Archive Page 2

30
Apr
10

Historic Video of the Month: Scenes from the New York World’s Fair (1940)

By Rebecca Bizonet Leave a Comment
Categories: archives and ford motor company
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Every month, we feature a video from Film Source, The Henry Ford’s online collection of historic motion picture film shorts. The films were originally produced by Henry Ford’s motion picture department at Ford Motor Company, which began in 1914. These clips illustrate the impact of the automobile, industrial manufacturing and design, and many other aspects of American culture and everyday life, as well as glimpses of Henry Ford and his family and activities and scenes from Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum. Staff at the Benson Ford Research Center continue to digitize, catalog, and upload more of these clips to our online catalog and to YouTube in order to make them accessible to a wider audience.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (as so many old newsreels began), the eyes of the world were turned towards the future. The 1939-1940 New York World’s Fair opened April 30, 1939, and ran for two seasons. Its theme was the “World of Tomorrow.” On the heels of the Great Depression and the eve of world war, the fair’s exhibits looked with optimism to the future: What would be in store in technology, commerce, politics, culture—indeed, in all spheres of life and society? And how could technology and design be applied to build a better future? The many exhibits, grouped by themed zones (Transportation, Communication, Food, etc.), showcased existing streamlined and futurist styles and ideas and in turn influenced their continuation and development. Along with the dreaming and high concepts, though, there was a lot of good old-fashioned fun—located in the popular Amusements Area.

The Ford Motor Company pavilion was designed by two powerhouses of industrial design and architecture, Walter Dorwin Teague and Albert Kahn. Ford’s contribution to the fair included as its centerpieces the Road of Tomorrow and the Ford Cycle of Production, both seen here.

But this film offers a wider view of the fair, not just a peek at Ford’s offerings. It opens with footage of Manhattan, the George Washington Bridge, and aerial views of New York City and the New York World’s Fair grounds at Flushing Meadows, Queens. Then it moves on to views of the U.S. Government Building and various state buildings and pavilions representing industry and trade including AT&T, U.S. Steel, Westinghouse, Goodrich, Chrysler, and General Motors (which, with its Futurama exhibit designed by Norman Bel Geddes, is generally considered to have outshone Ford’s exposition that season). Next we see the Ford Exposition Building, including the large mobile mural by Henry Billings, the “Ford Cycle of Production,” the theater, gardens, fountains, and exhibits and demonstrations including the processing of soybeans and the casting of molten iron. People get into Ford automobiles for the “Road of Tomorrow” ride on spiral ramps in and around the building. Views of the amusement section of the fair include dancing, ice-skating, a parachute jump, souvenir stand, and food venues. The film closes showing the fair at night, the effects of lighting (the first practical fluorescent light debuted at this fair), and fireworks.

For more about the 1939 New York World’s Fair, you could start with an article and photo gallery at Wired, and then, for even more information on all the World’s Fairs, head over to the “World’s Fair Community” forum (which will take you to the 1939 NY pages) and “Welcome to Tomorrow” maintained by the University of Virginia’s American Studies department.

19
Apr
10

Chef Nick at Fox 2′s Cooking School

By carrienolan Leave a Comment
Categories: Uncategorized

Calling all Local Roots fans – and well those who just love food – check out Chef Nick cooking up Oven Seared Amish Raised Chicken “Chop” with Morel Sauce during FOX 2′s Cooking School.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/mornings/recipes/oven-seared-amish-raised-chicken-chop-with-morel-sauce

The recipe is there, but you can try it in person at the Local Roots Evening Dining at Eagle Tavern in Greenfield Village this Thursday, April 22.  (Here’s the info for tickets)

http://www.thehenryford.org/events/eagleTavernSpring.aspx

Hope to see you there and if not, let us know if you tried the recipe! Enjoy!

31
Mar
10

Historic Video of the Month: “Ford at Greenfield Village and Ford Engineering Laboratory”

By Rebecca Bizonet 2 Comments
Categories: archives, ford motor company and henry ford
Tags: , , , , , ,
Every month, we feature a video from Film Source, The Henry Ford’s online collection of historic motion picture film shorts. The films were originally produced by Henry Ford’s motion picture department at Ford Motor Company, which began in 1914. These clips illustrate the impact of the automobile, industrial manufacturing and design, and many other aspects of American culture and everyday life, as well as glimpses of Henry Ford and his family and activities and scenes from Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum. Staff at the Benson Ford Research Center continue to digitize, catalog, and upload more of these clips to our online catalog and to YouTube in order to make them accessible to a wider audience.

In just a little over two weeks, Greenfield Village opens for the season. In celebratory anticipation, let’s look at a film featuring the Village.

In this film from 1937, we see Henry Ford visiting with people in various historic buildings in Greenfield Village. He is shown passing by Cotswold Cottage–my personal favorite among the Village buildings ever since my childhood visits–which was then called Rose Cottage, and visiting Cotswold Forge to watch blacksmiths at work.

Next we see Ford discussing a circle of stones on the grounds with Edward Cutler, chief architect of the village, and examining a rare book (careful with that binding, please, Henry!) with two young women, probably Edison Institute students.

