One Hundred Years Ago

Rix Gins · March 07, 2016, 06:40:49 PM

Quote from: K_Dubb on March 07, 2016, 06:32:01 PM
Fascinating stuff! Would love to have poked around in there.

Yeah, it was pretty neat. I should use our time machine to go back and see if I remembered things right. But better not... not only might I run into myself but how would I explain things if I were waylaid by Officer Fife?

albrecht · March 07, 2016, 07:08:19 PM

Quote from: K_Dubb on March 07, 2016, 06:32:01 PM
Fascinating stuff! Would love to have poked around in there.

Supposedly the Masons are much more open n even having a sorta makeover or publicity campaign, of sorts. I think many fraternal, 'secret,' ethnic-based, charitable, or religious-based have suffered from membership. "They need the dues," to paraphrase "Animal House." Now, how open are they? I dont know.
Ps: nice rosemaling on the avatar

Rix Gins · March 07, 2016, 07:21:14 PM

Quote from: Rix Gins on March 07, 2016, 02:56:11 PM
The March 7, 1916 Daily Bonanza.

They should have called the indoor baseball game The Battle of the Brothers. Eagles: J. Hallihan. Moose: M. Hallihan. Both of them outfielders.

K_Dubb · March 07, 2016, 08:36:49 PM

Quote from: Rix Gins on March 07, 2016, 06:40:49 PM
Yeah, it was pretty neat. I should use our time machine to go back and see if I remembered things right. But better not... not only might I run into myself but how would I explain things if I were waylaid by Officer Fife?

Haha he's probably still looking for the sword. Yeah, I saw a documentary where they invited the producer into the inner sanctum of a big temple, I think in New York, just to show there was nothing strange.

I think it's a lost cause for those old orders. The '60s killed the public's taste for belonging and hierarchy. Now we're all equal individuals.

Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost · March 07, 2016, 08:55:24 PM

Quote from: Rix Gins on March 07, 2016, 07:21:14 PM
They should have called the indoor baseball game The Battle of the Brothers. Eagles: J. Hallihan. Moose: M. Hallihan. Both of them outfielders.

It looks like they also were the only outfielders for their respective teams, which was the same defensive alignment used by the teams in the first game. Even with the "dead ball" used at the time, the Airdome had pretty cozy dimensions for baseball, so maybe they didn't need three outfielders because line drives just bounced off the wall back to the infield. The games probably were pretty ugly, but they would have been fun to watch, as well as experience the party atmosphere.

I had to do some catching up today, it was interesting to learn that George Patton competed in the Olympics in 1912. Apparently, only military officers were allowed to compete in the pentathlon at the time, so his selection was quit an honor. I knew he'd served under Pershing in the campaign against Villa, but didn't know about his personal exploits commanding a small fleet of army customized Dodge automobiles. Those must have been some rugged vehicles, because it seems like horses would have had a definite advantage over cars given the terrain.

That piece about how the war was making it difficult to teach geography was something I hadn't considered, and would have been quite a problem. Of course, the first few years after the Armistice were undoubtedly boom times for cartographers and the publishers of geography and history texts.

albrecht · March 07, 2016, 09:03:05 PM

Quote from: K_Dubb on March 07, 2016, 08:36:49 PM
Haha he's probably still looking for the sword. Yeah, I saw a documentary where they invited the producer into the inner sanctum of a big temple, I think in New York, just to show there was nothing strange.

I think it's a lost cause for those old orders. The '60s killed the public's taste for belonging and hierarchy. Now we're all equal individuals.

Or they, like much of the economy, have been consolidated and only the benign, friendly, chartiable ones are losing memberships due to work a day world? But the true elite and more secretive ones got stronger? Kidding, maybe. Nice rosemaling. Not that of interest to most but many different 'styles' of it. I have old trunks n bowls n lefse sticks with it on it.

Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost · March 07, 2016, 09:05:21 PM

Quote from: albrecht on March 07, 2016, 05:40:46 PM
Poor Mr.MacLaughlin: getting all spiffed up in the hopes of accompanying the girls and their moms on the trip! Haha.

It wasn't the moms, it was the school marms, who in 1916 were most likely young and unmarried. Mr. MacLaughlin sounds like he might have fancied himself quite the sport, and I wouldn't be surprised if his wife lobbied to replace him. At least he had a nice clean suit in case he was asked again.

K_Dubb · March 07, 2016, 09:05:44 PM

Quote from: albrecht on March 07, 2016, 09:03:05 PM
Or they, like much of the economy, have been consolidated and only the benign, friendly, chartiable ones are losing memberships due to work a day world? But the true elite and more secretive ones got stronger? Kidding, maybe. Nice rosemaling. Not that of interest to most but many different 'styles' of it. I have old trunks n bowls n lefse sticks with it on it.

