Ford Upholstery Production in the 1920's; Model T and Model A

[@coloradomountainman8659]

My hat is off to all the amazing mechanical engineers that design and make such machines.

[@thomastereszkiewicz2241]

the complexity of the technology in the 1920's decades before the first computer is truly remarkable.

[@AModelA]

That is something that we always are amazed by too. The foresight to plan where to put each machine and worker took some very careful consideration. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@gaborgredely1848]

Yes. Ceruza, papir, logarléc, és a tehetség, nincs számitògép. Csak a tehetség. A Golde gate hidat sem géppel tervezték, Hoover dam. Mekkora mérnökök voltak!!!!

[@Lakeman3211]

Absolutely stunning, the machinery developed to process the wool, the 18 hrs to totally process, and the final product…amazing for the era, the testing to ensure uniformity, durability and overall quality… I’m in awe!

[@AModelA]

It took a lot of work and money to produce a cheap car!

[@thomastereszkiewicz2241]

shock and awe as one of our fearless leaders once said??

[@craigroberts3982]

Unbelievable. Talk about keeping everything in house. I'm a man who's spent his life in trade work and I'm so impressed with these workers. Jumping in and out of a car to install a seat looks easy until you've done it every day for 30-40 years. Thank you for preserving the history. Thank you to all the people who are certainly gone now for modeling work ethic.

[@AModelA]

And the guy installing car seats had it easy when compared to some of the guys in the foundry! Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@Pamudder]

The Ford River Rouge Plant took in iron ore, coal, limestone, and glassmaking sand and produced cars out the other end. The way the factory processed wool into upholstery was typical of the whole plant.

[@missyd0g2]

My grandfather worked in the foundry casting engine blocks at the Ford Rouge plant in the 1920 to 1940’s. Dad also worked at Ford building factories around the world.

[@Samuel_el_toro]

Ah sweet! The first ever How it’s Made. Season 1 episode 1

[@rexmyers991]

Fascinating look back at early weaving technology.

[@AModelA]

It is amazing to see all the steps that were taken to get to a completed seat. Thanks for watching!

[@bobjohnston8316]

You could say that it gets even crazier. I would point to Kingsford charcoal as Henry’s way of getting rid of leftover wood cuttings, and his fascination with plastic-like materials made from soybeans. One enormous flop, however, was Fordlandia, his rubber plantation in the Brazilian rain forest.

[@matrox]

Such amazing technology back then.

[@williambutler8624]

OLDER VIDEO, just found your channel, I have watched alot of your videos, this is one of my favorites, all the work and dedication to perfection these workers have in making a Quality product, it shows that took pride in their work, great video on the OLD MODEL A FORD, I've owned MODEL A's for over 50 years, have a 31 TUDOR now, THANKS for sharing the History of the MODEL A Ford, SUBSCRIBED.

[@AModelA]

Wow, thank you!

[@cleitonfelipe2092]

Very impressive quality and technology for the time. All durable products made with great effort and care.

[@AModelA]

Absolutely! Those early Fords all have the reputation of being cheap but these videos help show the quality that a buyer was getting. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@836dmar]

Amazing! I am shocked how easily we toss things aside that took so much effort and ingenuity while searching for the "easy life".

[@AModelA]

Its all relative. A lot of people in 1926 thought that they were living the easy life. Thanks for watching!

[@ovalwingnut]

Yes. I think the guys (and gals) watching this really know something specials when they see it... daZzling.

[@scuba_sam6321]

Just look at the workforce attire! Factory work .. and they still wear a tie!!.. This was what AMERICA was built upon.. People took pride in the job .. their appearance.. Henry Ford ran a tight ship! Just check any documentary out about the River Rouge Ford plant.. from iron ore to finished product.. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING

[@craigpennington1251]

Avery nice quality made seat for any car. And they're comfortable. I've sat on these before. Todays cars leave a lot to be desired when it comes to seat comfort. Outstanding machinery to get the job done right. Thanks for posting. Very cool stuff.

[@AModelA]

Glad you liked it!

[@stuartrose9456]

Absolutely amazing considering 1920s. Brilliant minds, those machines are so high tech .

[@AModelA]

Yes they are! Thanks for watching.

[@tork62077]

Wow that’s a lot of work for a seat 😮😮

[@AModelA]

Exactly! But then multiple that by a few million!

