The Ford Model T, infrastructure and the lack of it
The Development of Modern America
The arrival of the Ford Model T changed America. Until then, there was no infrastructure. There were roads from village to village, former trade routes. With a carriage these roads were already difficult to pass, with a car it was an adventure. The railroads feared this new competition and lobbied for a weird law to protect their industry.
paved routes were a rarity except for sidewalks and some major streets in major cities. Streets and roads were made of sand and sidewalks were paved to to walk. Agriculture was the main occupation of people. Power tools were scarce outside the factories, as was electricity. Electricity and paved roads were only found in large cities. Rural electrification and motorized mechanization were emerging in North America and Europe, and unknown and nonexistent elsewhere in the world.
Henry Ford saw the demands and designed the Model T based on this reality. That's why the Model T was deliberately as much tractor and portable motorcycle as a car. He has always been admired for his terrain abilities and for his robustness. He could ride a rocky road, ford a shallow stream, ride a muddy road, climb a steep hill and park on the other side, A wheel could be removed and a belt could be attached to drive a thresher, conveyor, baler or water pump. Or a generator or a... or a...
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In 1922 a T was shown in the Fordson Farmer Magazine which had been converted into a mobile church, complete with organ. During this period, entire cars (including thousands of Model Ts) were taken apart and converted into permanent "machines" by their diligent owners.
Dozens of companies supply conversion kits for the T from car to tractor. The Graham brothers built kits for conversion to trucks. In a world without mechanized tools, the T filled a big hole. Tractors like the Farmall didn't come in great numbers until the 1930s. Like many popular engines, the T's engines were used in home-built airplanes and boats.
Many Model Ts were converted and made suitable for traveling in heavy snow. Sometimes with a set of extra wheels behind it were also sometimes provided with caterpillar tracks, making it a half-track. The front wheels were then replaced by skis. They were popular for mail delivery for a while. The name for these conversions was 'Snowflyers'. They were very popular in Canada and factories were built there to produce them.
The production of the Model T involved a lot of knowledge and expertise. Ford used a new kind of steel. Vanadium. Due to the use of this, there are still so many T's left today. As with the production of other cars, construction was done by hand, which means that the production was not high. The factory where the T would be produced was actually immediately unsuitable. Only 11 were built. The knowledge and skills that a worker must have was reduced to 84 areas. After only 12,000 units, they moved again, this time to the Highland Park factory. As a result, a T came off the band every 3 minutes. Production time dropped from 12.5 hours to 93 minutes. By the time Henry builds the 10 millionth, half the cars in America will be Fords. The car was such a success that it was not advertised between 1917 and 1923. Henry was an American Hero. An ordinary farmer turned billionaire. The Tin Lizzie liberated the people from their hometown. They usually did not go further than 12 miles, the distance a horse could travel in one day. There were more farmers with a Ford than a bathtub. After all, you couldn't drive to the city with a bathtub. Boys picked up girls at home for fun rides. The prudish Henry didn't like that and narrowed the rear seats. But given the height you could also make love upright! Americans are restless and always on the road, the car helped enormously. In materialistic America, the car quickly became a symbol of sex, speed and status.
In 1925, between 9,000 and 10,000 were built per day. Construction stopped in 1927 after more than 15 million units. The engines were still produced until August 4, 1941. Mainly as spare engines to be able to carry out maintenance on already produced cars. Total 170,000. Racers and enthusiasts also use the engines to make racing bikes, including Cragar Navarro and the famous Fontenacs from the Chevrolet brothers.
Although Ford of course no longer makes parts for the model, they built 6 more in 2002 due to the centenary in 2003.
'Red Flag' laws in the UK and USA
In Britain it was the 'Locomotives on Highways Act' (also known as the 'Red Flag' Acts) enacted in 1865, a law that required self-propelled vehicles to be preceded by a pedestrian with a red flag and a lantern to alert bystanders to the upcoming event vehicle. This also limited the speed to 2 mph in the city and 4 mph outside the city.
Part of the law read: First of all, at least three people must be deployed to drive such a locomotive. A driver, a stoker and a pedestrian. In case more than two wagons are moored, one extra person must be deployed who will take care of these wagons.
The car was fantastic but didn't have to pose a threat to the railway and coach industry. These two later turned out to be behind the introduction of this law. Railways were, of course, important to the country, but limiting the growth of the emerging car industry left Britain 10 to 15 years behind rival countries such as America. The old industries were important to the shift, a shift that had already begun. This law actually slowed the rise of the car in Britain and the further growth of the British economy.
The 'Red Flag' law was repealed in 1896. The speed limit was increased to 14 mph (22 km/h).
In the Netherlands, this 'Red Flag' law is still followed to this day. In the summer months, the VSM (Veluwse Stoomtrein Maatschappij) runs a steam train from Dieren to Apeldoorn and vice versa. At the various transitions where no flashing light installation is present, the train stops and an employee gets out who warns traffic with a red flag at the intersection. After this, the train drives past and the employee jumps back on the back of the further moving train, releasing the intersection again.
A similar law was passed in Vermont in 1894 in the United States. The most infamous version was nearly adopted in Pennsylvania in 1896 where a bill all drivers of horseless would require carriages when approaching a horse with rider and/or cattle to stop the car immediately and so on to disassemble as soon as possible (!) to then remove the parts from view as quickly as possible, for example by placing them behind bushes and bushes until the rider and/or the cattle are reassured. It bill, however, did not become law because the Governor used his veto.
These laws were created by people who felt threatened by the emergence of these new self-propelled vehicles. When the train arrived, people were already afraid that the cows would not give milk or sour milk if the trains with a gigantic speed of more than 35 km per hour.
The rise of the car could cause difficulties for the now established train industry. It was feared that the train would become redundant. This required lobbying and convincing the government of the importance of the railways for the public. Their interests had to be made clear(er). Today this still happens. Many industries are still afraid of the many applications of the Internet and the rise of Artificial Intelligence.
From Revolution to the End of the Automobile Age
The automobile became the driving force behind America's changes in the 20th century. During the 1920s, industry became the backbone of the new materialistic society. By the mid-1920s it was No. 1 in product value, by 1982 it was providing 1 of 6 jobs in the USA. In the 1920s it became vital to the oil industry and one of the largest customers of the steel industry and the largest buyer of many other products. The technologies of these industries have been revolutionized by high demand. The automobile stimulated participation in outdoor recreation and fueled the growth of tourism and related industries such as service stations, roadside restaurants and motels. Street and highway construction, one of the government's largest expenditures, peaked when the Interstate Highway Act was passed in 1956.
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The automobile opened up the countryside and brought urban amenities such as better medical care and schools. Traditional family farms had to switch to tractors or fall hopelessly behind the competition. The modern city with surrounding industries and suburbs is a product of the car and the truck. The car changed the architecture of homes and the compositions of neighborhoods and liberated women from their homes. No other thing has ever revolutionized the way people work, live and play.
In 1980, 87.2% of American families owned 1 or more cars. 95% of car sales were for replacement. Today, car ownership no longer causes major changes. Today, electronics are bringing about change. The Automobile Age is over.....
