Edison and Ford

Henry Ford idolized Thomas Edison.  In the museum there is a vial allegedly containing Edison's last breath before dying (tough to catch even tougher to verify) - The two men knew each other very well and even shared a compound in Ft Myers Florida where Edison had his winter residence... (a place memorialized in the post called - A Trip from January 29, 2011) - http://semifreelife.blogspot.com/2011/01/trip.html

Here in Greenfield Village we visit Ford's boyhood home, his early workshop, a scale replica of the first Ford factory and Edison's laboratories brought directly from Menlo Park NJ along with the dirt from under the foundations.... We also get to see the boarding house of Sarah Jordan (first residence lit with electric lights).  The dedication of the "shrine" to Edison was held on his 80th birthday and the chair where he sat during the ceremonies has never been moved since that day (it is nailed to the floor and when the floor was restored they just worked around it - LOL)

so off we go- back in time to Henry Ford's boyhood home-

then on to the workshop -

then the smaller scale factory-

then past the post office to the Edison complex-

Then Sarah Jordan's boarding house (also from Menlo Park NJ)

Closing thoughts on the Village - which is immaculately maintained.  This is really a specific period "set Piece" and personal vision rather than an historic outdoor museum (like Den Gamle By in Denmark or the open air museum in Kiev Ukraine both of which are fabulous examples of their kind).  Well worth a trip if you have interest in the era and maybe if you don't because the juxtaposition of this early industrialized mass production era, when everyone saw endless possibility, with the "post apocalyptic" abandoned and bankrupt Detroit is quite the saga...

but this photo I think is the one worth a thousand words- how amazing must it have been to be able to have light - real light - after dark. The thread that runs from this to our hand held computer smart phones is awe inspiring and it all started with Edison's unwillingness to give up his search for the right material to use in his incandescent light...

On the Greenfield Village Green

I am splitting the Village into two posts because there is a lot to cover- the first will be the NON Edison & personal Ford stuff and the second will focus on the two key players in the themes of the outdoor museum-

Here is an outdoor view of the Eagle Tavern where we dined midday on historic fare... (see prior post)

It sits on the Village Green - the top of which is occupied by the village church

During the day we see many families out riding in their early model Ford cars- and later we will see the shop where Ford came up with his first sketches for the automobiles he would eventually use to build an empire.

When he decided to open Greenfield Village the driving force seemed to be his adulation of Edison, who he knew quite well (they lived in the same compound in Ft. Myers FL) but the workshops of others he admired were also incorporated into this open air historical museum - the most notable being the Wright brothers but below is a log cabin replica of the one where George Washington Carver was born and raised.  Carver even spent a night here in this cabin on this property immediately after the dedication ceremony honoring him and his work. (We doubted the original was as well landscaped)

a courthouse where Lincoln actually rode the circuit before holding elected office-

scenes from the local doctor's office (he studied medicine but never graduated- close enough, in those days I guess)

the village theater- opposite the Church on the Village Green... some message there I think- LOL

a carousel of sizable proportion - unlikely to have been found in a town the size of this one but nevertheless saved from the scrap yard and lovingly restored to grandeur.

the local jewelry shop now sells chocolates and "penny" candy

Then we visited a jewelry shop where Henry Ford actually shopped before and after he became a famous and wealthy man- the jeweler was a friend and Ford, as a youth, had asked his assistance in putting back together a pocket watch Ford had taken apart but couldn't get to work again upon rebuilding it... a decades long relationship ensued.  Upon his death, the man left his shop (lock, stock and barrel, as they say) to Ford.

The Wright's shop and home are both located here -

the shop below - the home above-

the town milliner - who had been married to the town haberdasher before his untimely demise left her a widow-

from Main Street we went to the industrial and workshop area of town- first stop was a machine shop that did milling and fabrication of all kinds of metal - brass milling demonstrations were held for the younger visitors and they could make their own tiny candle stick holder-

on to the mill that ran power for milling grains-

then to the workshops which showed historical phases of weaving on looms -

then a print shop-

a tin shop which fabricates lanterns and other useful items-

from here we went to the area dominated by the Ford personal and automotive history and the Edison laboratories of Menlo Park - brought here complete with the dirt from under the foundations!

follow along in the next post!