[@ovalwingnut]

And they still need to build the automobile? O.M.G. I'll never take a old, stinky seat for granted again (unless it's attached to someone I know:) Amazing! Just amazing! Thank U

[@AModelA]

Thanks for watching!

[@jonwatkins254]

Thank you for this great history video!

[@AModelA]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@BillB23]

As a schoolboy I toured the Rouge River plant in the '60s. I saw how every part of a Ford was made on site from raw materials, excepting those from Henry's friend, Harvey Firestone.

[@AModelA]

When he couldn't get wood; he bought his own forest. When the price of glass skyrocketed he built his own glass plants. When shipping was unreliable he bought the Detroit Toledo Railroad. The man wouldn't let anything get in his way. Thanks for watching!

[@tedlahm5740]

Don’t forget Edison. One of the big three.

[@zambufly1]

I worked in this same factory for 22 years. I don't miss it.

[@matrox]

Yeh...but did you build good cars? Yes or No?😏

[@matrox]

Rumors are Henry Ford knew the ins and outs of each operation of his business.

[@AModelA]

Henry spent more time walking the assembly line floor than he did in his office. That's how much he wanted to monitor production.

[@1957kwick]

True craftsmanship at work.of yester year.

[@AModelA]

Agreed!

[@kc4cvh]

I've been told that the stuffing in Ford seats from that era was "Spanish moss" from Florida. Actually a bromeliad, the moss had its husk removed to reveal a durable dark brown plastic-like fiber, this process was done at "moss gins" where the hardy pre-air conditioning Floridian sold moss gathered from the oak trees. "Pulling moss" was considered similar to "scrapping" today, a way to make a small supplemental income.

[@AModelA]

That's interesting, and hadn't heard it before. That may have been something done on the Model T's but wasn't used on the Model A's. Thanks for watching!

[@denisdavidson5622]

Fascinating stuff! Interesting all stages are done only by men, even the sewing!

[@AModelA]

Ford had plenty of women who worked for him including assembly line workers but for some reason none of these videos ever show them. Thanks for watching!

[@DanTheManIOM]

I noticed that too, and he had a tie on !!

[@1208bug]

Great video!

[@AModelA]

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching!

[@kevinsnell1622]

Thank you for the video!

[@AModelA]

Thanks for watching!

[@pudnbug]

This is fairly mind-boggling

[@AModelA]

Agreed! Especially when you consider that the interior was only a small part of a complete car. Thanks for watching!

[@wmason1961]

Some of these processes left me wondering how many apendages were lost in some of those machines.

[@gregbrightwell662]

During the 1990"s I had a very expensive apartment in Atlanta, Ford Factory Square. Where Model A's and Model T's were built for the south East Overlooking the famous "murder Kroger ". Looking at the interior scenes of this building. Same design.

[@AModelA]

That's cool! thanks for watching.

[@michelbeauloye4269]

At this time, every man had a job ... the women stayed at home caring for the numerous children and the household. It is impressive how the job was done without breathing masks nor other sort of protection.

[@MrSloika]

Go have a look at life expectancy statistics from that era. YIKES!

[@danfarris135]

Oh what it must have been like to sit on one of these seats for the first time.

[@AModelA]

Agreed!

[@jimmyday9536]

Fascinating video! However, I am one of the few people who are extremely allergic to wool, I wonder if there were alternatives back then.

[@AModelA]

Thanks for watching! You probably would have to custom make a seat cover out of leather or artificial leather.

[@riverraisin1]

Yes. Walking.

[@matrox]

Kick ass video.

[@AModelA]

Glad you liked it!

[@billbright1755]

Better than counting sheep 🐑.

[@riverraisin1]

In a strange way, you were.😁

[@denjhill]

No wonder wool is so expensive. Unbelievable amount of processing.

[@matrox]

If didn't want a job making wool, you could always get a job repairing and maintaining the machines.

[@powellmountainmike8853]

very interesting video.

[@AModelA]

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching!

[@johnwalker7592]

The seats were the most structurally sound part of the whole car outside of the engine block itself.. lol

[@kevinsnell1622]

That must have been the cushiest job in Detroit!

[@RaysLaughsAndLyrics]

@kevinsnell1622. Apart from the damage to their respiratory system from long hours of exposure to wool dust and other airborne impurities from the wool processing.. No respirators were worn. .. Yeah, pretty cushy.