Also shown are Henry Ford and Robert Boyer in the Dearborn Engineering Laboratory, located in the Engine and Electrical Engineering Building (or “EEE Building”), adjacent to The Henry Ford, with a wooden pattern of a machine. The machine, unidentified, was probably related to soybean research. Boyer spent many years working on soybean-related products for Henry Ford.

When you arrive at Greenfield Village (since this clip has surely gotten you ready to visit as soon as it opens on April 15!), you’ll see, to the left of the fountain in the Josephine Ford Plaza, the Benson Ford Research Center (BFRC). Housed at the BFRC is the Greenfield Village Building records collection. Commonly known as the “Building Box” collection, it contains archival information, including text and photographs, about Cotswold Cottage and the other Greenfield Village buildings. In addition, the BFRC holds Ford Motor Company’s historic records, including other archival collections having to do with Henry Ford’s interest in and experimentation with uses for soybeans.

25
Mar
10

Curried Pork

By carrienolan 6 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , ,

Here’s another great recipe from our Executive Chef, Nick Seccia. Enjoy!

Curried Pork
Serves six

3 lbs. cubed lean pork from the shoulder or leg (we think pork from a local farmer works best)

Marinade
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
1 Tablespoon ground coriander
1 Tablespoon ground sumac
1 Tablespoon ground tumeric
1 Tablespoon ground oregano
1 Tablespoon dark chili powder
1 Tablespoon ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
2 Tablespoon brown sugar
¼ cup honey
¼ cup water
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 large yellow onion peeled and diced

  1. Warm all of the spices together in a dry sauté pan over medium heat until a good aroma develops but do not burn.
  2. Combine the rest of ingredients with the spices and mix in with the pork, coating completely
  3. Cover and refrigerate for 48 hours

Sauce
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup plain low fat yogurt
Lime juice from 1 lime
½ dried whole cayenne chili crushed or 1 Teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon fresh cilantro chopped fine
Salt and pepper to taste

  1. Drain pork, heat a deep pot on high heat and add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil then add the pork sear the pork until browned on all sides
  2. Add the chicken stock and simmer for about thirty minutes or until the meat is fully tender
  3. Add the remaining ingredients, reduce heat to low and simmer for about ten minutes or until the sauce is thick and coats the pork
16
Feb
10

Winter Local Roots Recipe: Maple Cheesecake

By katestorey Leave a Comment
Categories: Events and Food
Tags: , ,

Last week, we hosted our Winter Local Roots Evening Dining in Eagle Tavern. A sold-out crowd indulged in some of the best of Michigan’s winter foods, including one sweet finale – maple cheesecake, featuring maple syrup from Blanchard, Michigan’s Doodles Sugar Bush.

Here’s the recipe from our executive chef, Nick Seccia – give it a try at home!

Maple Cheesecake

Makes 1 – 9×2 inch cheesecake

Ingredients

Graham cracker crumbs – 3 cups

Unsalted butter – 1 stick

Granulated sugar – 1 tablespoon

Fresh cream cheese – 1 1/2lbs

Brown sugar – 1/4 cup

Cornstarch – 1 Tablespoon

Vanilla bean – ½ each

Eggs (whole) –  2

Egg yolks – 4

Michigan A grade maple syrup – 1/2 cup

Sour cream – 1/3 cup

  1. Pre heat oven to 300 degrees F.
  2. Melt butter and combine with crumbs and granulated sugar.
  3. Pack into a greased 9 inch spring form or cake pan.
  4. Bake at 300 degrees F for ten minutes and allow to cool.
  5. Combine cream cheese, brown sugar, and cornstarch and mix on low speed until fully creamed and smooth.
  6. Split and scrape the vanilla bean to remove the seeds; add to the mixture.
  7. Add eggs and yolks one at a time and mix until fully combined.
  8. Add maple syrup and sour cream and mix until combined.
  9. Pour batter into the prepared crust.
  10. Bake the cake in a water bath* at 300 degrees F for 45 minutes or until set.
  11. Allow the cake to cool in the water bath for one hour, then refrigerate overnight.

* A water bath would be to bake the cake in a pan larger than the cake or spring form pan, with water about halfway up the pan; if using a spring form pan, line the outside of the pan with a double layer of foil all the way up the sides to prevent water from seeping inside the pan.

13
Feb
10

Historic Video of the Month: Henry and Clara

By Rebecca Bizonet Leave a Comment
Categories: archives and henry ford
Tags: , , , , , ,
Every month, we feature a video from Film Source, The Henry Ford’s online collection of historic motion picture films shorts. The films were originally produced by Henry Ford’s motion picture department at Ford Motor Company, which began in 1914. These clips illustrate the impact of the automobile, industrial manufacturing and design, and many other aspects of American culture and everyday life, as well as glimpses of Henry Ford and his family and activities and scenes from Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum. Staff at the Benson Ford Research Center continue to digitize, catalog, and upload more of these clips to our online catalog and to YouTube in order to make them accessible to a wider audience.

