Henry Ford and Charcoal

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2012: Henry Ford and Charcoal
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bud Holzschuh - Panama City, FL on Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 10:34 am:

Just finished watching a fascinating show on the History channel (Modern Marvels - Wood). Many of you I'm sure knew this but it was new to me.

When ford started making cars there was lots of scrap wood left over from making bodies and wheels. Henry decided to make charcoal out of those scraps and it was sold as "Ford's briquettes" It is said that sometimes Ford would even include a bag with a new car.

When he sold the charcoal business the new owners renamed the product "Kingsford" under which name it can still be bought today.

Just too cool!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Luke Dahlinger on Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 10:57 am:

Kingsford was a relative of Henry Ford who oversaw quite a bit of the logging/lumber operations in the UP of Michigan on Ford owned land.

I'm posting this from my Android Phone, but when I get back to my computer later I'll post more info if someone else hasn't by then.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dick Lodge - St Louis MO on Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 11:09 am:

Some years ago, Kingsford charcoal pictured a Model T on the bag. I think it's not there any more.

http://www.kingsford.com/our-heritage/


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Eric Dysart - SoCal on Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 11:20 am:

This is one of the things that I cover when I'm doing the parking lot "classes" if I drive my T to the grocery store. If anyone asks about the wood wheels, I'll typically follow up with how Henry was such a cheap SOB, that he couldn't stand throwing away wood chips (manufacturing waste) that he had paid for as raw material. By turning that waste into a sellable product, he was pioneering "pre-consumer recycling" about 60 years before the term was invented.

I find that this type of info is easier for the general populace to relate to, and it gives them a factoid for future BBQs.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gary H. White - Sheridan, MI on Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 12:31 pm:

Henry wanted to set up his lumber processing operation in Iron Mountain, Michigan but couldn't get the city fathers to agree to his terms. So he bought a tract of land adjacent to the city and set up his own town, Kingsford, Michigan. Scraps from the lumber processing were indeed made into charcoal. Later various military contractors used the Ford buildings and the huge drying ovens were still there when I visited. The ovens were mostly used for storage.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Markham on Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 12:57 pm:

I watched this same show a couple months ago, when I tell people about it they think I'm nuts glad to hear someone else seen this show


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ed Baudoux on Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 01:51 pm:

We have a bakery here in Grayling Michigan that was built as a Ford dealership. I heard that Henry set the guy up as a dealer, in exchange for land in the UP, near Kingsford?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Aaron Griffey, Hayward Ca. on Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 02:01 pm:

Some Kingsford charcoal bags have the whole story printed on the back side.
Ford also made habachis (sp?) to burn the stuff in. I have seen two of them.
They had the FORD script on them. Habotchi?Habachi? None look right. You know what I mean.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Herb Iffrig on Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 02:04 pm:

Hibachi I think is right

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibachi

Herb


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rob Heyen - Nebraska on Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 02:07 pm:

The Kingsford high school mascot, The Flivvers.

http://www.infomi.com/city/kingsford/


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Noel D. Chicoine, MD, Pierre, SD on Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 02:11 pm:

I believe I read someplace that the relative's surname was "King", hense the name Kingsford. I may be mistaken.
NOel


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Orlando Ortega Jr. on Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 03:28 pm:

This is the information I use on occasion.

Orlando


The Model T Ford and Kingsford Charcoal

In the 1920s, Henry Ford learned of a process for turning wood scraps from the production of Model T's into charcoal briquets. He built a charcoal plant, and the rest is history.
The Kingsford Company was formed when E.G. Kingsford, a relative of Ford's, brokered the site selection for Ford's new charcoal manufacturing plant. The company, originally called Ford Charcoal, was renamed Kingsford® Charcoal in his honor.

Today, the Kingsford Products Company remains the leading manufacturer of charcoal in the U.S. More than 1 million tons of wood scraps are converted into quality charcoal briquets every year.

