Meet Mr. Henry Ford!!

How could we possibly be in Dearborn Michigan without meeting up with Henry Ford.  Turns out he was a rather entrepreneurial person with interests in lots of things, including soybeans and this place ... Greenfield Village.  What he did was go about the country gathering up buildings ... that's correct ... buildings and equipment mostly from the "old" days which he dismantled and had rebuilt on this property so you can see how things were made.  People demonstrate much of the equipment while other pieces stand in immaculate condition as a reminder of how things used to be made.  For example, when a beautiful jeweler/watchmakers building was to be torn down, he not only bought and moved the building brick by brick, but he found and purchased the original display cases and pieces of jewelry.

The working farm was the first we saw upon entering, where these guys were picking up sheaves of hay by pitchfork, throwing them on the wagon for transport to the barn way out back.  I'm guessing maybe they put it back at night and again pick it up ... but that's just a big guess!!

Tractors became the way of the future and I'm sure this one still works.  If you have any questions, just stop someone and ask ... they are all wearing period clothing and more than happy to talk to you. The soybeans??  Henry tried to figure out how to use them in manufacturing, and did use the oil in his enamel paint for the cars, among other things.

We took a coal fired steam train around to the back of the property.  It's quite a walk to one of Edison's power plants with original coal fired ovens for steam engine operation.  Speaking of coal ... we were covered with it by the time we exited!!  Henry Ford wanted you to have the REAL experience of living in this time!

This engine and coal tender are used to demonstrate the turnaround at the round house where they actually perform maintenance on the engines.  Both Barbara and Tom had Engineers in the family, so they knew everything about THIS operation!!

Inside the round house is every tool imaginable to work on these huge steam engines.  Most every building had an entrance with an introduction, then a stairway taking you to a great view of the processes, down another set of stairs and out the back door ..  a great setup that kept traffic flowing!!

This is one of the original manufacturing buildings of Ford Motor Company for making the early automobiles.  Henry's family home is here also, along with Noah Webster's home, you know, the Webster dictionary??  George Washington Carver's cabin, Robert Frost's home, Luther Burbank's home and garden office, along with William McGuffey's home (McGuffey Readers) and the oldest home in America, the Plympton House with brick from 1640.  

This Ford was parked inside the Ford Motor Company building.  We were told the price actually got down to $300-400 because Henry thought everyone should be able to afford a car.  His partners and kids thought otherwise!!

There is an entire complex for Thomas Edison, including this building with his lab upstairs.  Henry Ford set this up exactly as it was the day Edison displayed his new light bulb to the nation, using his neighbor Sarah Jordan's boarding house ... which is also here, having been moved across the street.    When in his eighties, Thomas Edison came here and sat in the chair in the middle of the room, approving of Henry's re-creation, except he thought it too neat and clean.  When he left, Henry Ford nailed the chair to the floor where it has remained ever since.

These were the chemicals Edison used in his inventions.  He didn't sleep much since his idea was to invent/create something every week.  Many of Edisons buildings are here, including his office and desk where he held many newspaper interviews.  Greenfield Village is an amazing place to visit and well worth the entry fee, about $16-22 each.

Many local critters take advantage of the ponds displaying how water wheels worked to power just about everything until steam came along!!

Liberty Craftworks is a village, just as in the old days, where tin smiths worked their magic.  This one is showing how to solder tin with a jewelers lamp.  I have two of these but never knew how they worked.  Filled with alcohol, they are lit by a match, turned on their side and with a small pipe-like tool, you blow air into the flame, resulting in a 500 degree flame for soldering.  

There was a pottery shop where this gentleman was making salt bowls, a weaving shop, a sawmill, printing office and gristmill, among others.  Many villages were designed around a central pond so everyone could use the water to run their water wheel, which in turn ran whatever equipment they had.  The original building used in silk worm thread manufacture is also here, surrounded by a grove of mulberry trees ... food for the worms.  Henry Ford thought of everything!!

They even had a glass blowing factory with demonstrations on how to make a glass trophy!!  We didn't stay long in here ... it was hot and humid enough without adding flame to the fire!!

This is Orville and Wilbur Wright's family home with his bicycle shop in back.  It was in that shop that the idea of flying took flight!!  I mean really ... the family home is right HERE!!!

All around the village are many of Henry Ford's creations that you can actually ride in.  This was a 1914 convertible.  Our driver was very friendly and knowledgable about the houses around the village.  He put the top up because of rain predictions ... which turned out to be correct!!!  There were many options to ride, with all having original engines.  They don't have to crank start any since the electrical ignition was actually an option way back then ... and of course all of these included all the bells and whistles!!  Our driver said they get around 15 miles per gallon ... not bad!!

Here's a few more local singles checking out the pond for opportunities!!

When we got to the 101 year old carousel, Barbara insisted on a ride ... and I fully expected her to climb on to this beauty sporting the American Flag.

But no .. she climbed on to this chicken instead!!  Tom took the inside route on a horse!!  For $14.00 you can buy a wristband that allows you to ride everything for free ... the horse drawn carriages, the old cars and the carousel.

Here's an interesting display.  These are original slave quarters.  The owner of the slaves that lived here, had a brick manufacturing plant, so he told them if they wanted a house to live in, they could build it themselves from brick ... which they did!!  Inside you can hear several stories of life as a slave.

This was the Grimm Jewelry store.  An amazing piece of art that was to be demolished, Henry dismantled it one brick at a time, numbering every one, according to the lady working inside.  Mr. Grimm and his family lived upstairs for something like 45 years.  Course when you have LOTS of money, you can save buildings like this.  I'm glad Henry appreciated the history and the beauty.

We took this Omnibus, pulled by Orville (4 years old) and Wilbur (ten) around one side of the park.  An ingenious leather band system allows the driver to shut the back door and latch it from where she is sitting so no one will fall out!!  This form of transportation was very popular and affordable in the old days.  If you come here, go EARLY to the Village.  We could have spent another three hours before seeing everything, but ran out of time.  Plan on staying all day!

Immediately after the carousel ride, we started to feel drops of rain, which turned into a downpour!!  We jumped on a motorized bus, barely squeezing in to the seats, for a ride back to the entrance.  By the time we arrived, it was pouring buckets and there was no way we were getting off.  Another round or two driver ... we'll exit when the rain quits!!  In about 5 minutes, the rain let up enough that I jumped ship and ran to a covered building, while Barbara and Tom made another round of the village.  Meet you in the gift shop ... only there was more than one, and of course we didn't end up at the same one.  By now, Barbara was getting warnings of big time hail, so we made a fast exit back to the rigs.  Amazingly, the big storm split in the middle and went around either side of us.  Today however, is supposed to be another story ... with gully-washers, so we plan to visit INSIDE the Henry Ford Museum!!