MTFCA Forum

I love to see photos of repair shops back in the day. Invariably, shop furnishings and most fixtures were arrangements of wood blocks and timbers. The feller with the hogshead looks like he's cradling a newborn. The car is interesting, the headlights would seem to tell us it's a '16, but it's probably older. Note the mud on the wheels.

Didn't Ford sell electric lights as an accessory in the mid 'teens?

Why would Ford need to sell accessory lights when they were already standard? Prior to the 1915 model year, Ford dealers offered conversions for acetylene headlights. If you follow Rootliebs posts as I do, many of the photos show those conversions.

Those shop photos are wonderful. The light from the windows and the belt driven grinder caught my eye. It is staged for some reason. Holding the hogshead doesn't seem timely for what is going on and the fellows watching don't seem particularly necessary. If he is installing or removing a piston, there isn't very good access to the other end. Perhaps a newspaper story to bring in customers.
The sawblade behind the barrel is not a Ford item. I suppose they take whatever work they can get.
I enjoy trying to capture those shop scenes on canvas and try to find believable colors to match the charm of them. We have been so fortunate to see many of them, each delightful in their own way.
The old machine shops we were privileged to see in the '60s probably helps us enjoy these even more. The smells of oil, hot metal and the dark corners which light can't penetrate comes through in these photos.
Thanks for posting this one.
Rich

Rich,

and the fellows watching don't seem particularly necessary.

Those are called "foremen".

Gives the new guy something to do holding hogshead. He is wondering what the heck it is.

Ford did sell accessory electric lights.
The 1916 Ford illustrated accesories catalog shows elecric headlights and parts, along with various gas and kerosene lights, windshields, and tops, along with parts, part numbers, and prices.

It's a cool pic! The fenders don't look to be crowned so must be pre-'17.

The guy in the clean bibbs may be the car owner or shop owner, be it staged or not.

Regardless it's just plain cool, as are all old pics! Thanks Rich!

"Odie, you scratch that crankpin and I'm gonna draw a picture of it on your paycheck!"

Looks like the guy in the background is the one that knows how to work in the shop. He has a "What the heck are these guys doing here" look.

The guy holding the hog head is probably thinking "if I drop this it will cost more than my paycheck".
I like those photos to. hard to recreate that smell and feel in a modern shop.
that wooden engine stand, i bet that was hard to work with as you had to handle the engine by hand to turn it over.

The hogshead looks like an aluminium item, so that too ties in with a 1915 model.

Allan from down under.

Simply a matter of "everyone look like you're doing something!" The guy in the back is overawed by the camera, thus the "deer in the headlights" look.

Not quite enough definition in the details of the photo. I think the casting date on the block might be late 1914? That makes me wonder if the car might be a transitional late 1914 with the headlamps changed to electric ones. If so, the car might have the transitional front fenders with 1915 details and front bill along with the four rivet fender bracket?
Great photo!

When did double stacked field coil windings end?