[@allenschmitz9644]

If Du Pont had their way the seats would be spun polymirs in the future.

[@davidkabara6023]

Who designs and makes all of the machinery to make the cloth?

[@AModelA]

and who finds out that machine #467 needs 85 sq feet of floor space and that machine #468 needs 110 sq feet of floor space and how do they fit that into an existing building. Some guy with a slide rule and a lot of paper. Just mind boggling.

[@MrSloika]

Mass produced textiles were a thing long before the automobile.

[@DanTheManIOM]

It's a niche market of suppliers, but to see a place that supplies people like Underarmor, the mill was running and there is NO one around, I mean no one you can even see, but the machines are running, it was impressive. This was like 2008 somewhere in the middle of PA.

[@mrm1885]

The only thing that not changed is the "pimp slapp" techniqe at 17:15 It's still used today.

[@hybridchild8393]

When shirt and tie ruled.

[@MrSloika]

'Vertical integration' was discarded for 'just in time'. Well, the recent pandemic demonstrated just how fragile global supply chains really are. It's looking like crazy ol' Henry wasn't so crazy after all.

[@robj2704]

The film appears to be made using supervisors and straw bosses. Times haven't changed.

[@RADIUMGLASS]

I have an unseen Ford film and I wonder if it's in the Ford archives. It's produced by Ford but it isn't about Ford products. It doesn't exist anywhere on the web.

[@AModelA]

What topic is it? All Ford archive film was donated to the Library of Congress in 1953 and there are thousands of Ford films there. Many of the films are compilations of different topics and clips from different years. I'd suggest going there to see if it exists but the search function won't necessarily show you everything a video contains.

[@jmd1743]

with polymer & metal 3d printing technology parts for these really old autos won't be rare anymore.

[@chip9177]

Back then they made everything in house to control costs & quality.

[@AModelA]

Yes, quite a bit of the Ford car was built in house. Ford still relied on outside suppliers for a lot of things but most of the car was made in a Ford factory. Thanks for watching!

[@MrButtonpresser]

Even the titles are carefully stitched. Note the total absence of any women workers at that time.

[@LethalMercury]

1:46 😏

[@garylivingston9052]

we have sure gotten away from being an industrious nation building quality products that will last.

[@craigcooknf]

Lots of absorbency after you are chopped up when you go through the steering wheel.....

[@Paulftate]

Rather have a narrator read audio instead of me having to read a bad scrip I can hardly see

[@AModelA]

We appreciate the feedback. Its funny; we get a lot of criticism for our narrations in other videos. Thanks for watching!

[@Kevin-go2dw]

@@AModelA The last script is not up long enough to read. 18:35. Don't know if that is part of the original film or crept in editing. Background music is suitable.

[@AModelA]

At that point the original film started to wander so it was edited out. It says "You have the opportunity now of seeing the quality and workmanship used at all times in Ford upholstery construction." Thanks for pointing it out!

[@pawleymediaconsultantsllc5]

@@AModelA Love the Script. Can't please everybody !! 🤣🤣

[@milwaukeegregg]

This is what made AMERICA..... HARD work and quality...wHERE DID IT GO?

[@patrickharper9297]

It went bye den

[@Christoph-sd3zi]

​@patrickharper9297 Prez Ronnie Raygun - the Darling of Conservatives - set us down the de-industrialization path in the 80s and don't forget his blanket amnesty of 3M illegals

[@MrSloika]

@@Christoph-sd3zi Offshoring started in a big way in the late 1950s. I'm old enough to remember when 'Made in Japan' meant 'Cheap Junk". Then it was "Made in Taiwan, now it's "Made in China" Capitalism always chases the maximum profit.

[@zeke5491]

Ford tried using Spanish moss that grows in trees in the south. People reported getting itchy and they discovered the moss is home to chiggers. Big recall . St Augustine Trolley- factoid

[@AModelA]

Interesting, never heard this. Thanks for sharing!

[@matrox]

What keeps the wool cloth from just pulling apart?🤔🫤

[@VintageVaughnVehiclces]

An entire car built with no plastic. Can you imagine that?

[@MrSloika]

The cars from that era used bakelite for certain components.

[@jayp3564]

no women either. look at those men sewing. oh how times have changed.

[@riverraisin1]

No, but Ford experimented with making body parts from soybeans. Very much like plastic.