Thanks, yeah my grandma learned how to paint that way in her 60s and painted everything in sight. She always liked Telemark style and taught me how to do it. Haven't painted anything in years, though.

albrecht · March 07, 2016, 09:11:51 PM

Quote from: Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost on March 07, 2016, 09:05:21 PM
It wasn't the moms, it was the school marms, who in 1916 were most likely young and unmarried. Mr. MacLaughlin sounds like he might have fancied himself quite the sport, and I wouldn't be surprised if his wife lobbied to replace him. At least he had a nice clean suit in case he was asked again.

Yes, missed that. Poor fellow. School teachers can party especially on trips!

Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost · March 07, 2016, 09:12:46 PM

Quote from: K_Dubb on March 07, 2016, 08:36:49 PM
Haha he's probably still looking for the sword. Yeah, I saw a documentary where they invited the producer into the inner sanctum of a big temple, I think in New York, just to show there was nothing strange.

I think it's a lost cause for those old orders. The '60s killed the public's taste for belonging and hierarchy. Now we're all equal individuals.

Last summer, I met up with an old buddy I hadn't seen for about fifteen years, and he said he'd become a Mason. I immediately insisted he come clean about their plans for world domination, and he looked me in the eye and said they don't have any. I pretended to believe him, and must have been convincing because I'm still here to type thi....Auuuggghhh!

albrecht · March 07, 2016, 09:19:52 PM

Quote from: K_Dubb on March 07, 2016, 09:05:44 PM
Thanks, yeah my grandma learned how to paint that way in her 60s and painted everything in sight. She always liked Telemark style and taught me how to do it. Haven't painted anything in years, though.

Cool. I just paid someone to refurbish an old bowl that deteriorated from the old farm. Knew a friend of family, here, who was a bit 'nuts' or eccentric, who painted much of her HOUSE (!) rosemaling, not outside but banisters, door frame panels, porch pickets, etc. It was nice but weird. Even outhouse and pump (she was sorta piest Luthern type) didnt want modernity.

Walks_At_Night · March 07, 2016, 09:37:30 PM

In Part IV of the Ford's we look at the indomitable Henry Ford II aka HFII aka "Hank the Deuce" whom would be the undisputed HMFiC
at the Ford Motor Company for parts of five decades. His affable brothers would never challenge his supremacy but he would survive
both a silly threat from his moonbat nephew and a mortal one from a cigar chomping Italian by the name of Iacocca.

As we learned in Part III, Henry Ford II (we'll go with HFII from this point forward) was the eldest of Henry Ford's grand children.
Part V will cover his sibling's - Benson, Josephine and William but we will concentrate on one of the last Lions of the US auto industry
in this edition.

Henry Ford II was never nuts and bolts car guy - he certainly did not grow up grubbing on engines like his Father did. He went to
Yale in 1936 as an Engineering major but quickly switched to sociology so that he could devote more time to partying with Sorority girls
and a whole slew of different clubs. He was forced to leave Yale in 1940 when he turned in his senior thesis but forgot to remove
the receipt on it from the ghostwriter he hired to do the work. BTW he would return to Yale in 1969 at the height of his power
to give a speech - he would look up from the text at one point and say "I didn't write this either".

Shortly after leaving Yale, HFII would marry a socialite from the Hamptons named Anne McDowell. This would start a pattern of becoming
involved with women that really were not happy about living in Detroit. Obviously his parents and grand parents were less than thrilled
with HFII by this time. They would send him deep into the bowels of the River Rouge plant and gave him any number of dirty jobs to do.
HFII soon announced that he was joing the U.S. Navy. By 1941 he turned the corner and got his act together - he graduated from OCS
and was commissioned as an Ensign. He was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station as a math instructor. Once the war
broke out he started to push for Sea duty in a combat zone. He finally got his wish - orders for sea duty and a promotion when
his Father Edsel died in 1943. This left the Ford Motor company in the hands of the Rasputin-like Harry Bennett as by this time
Henry Ford was not really capable of handling much of anything as he had survived two major strokes.

The company was in rough shape. There was no accounting system in place - they would just put receipts in a bundle
and weigh it as an estimate of how much was spent. The Ford Motor Company played a huge part in the American war effort and
without Edsel Ford there was serious problem. The War Department would discharge HFII and he would return to the Ford Motor Company
as Executive Vice President. On paper he was second only to his Grandfather but in reality Harry Bennett was pulling Henry Ford's
strings. There was serious threat that the government would step in an nationalize the company. HFII would blame Henry for Edsel's
early death "That old man killed my Father". After a long struggle, Clara and Elenaor Ford finally got old Henry to turn over control
of the company to HFII.

