herman Miller is a natural extension of what we have been pursuing for decades, it also takes us into some areas we haven’t explored greatly in the past.
This exhibition offers a number of perspectives on the Herman Miller achievement — an achievement rooted in a combination of extraordinary vision and practical realization. The company’s commitment to addressing real design problems — always with an insistence on achievable, affordable and durable solutions — continues to this day.
Herman Miller is a company with an august heritage, but a heritage that points it to the future rather than mooring it in the past. In his introduction to the new edition of John Berry’s book Herman Miller: The Purpose of Design, Eames Demetrios said, “The chair that Charles and Ray were designing was the chair that Herman Miller makes tomorrow. The future is implicit in every piece.” He continued: “As Ray said, they wanted to do chairs where the act of mass-production made the chair better.”
The Henry Ford is proud to present this innovative touring exhibition that explores the problem-solving design process employed at the world-renowned West Michigan-based furniture company Herman Miller, Inc. Developed in collaboration with The Muskegon Museum of Art, the exhibition draws upon The Henry Ford’s Herman Miller Design Collection, a comprehensive archive of the company’s innovative processes and products, most of which have never been on public view.
The exhibition was developed by guest curator and design authority John R. Berry, who presents viewers with four case studies that embody the problem-solving ethos of Herman Miller — stories that tell how good design explores, inquires, engages and endures.
“These stories are intended to provide inspiration to us as individuals and as organizations to find new ways to re-generate, adapt and grow in these times of economic and environmental change,” Berry wrote in his curator’s statement.
“Additionally, ‘art’ and ‘design’ are often interchanged when they actually represent different purposes. Art is a form of self-expression. Artists choose subject matter, materials and media to share their reviews with others. Design is about meeting needs and is focused on serving others. Art and good design share the same concerns for positive aesthetics.”
Berry has organized the exhibition around four areas of exploration in our living and working environments: ergonomics, white collar work, graphic communications and the home.
Berry’s background made him an ideal resource in putting together this exhibition. He was involved with Herman Miller for 16 years, including a period of time as vice president of communications and liaison with the Eames Office as well as through his interaction with George Nelson and other major designers.
Berry founded a national professional design association, led the public relations introduction of the Aeron chair and generated recognition for Herman Miller as one of Fortune magazine’s Most Admired Companies in America.
Today, Berry is the director of Design West Michigan and a national and international authority on the work of George Nelson and Ray and Charles Eames.
This recipe comes from our Executive Chef Nick Seccia. Enjoy!
Pork and Apple Pie
As served at the Eagle Tavern, Greenfield Village
The Henry Ford
Serves six
3 each Bacon slices diced
1 Tablespoon of butter
3 Tablespoon of flour
4# Pork diced 1 inch by 1 inch
3 Apples peeled cored and cut into wedges
1 cup carrot diced
1 cup onions diced
1 cup celery diced
As needed Kosher salt
As needed White pepper ground
1 teaspoon thyme fresh chopped
1/8 cup sherry
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon ground
1 Quart apple cider
2 Quart pork or chicken stock or broth
1 each Baked nine inch pie shell
We use Michigan raised apples, cider, and locally raised natural pork in our pork pie and recommend anyone who cooks this recipe to do the same for best results.
The holiday season is in full swing, and Christmas is fast approaching – here are a few things you can enjoy at Henry Ford Museum, all of which will be on display through January 3. (Just a quick reminder that we’re closed on Christmas Day, but open on New Year’s Eve – still until 5 p.m. – and on New Year’s Day too!)
Grab the family and some friends, and come down and celebrate with us!
Santa, of course, will only be here until December 24 – he has a big night ahead of him that night!
Happy holidays, everyone!
This morning, we announced that The Henry Ford and MAKE Magazine are teaming up to bring you Maker Faire Detroit next summer! If you’re not familiar with Maker Faire, here’s a quick synopsis from their Web site:
Maker Faire is a two-day, family-friendly event that celebrates the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset. It’s for creative, resourceful people of all ages and backgrounds who like to tinker and love to make things. So much to see, you will need 2 days to see it all!
Basically, Maker Faire Detroit will be the ultimate tinkerer’s event, at the home of America’s greatest tinkerers and innovators.
We’ll pass along more details as we get closer to the event, so stay tuned!
Bob Casey, automotive historian and Curator of Transportation at The Henry Ford, offers up some insight into the many books written on auto pioneer Henry Ford. Two of his favorites – both of which can be found in the Henry Ford Museum Store and the Greenfield Village Store – are The People’s Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century, by Steven Watts, and Young Henry Ford: A Picture History of the First Forty Years, by Sidney Olson. “Watts’ book is the best one-volume biography of Henry Ford that I have ever read – despite all that has been written about Ford, Watts still manages to find new insights,” said Casey. “Olson mined the Ford family and business records to create a lively, well-illustrated account of Henry Ford’s first forty years, from his childhood to the initial success of Ford Motor Company.”
Jeff Seeno, intern in the Media and Film Relations department at The Henry Ford, asked Casey some questions recently about Henry Ford and these reflections of Ford’s life.
Many books written about Henry Ford either vigorously attack him, or grant him extraordinary praise for his accomplishments. Do you feel these books in any way distort the picture of the true man?
Both of these books are very balanced accounts of the true Henry Ford. These are also very personal accounts of Henry Ford’s life. For example, Ford did not appreciate the talents of his only son, Edsel, who had a great eye for cars. He loved the way cars looked, and according to Watts, Ford Motor Company could have completely dominated the market if they had harnessed Edsel’s insight. But Henry Ford loved to lap up the acclaim and position himself as an incumbent visionary, and he could articulate his vision so well that everyone wanted to jump on board.
How do these books establish the essential Henry Ford – not only as a social visionary, but as a figure who has a controversial personality?
In Olson’s book, he is not afraid to talk about the mean side of Henry Ford. He mentions that Ford was a prankster, and a mean one at that. He tells the story of a time when one of Henry’s employees, George Flint, who was rather sloppy, would leave his shoes lying about when he changed from his work clothes to his street clothes. In an effort to teach Flint to be neater, Ford nailed Flint’s shoes to the floor.
On the other end, Watts’ book shows that Ford had much strength in regards to charity and the growth of the Ford Motor Company. He was very philanthropic in a quirky way, but after executing his “Five Dollars a Day” plan, his forthright genius and creative power went to his head.
Continue reading ‘The Two Best Books You’ll Ever Read on Henry Ford’
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