Life Beyond the Automobile
Cars were always central to Henry Ford's life: He built them, he raced them, he sold them. But there was so much more to the man than his automobiles. He was a man of many interests and had a highly developed sense of curiosity; he never stopped exploring new fields and learning about new subjects.
In many ways, for many years, Ford Motor Company was inseparable from the man who founded it, and Henry Ford's constant exploration of new areas and opportunities led the company into a variety of pursuits beyond just automobiles:
Ford always maintained strong ties to his rural upbringing and frequently looked for ways to support the work of farmers. In 1917, he and his son, Edsel, founded the Fordson ("Ford" and his "son") division to manufacture tractors that, like the Model T, would be lightweight and inexpensive.
Ford Motor Company's Motion Picture Department was established in 1914 with a staff of 24 that traveled worldwide producing promotional and educational short films. In the 1920s, the company was the world's largest producer of motion pictures—more than Hollywood or the New York studios! In that same period, half of all rural Americans saw a Ford film as their first motion picture ever.
Ford's fondness for small-town American life and culture is most comprehensively recorded in the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village (now part of what is called "The Henry Ford"), which together form the largest museum in the country. In 1929, Ford founded The Edison Institute, a combination school and museum to allow for education through the studying of artifacts and cultural history, not just books. As he collected pieces of Americana, historic buildings, and more, this project of Ford's evolved into the sprawling cultural complex that it is today. Company and tax records show that over his lifetime, Ford poured more than $10 million of his own money into it.
There was very little that Henry Ford didn't either dabble in or undertake seriously. He co-authored several books; he loved to dance and sparked a revival in old-fashioned American dancing and country fiddling; he participated actively in a variety of philanthropic ventures. What bound those interests together were curiosity and the will to learn