Clara Bryant Ford is famously known as “The Believer” for her devotion to her husband, Henry Ford. In fact, it was Henry who gave her this nickname. Throughout their fifty-nine years of marriage, she was Henry’s supporter, confidante, and advisor. The name was bestowed during their early years together, when Clara ran their household on a shoestring budget and endured frequent moves, while Henry tinkered and toiled perfecting his vehicles and pouring their money into attempts to establish a profitable business.

Backing up just a bit, here are a few lines of romantic verse that Henry penned to Clara on the Valentine’s Day before their engagement in 1886:

May Floweretts of love around you bee twined.
And the Sunshine
of peace Shed its joys o’e your Minde
From one tht Dearly loves you

(As quoted in Ford Bryan’s Clara: Mrs. Henry Ford, p. 27. The original letter is preserved in Henry and Clara Ford’s personal papers housed at the Benson Ford Research Center.)

After Ford Motor Company became a success, they lived more comfortably, finally putting down roots in their estate, Fair Lane, that they had built along the Rouge River in Dearborn.

Clara always enjoyed gardening, especially flowers. At Fair Lane, she installed a five-acre rose garden. Here, she and Henry are strolling together on their grounds near the riverbank.

The two were also fond of old-fashioned dancing, having gone to many dances together during their courting days. Later on, they held frequent ballroom dances around Dearborn. Here, Henry and Clara can be seen kicking up their heels in the barn at Henry Ford’s birthplace.

Two excellent sources for learning more about Clara Ford and Henry and Clara’s life together are the book Clara: Mrs. Henry Ford by Ford R. Bryan (Dearborn: Ford Books, 2001) and sections of the book The People’s Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century by Steven Watts (New York: Vintage Books, 2006)

05
Feb
10

What is mid-century, modern design?

By carrienolan 1 Comment
Categories: Uncategorized

I’ve added some new photos of the exhibit that opened last weekend. Enjoy! ~~Carrie

In anticipation of the newest exhibit, Good Design: Stories from Herman Miller, opening this Saturday, Chief Curator Marc Greuther sat down with Carrie Nolan to talk about mid-century, modern design and how someone could incorporate it into their own home décor.

When you think mid-century modern design you might have visions of kidney-shaped tables or funky looking lamps—something quirky, spare or uncomfortable. But, it’s so much more.

Continue reading ‘What is mid-century, modern design?’

30
Jan
10

Historic Video of the Month: “Ford Automobiles, 1903-1917″

By Rebecca Bizonet 1 Comment
Categories: archives
Tags: , , , , , ,



Every month, we feature a video from Film Source, The Henry Ford’s online collection of historic motion picture films shorts. The films were originally produced by Henry Ford’s motion picture department at Ford Motor Company, which began in 1914. These clips illustrate the impact of the automobile, industrial manufacturing and design, and many other aspects of American culture and everyday life, as well as glimpses of Henry Ford and his family and activities and scenes from Greenfield Village and The Henry Ford Museum. Staff at the Benson Ford Research Center continue to digitize, catalog, and upload more of these clips to our online catalog and to YouTube in order to make them accessible to a wider audience.

We close out January looking at another video showing Ford Motor Company’s assembly line processes—plus a whole lot of Model T.  “Ford Automobiles, 1903-1917″ shows Model Ts—and more Model Ts—being driven everywhere under a variety of conditions:  in the United States, at other spots around the globe, in cities, on winding country roads, in the desert, up in the mountains, in races and on parade (well, it’s Ford tractors here), off-road in the mud, and in the snow—including being pulled like a sleigh by a team of horses.  We also see the different body styles available plus changes to the car over about half of its long production run (along with views of its predecessors, including the Quadricycle—Henry Ford’s first car, the 1903 Model A, and possibly the Model N).

Even though it wasn’t the main theme of the film, what jumped out at me—besides the ubiquity and versatility of this car, which I presume was the theme here—was the ‘hacking’ of the Model T, as seen in its conversion to a camper, riding on train rails, and to a certain extent the aforementioned sleigh ride.  Indeed, it was not just the garage tinkerers at work here; a whole industry sprang up around the “Universal Car,” offering various modifications to, and in a related vein, aftermarket accessory components for the Model T, in both areas using the Tin Lizzy’s barebones state as a canvas for welcome and often creative customizations.  Today, as we see a reemergence of the DIY movement, it’s interesting to look back at earlier generations doing similar things.  One subset of DIY includes ‘modding’ or ‘hacking’ readily available mass-produced objects.  Today, that near-universal brand, IKEA, is a popular target.  As we’ve seen in this trip down Memory Lane, the Model T was a favorite of yesteryear.  (Our Video of the Month isn’t even the best example of Model T or other Ford vehicle hacks.  I’ll leave it to the viewers to discover some of the others!)  This very particular form of engagement with a product speaks to that product’s popularity, utility, and versatility—and to human ingenuity.

21
Jan
10

Pic of the month: Self-portraits in a heartbeat

By Suzanne Fischer Leave a Comment
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , ,

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

Pic of the Month archive



18
Jan
10

Mattox House Chicken and Rice

By carrienolan 1 Comment
Categories: Uncategorized

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

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