On September 21, 1945 HFII would become president and CEO of the Ford Motor Company - he would hold one title or the other up
until 1980. Thus he would be in control for parts of five decades - not bad for someone who really wasn't a car guy and got
booted out of college. The first call HFII made was to Harry Bennett and it was to fire him. The second call he made was to
Walter Reuther of the UAW. Reuther was in shock - Ford's don't cut deal's with the union, Ford's bust heads. However at this
point the company was losing an estimated 10 million dollars a month and could ill afford a wildcat strike in the post war
economy. The union walked out with a 15% raise and HFII avoided a crippling strike. So HFII got rid of the thug Bennett and
avoided a strike but he knew it was not enough. He was smart enough to know that there was much that he did not know.
So he went out and hired help. He brought in experienced management like Ernie Breech from Bendix Aviation and he hired youth.
Lots of young, smart talent joined the company in 1946. Lee Iacocca was one of these hires. So were the "Whiz Kids" whom
HFII brought in as a group from the Army Air Corps - the most famous of these was Robert McNamara who would go on to
be JFK's Sec Def. This effort would be hugely successful - in short order the Ford Motor Company would go from a projected
$100 million loss to a tiny $2,000 profit. The bleeding was stopped and within three years the profits would swell
to $177 million.

As he gained experience his confidence would swell and he definitely ran the company via his favorite personal motto:
"Don't Complain and don't explain". In 1956 for the first time he would allow Ford stock to be traded publically -
of course the family would keep enough stock to ensure voting control [to this day this situation has not changed].
He would raise over $650 million dollars by doing this. This would be soon followed by the biggest mistake of
his long career.

He would be convinced that the company needed a 4th marque to sit between Ford and Mercury in the Ford, Mercury, Lincoln lineup.
He left naming the new brand to his team when he left for Europe. The team's initial thought was to call the brand
"Edsel" after Henry Ford's only son. HFII was not impressed - "I don't want my Dad's name spinning around on a hubcap".
The team hired a research firm to come up with a name - they returned without over 6.000 names! In disgust HFII would finally
approve the name Edsel for the new line. Introduced on "E Day"â€"September 4, 1957 with a large number of models the Edsel
product line would become an unholy nightmare. Launched into the teeth of short but biting recession the product line
would never click with consumers who were confused on what it should be - was it higher on the totem pole than the Mercury
or not. There was also the issue with the front grille on the car. In polite company it was called a horse collar,
in less polite it was called a toilet seat and to the vulgar it looked like a Vagina. In the end sales were less then
expected and then totally collapsed. After a few short years and a loss of $300 million dollars the Edsel was phased out.

In 1960, HFII would meet an Italian socialite and model named Christina at a Maxim's party in Paris. They would have a
torrid affair which would result in HFII's divorce from his first wife Anne whom was also the mother to his three children:
Edsel II, Charlotte and Anne. Christina and HFII would marry in 1965 and they would have a troubled relationship from the
start. The party girl from Milan whom landed on the International Best Dressed List would be a poor fit for Detroit.
She would spend a great deal of time jet setting around the world. She would become close friends with Imelda Marcos.
Supposedly HFII thought they were a little too close and in fact were lesbian lovers! Still the Ford family accepted
Christina - in fact if you do a web search on her images you can see her on the cover of Life magazine wearing a
Detroit Lions T-Shirt [HFII's brother Bill had just bought the Detroit Lions - starting 50 years of hell for us Lions
fans].

By the mid sixities Lee Iacocca would begin his rise to prominence inside the Ford Motor Company. He would be key
in the development of the Ford Falcon and of course the Ford Mustang was his baby. He would move from vice-president
and general manager of the Ford Division, to vice president of the car and truck group, to executive vice-president and
finally was named president of the Ford Motor Company on December 10, 1970. Iacocca had a brash style that clashed
mightily with Henry Ford II's "Don't Complain, Don't Explain" mantra. Iacocca wanted to cut a deal with Honda
to bring in engines for the smaller cars. HFII told him "I don't want any car with my name on it driving around
with a Jap engine in it". Later on Iacocca wanted to roll out something he called a "Mini-Van" that would be
much smaller than the big panel vans of the time - that idea was spiked as well. Things got so bad between the
two that HFII would authorize $1.5 million in funds to investigate Iacocca in 1975 but came up empty.