Information retrieved on October 22, 2011 at 1:21 pm
http://www.kingsford.com/our-heritage/
Kingsford Charcoal


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dick Lodge - St Louis MO on Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 04:09 pm:

Orlando, looks suspiciously like the link I posted early on in this thread.... :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Bishop, San Diego on Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 04:20 pm:

These are pictures I saved from a post someone else did a while back on the subject:


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Orlando Ortega Jr. on Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 04:36 pm:

Dick,

It's exactly the same link. Anytime I use someone's information and print it for a display, I always include a citation, including date and time of when I retrieved it.

Just want to give credit to the authors.

Orlando


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim on Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 10:14 pm:

Me thinks Sam Walton was related to Henry Ford :-)


Jim


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gary Gilmore on Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 10:54 pm:

There is a little more to it than using scrap wood to make charcoal. The scrap wood was baked and the smoke was cooled and distilled. This produced chemicals such as methonal, wood acitate, acedic acid, acetate of lime and tars. This was known as the chemical wood industry and lasted until these chemicals could be derived from oil (WWII) Here is an excerp from History of Kingsford.
"Henry Ford's world-class facility in Kingsford was the jewel of his empire during that era. The production of the "Woody" station wagon bodies and the conversion to glider production during World War II highlighted Ford's accomplishments in Kingsford. To make use of the waste wood generated by the sawmill, a chemical plant was constructed and in operation by 1924. The chemical plant reclaimed, from every ton of scrap wood, a variety of saleable byproducts. The 610 pounds of charcoal reclaimed per ton was manufactured into briquettes and sold, known as Ford Charcoal Briquettes."


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Terry Woods, Katy, Texas on Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 11:57 pm:

What's the part number for that Ford charcoal. I want to go see my friend in the local Ford dealer's parts department and ask him to order me some. LOL


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By ROBERT BERGSTADT on Monday, July 16, 2012 - 08:39 am:

I have one of these grills for sale if interested, Bob


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gary H. White - Sheridan, MI on Monday, July 16, 2012 - 05:11 pm:

Now for the down side of manufacturing in the first half of the 20th century. I was looking for a picture of the Ford plant at Kingsford and found this site. It illustrates what was done to the environment when there were no controls.
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/deq-rrd-BULLETIN-KingsfordBulletin-06-2004 _250198_7.pdf


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ted Dumas on Monday, July 16, 2012 - 05:27 pm:

What a mess! Picher, Oklahoma is worse. It's good to see Michigan holding Ford and Kingsford responsible and the companies seem to be working to mitigate the situation.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bud Holzschuh - Panama City, FL on Monday, July 16, 2012 - 06:19 pm:

BTW I had a chance to look at a bag of Kingston charcoal today in Walmart.

That bag did have a short description of how the company was founded and does mention using Model T wood scraps.

Cheers
schuh


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By ROBERT BERGSTADT on Tuesday, July 17, 2012 - 08:39 am:

Here are a few pictures, box is a little rough but still its there, grill is in great shape a bit of surface rust but should clean up fine, no pitting that I see,thank you for all the e mails still has original instructions, Bob


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Eugene Adams on Tuesday, July 17, 2012 - 10:18 pm:

But Obama says Henry Ford didn't succeed on his own.
duh

Well…. I am convinced that Henry Ford DID make it on his own. I am convinced that Obama needs to find out what a job is because he doesn’t know what he is talking about.
Gene


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Thomas Mullin on Tuesday, July 17, 2012 - 11:38 pm:

Gene,

Not to get in too deep in political waters, but Ford succeeded because he had some very talented and skilled people helping him at the beginning. Without James Couzens, Joe Galamb, Peter Martin, Walter Flanders, Robert Hupp, John and Horace Dodge and many others. Of course, the customer was crucial to his success as well.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Garrison on Wednesday, July 18, 2012 - 12:07 am:

That whole methane gas thing could probably be taken care of with a box of matches. I can't believe how upset the pollution control people can get over a couple pieces of burnt wood. Did you know these same people gave us heck for dumping waste oil in the rivers. So now we wait till after dark and dump it in one of Minnesota's 10000 lakes. With 4 qts to a lake we can get rid of 40,000 quarts of oil and nobody knows the difference. It worked the same way when we got rid of the DDT into the Mississippi River. We got rid of our oil that way too and BP got blamed. Bwahahahahaha


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Garrison on Wednesday, July 18, 2012 - 12:09 am:

Ok, I know it's not funny but it does highlight some of the stupid things we've done to our environment all in the name of industrial growth.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dick Lodge - St Louis MO on Wednesday, July 18, 2012 - 09:40 am:

Thomas, yes, but he didn't get those talented and skilled people by submitting a requisition to the government for them. He found them himself and hired them.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Vince M on Wednesday, July 18, 2012 - 10:02 am:

...AND he paid them for their services....AND he and his company more than paid the government in taxes for the roads and bridges he used.

Vince M


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By kep NZ on Friday, August 03, 2012 - 08:35 pm:

"Hello? I would like to return this box of charcoal briquets. The box clearly says that they make a cheerful fire but mine are not working correctly. The fire burns but is not cheerful especially when i touch it!"
"Maybe you are using them wrong. Have you considered not touching the fire?"


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jay - In Northern California on Friday, August 03, 2012 - 11:33 pm:

Here's the link to the Picnic Kit I posted in 2010 under the ACCESSORY OF THE DAY threads.

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/118802/122937.html


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Frank Harris from Long Beach & Big Bear on Saturday, August 04, 2012 - 02:16 am:

Thank you for that very complete story. This is a good site and I learn a lot and get to pass it on. Thank you one and all. You guys make me look good and sometimes when I get to teach from what I have learned from you I feel good and other's learn. They think I am smart, but we know better it is all of us as a team. Sometimes I put in good information so other's may learn . . . . once in a while that is. Frank


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Wayne Sheldon, Grass Valley, CA on Saturday, August 04, 2012 - 02:46 pm:

Henry was the right man at the right time. Other than that, the only way I could ever agree that Henry "did not do it on his own" has to do with his good friend Thomas Alva Edison. Henry became an entrepreneur a bit late in life. He worked for Edison, who was so impressed with Ford that he came to know him as a friend, not just an employee. It was Edison who encouraged Ford to build his own company.

The business world today needs to pay attention to Henry and how he became the third wealthiest free world man in history. He knew that to really, truly, succeed, he needed good customers that could afford his products. That was one of the reasons he paid his employees well. Today, companies outsource their work to cheap markets overseas. Millions of former employees in this country can no longer afford to be good customers. And the foreign markets will only support U S companies for so long before foreign companies try to take over there.

No man is perfect. Henry's failing was in his familial integrity. As a businessman, there may have never been anyone better.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gary H. White - Sheridan, MI on Saturday, August 04, 2012 - 07:18 pm:

The reason Henry paid his employees well was to curb high turn over of employees. His aggressive use of the assembly line with each employee doing a simple repetative function, six days a week, was more than many were willing to put up with for the going wage of the time.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Semprez-Templeton, CA on Saturday, August 04, 2012 - 07:53 pm:

My adult daughter is an exec. with the Clorox Co. the owners of the Kingsford product name.

When I shared the history with her she was amused, saying she was somewhat aware of the Ford connection. I asked her if she would like to take a photo of herself in my T with a bag or two of Kingsford charcoal in my old Ford She was only mildly interested.

Funny how history and business aren't always in sync.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gavin Harris (Napier, NZ) on Saturday, August 04, 2012 - 09:46 pm:

Another article on Ford in Kingsford worth reading.
http://www.campingwithhenryford.com/mafcaKingsfordArticle.pdf


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