Transcript
Henry Ford (0:00)
There are more ways than ever to listen to History Daily ad free. Listen with Wondry plus in the Wondery app as a member of Noiser plus at noiser.com or in Apple Podcasts. Or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts@intohristory.com it's the morning of June 4, 1896 in Detroit, Michigan. The sun's rising into a clear sky, promising yet another beautiful summer day. But 32 year old inventor Henry Ford isn't interested in the weather. He's been up since dawn preparing to test out his latest creation. Eleven years ago, German engineer Karl Benz built the world's first gasoline powered car. This invention caught Henry's imagination and he decided to see if he could build his own automobile. For the last six months, Henry spent every spare moment he has working on a motorized vehicle that he's calling the Quadricycle. Now it's finally ready for its first test drive. But a few moments ago, Henry discovered a problem. The doors of the shed he's built the machine in are too narrow. And the only way to get the Quadricycle out is to take a sledgehammer to the door frame. After one final swing, the door frame falls to the floor and Henry wipes his brow, exhausted. But then he gathers himself to push the Quadricycle out of the building. Then takes a moment to admire his creation in the sunlight. A wooden chassis supported on four large bicycle wheels. Strapped in the middle is a two cylinder internal combustion engine with an upholstered seat and a steering tiller perched on top. It's a simple looking machine, but to Henry, it's the most beautiful sight in the world. Now he has to see if it works. Henry fires up the engine, climbs into the seat, he puts the machine into gear, releases the brake, and to his great delight, the wheels begin to turn. Henry steers a Quadricycle out of his yard onto the quiet streets of Detroit and into the future. Ultimately, the Quadricycle will only travel a few blocks before its engine sputters and dies. This first journey of a Ford built car ends with Henry Ford pushing it back to his workshop. But Henry quickly fixes it and he will work tirelessly to improve his design, putting in long hours and rarely taking a break. This work ethic will help him become one of the most famous businessmen in the world, but he won't expect everyone to follow his lead. In fact, the lives of American workers will be transformed forever after he introduces a pioneering five day workweek at the Ford Motor Company on May 1, 1926. History Daily is sponsored by Strangers in Time, the new epic novel from number one New York Times best selling author David Baldacci. In 1944 London three complete strangers must work together to survive World War II. But will they be able to escape their own dark secrets? Kate Quinn calls Strangers in Oliver Twist Meets the Blitz a beautiful read, and Lisa Scottellini says it's a masterpiece of a historical thriller. Strangers in Time is available in bookstores now. History Daily is sponsored by Express Pros. Managing your workforce can be exhausting, and if you're tired of a costly and lengthy hiring process, simplify and speed up your recruitment. With one connection, the experts at Express Employment Professionals reduce time to hire, cut down on interviews and lower your recruitment costs. Visit ExpressPros.com today Express is more efficient than hiring on your own. Check out ExpressPros.com to see how Express Employment professionals can take care of your hiring. From Noiser and Airship I'm Lindsey Graham and this is History Daily. History is made every day on this podcast. Every day we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is May 1, 1926 Henry Ford's Five Day Week. It's September 27, 1908, at the Ford Motor Company plant in Detroit, Michigan, 12 years after the quadricycle's first test drive. Henry Ford, now 45 years old, runs his fingers along the door of a car that's just been finished by his workers. He checks for any blemishes, and he opens and closes the door a few times to check that the mechanism works as expected. Then he cranks the engine and its four cylinders fire up. For the first time, Ford is paying special attention to every detail. Because this is no ordinary Ford car, it's the first of its kind what he's calling the Model T. After building his homemade quadricycle, Henry founded a company with fellow inventor Thomas Edison. But five years ago, Henry went it alone and set up the Ford Motor Company. Since then, Henry has produced a series of vehicles that he's sold to the small but growing number of motorists in America. But the Model T feels different. Henry's put everything he's learned over the last few years into its design, hoping that this is the car that will put his company on the map. After this first Model T passes Henry's stringent quality checks, his workers get started on the next one. But because it takes a team of Ford employees 13 hours to produce a single car, the second Model T won't be ready until tomorrow. That's not fast enough for Henry. He knows that if the Ford Motor Company is going to succeed, he has to find ways to increase production and efficiency. So while his workers hammer, screw and rivet cars together one by one, Henry spends every moment he can researching the latest technological developments and learning everything he can about industrial production. So that over the next five years, Henry constantly tweaks Ford's production processes. He introduces machinery that's designed and built specifically for the Ford plant. And in 1913, he implements an idea that he first saw at a Chicago meatpacking plant. The moving assembly line. Previously, teams assembled a car from start to finish, but now individual workers are required to get just one job done before. Before the cars move down the line to the next worker and a new car takes its place. This new technique slashes production time on a Model T to less than two hours. And it improves quality, too. Since every worker on the line only needs to learn and repeat a single task, it even reduces costs. All of these improvements help make the Model T America's best selling vehicle. But Henry doesn't stop looking for ways that he and his company can find an edge. He sees that across the country, unions are becoming more powerful, demanding better pay and working conditions for employees. And in other industries, strikes have become common that cripple businesses. Henry has no love for unions and has no intention of letting that happen to Ford. But building cars is labor intensive and dangerous. The powerful machinery used means that injuries aren't uncommon at the Ford plant. And unless Henry makes changes, he knows it won't be long before his workers revolt. So Henry takes an unprecedented step. In 1914, he cuts the length of a shift at the ford plant from nine hours to eight, and he doubles the pay to $5 a day. But Henry is not acting purely out of the goodness of his heart. He is instead convinced that these changes will make his plant even more efficient. In the past, conditions were so poor that for every hundred jobs at his company, he had to hire 300 men a year. This cost Henry a fortune in recruitment and training. But if his workers are happy and well rested, they'll stay longer. And the longer they stay, the more experienced and productive they'll become. Many of Henry's competitors are skeptical about the changes, though. But Henry doesn't have to wait long for proof that his new system works. The day after the new shifts and wages are announced, 10,000 men express an interest in working for ford. And in 1914, the company produces more Model Ts than ever before. But shorter shifts and More money does not change the fact that the Ford factory is still dangerous. And thanks to the assembly line, working there is now monotonous too. To Henry's dismay, union leaders will still agitate for improvements to working conditions. So Henry Ford will continue to look for improvements in how his employees work, and his next move will change working practices across across the entire country.