Matters came to a head in 1978. HFII had a heart condition and was rapidly nearing the retirement age of 65. He
had planned all along to turn the company over to his son Edsel Ford II. In early 1978 Iacocca was told that
he would report to Philip Caldwell who HFII had created a new position for called deputy chief executive officer
just to keep Iacocca at bay. On July 13th, 1978 HFII would pull the trigger and fire Iacocca. When Iacocca asked
why he was told "I just do not like you". In the resulting media firestorm Henry Ford II would utter his most
famous line when pushed by the press - "Who's name is on the G*d Damn Building?".

With Iacocca out of the picture HFII thought he could finish up his career quietly, turn the company over to Caldwell
and then his son Edsel II would eventually take over when he was ready. However his nephew, Benson Ford Jr would
mount an unexpected challenge in 1979. Benson Ford Sr (HF II's brother) died in 1978 - his son Benson Jr. had
spent the 1970's in the clutches of his therapist Louis Fuentes. He would give Fuentes many millions of dollars
for failed business ventures. Now Benson Jr. returned out of the blue and demanded a seat on the Board of Directors
and challenged old Hank the Deuce himself. In a bizarre incident he was called to his Uncle Bill's house to
talk things over with Bill and HFII. When he walked in, Bill Ford noticed that Benson Jr. was wearing a wire.
He was convinced that he was the victim of a "team" that was out to kill him to stop his bid. Obviously his
effort failed and he would be estranged from the Ford family for a number of years. Eventually he would get
straightened out and the family would find a spot for him in the organization.

In 1980 while Christina was in Europe, Henry Ford II was arrested for drunk driving in California. In the car
with him was a high school drop out, auto show model named Kathleen DuRoss. This would lead to yet another
divorce and HFII's third marriage. However the family never accepted Kathleen - she was into ouija board's
and the like. HFII would resign from all active management of the Ford Motor Company and while he would
hold no formal title he would be the ultimate authority on any hard decisions up until his death in
1987.

In part V of the Ford's we will cover HFII's siblings: Benson, Willam and Josephine Ford

[Note:]
Part I of this series is here: http://bellgab.com/index.php/topic,9331.msg730248.html#msg730248
Part II of this series is here: http://bellgab.com/index.php/topic,9331.msg733430.html#msg733430
part III of this series is here: http://bellgab.com/index.php/topic,9331.msg735481.html#msg735481

HF II as a Naval Officer

Who's name is on the G*d Damn Building?

HF II late in his career

Hank & Lee

Iacocca and his team roll out the new Mustang

An elderly Iacocca with the 45th "Iacocca" special edition Ford Mustang

An Edsel with it's unfortunate grill

HF II with his first wife Anne

2nd wife Christina

w/ Imelda Marcos

Third wife Kathleen

Rix Gins · March 08, 2016, 01:49:43 AM

Another great chapter on the Fords. Thanks Walks. I like that photo of Anne McDowell, the first Mrs. Ford. Even with her eyes closed, she looks very sexy to me...more so than the next two wives. The fifth photo down (the guys around the Mustang) reminds me of that show Mad Men. Info on Iacocca was most informative. Never really knew much about the guy, other than seeing him in those commercials.

Rix Gins · March 08, 2016, 02:19:55 AM

Joseph Greissl, school teacher and son of a farmer from Gern, Germany. Member of the 2nd Bavarian Infantry Regiment, 6th Company. He was a ersatzreservist which meant that he was a standby/substitute reservist. He was killed by an explosion that entombed him on March 1, 1916. He was 25 years old.

K_Dubb · March 08, 2016, 10:57:51 AM

Thanks Walks, some good business and life lessons to be gleaned from your excellent histories.

I wonder if Rix's fellow was one of those substitutes you could send if you were conscripted and wealthy enough to afford one.

K_Dubb · March 08, 2016, 11:16:24 AM

From the Seattle Star today:

A Canadian badge marked "American Legion":

An interesting letter requesting that an American battalion not be broken up upon the US's entry into the war. Among the reasons cited is the excellent band:

The 211th's badge. Acta Non Verba:

gabrielle · March 08, 2016, 11:29:27 AM

K Dubb that is amazing.

gabrielle · March 08, 2016, 11:57:03 AM

K Dubb...here is some more information from the Medicine Hat News.

Rix Gins · March 08, 2016, 12:01:55 PM

I wonder what the answer to the letter was? It reminded me of Pershing's communiquÃ©s to France, only he was demanding, not asking that the American army not be broken up and used piece meal with the French army. It really pissed those Frenchies off. (I can say that, right? After all, I just watched the original Scarlet Pimpernel last night.)

"They seek him here, they seek him there.
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere.
Is he in Heaven? Is he in Hell?
That damned elusive Pimpernel."