MTFCA Forum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbowovVdYyE

Thank you to Jarrod Williams for this video. I have not seen it before.

Wow! A very interesting, eye opening video. Very fast, repetitious and dangerous work. With such fast moving machinery, I can see where frequent, life changing accidents would have been a problem. No health insurance or Worker’s Comp back then. Did you see how fast and close the guy’s hand came to that saw blade? If he lost his concentration or got distracted for a moment, there goes a finger. I’ll bet they had to ban pretty women from the floor. They sure did earn their $5.00/day. Jim Patrick

When you watch the video, click on the settings cog and set the playback speed at .75.

Silent films where typically shot at 16 to 18 frames per second but unfortunately, when they are transferred to video, they are done so at 24 frames per second which is the standard for sound films.

If you set the playback speed to .75, you will see more realstic action but it still seems a little fast. It was probably originally filmed anywhere from 12 to 16 frames per second.

If I remember correctly, 8mm cameras and projectors ran at 16 fps, and I believe that was a common speed in the silent era for 35mm professional film. When talkies came in a sound strip was added along the edge of the 35mm film, and the speed was raised to 24 fps for better sound quality. Long before there was video recording, we usually saw silent movies shown on sound equipment that made the action much faster than what the original audiences in the silent era saw.


My first movie camera had a wind-up motor. I'm pretty sure it ran at 16 fps.

Interesting to see at 6:06, the hub bolts are cut off to length with some heavy shears before peening in the next frames, i thought Ford would use bolts of the proper length.

I really enjoyed the painting process. I'll bet a lot of workers had the nickname "NUBBY". bobt

The manufacturing process of shearing of bolts to length probably utilized a “common” fastener used in several applications. The process itself was no doubt far cheaper that the cumulative costs added by purchasing, receiving, storage, and timely distribution of a specific length fastener. Fascinating video and an OSHA nightmare.

Movie cameras back then were not electric or automatic, but manually cranked and they had it within their power to go as fast or slow as they wanted. The speed of the film depended upon the experience of the cameraman and how fast he turned the crank. Some cameramen cranked too fast and some were pretty good at cranking at a more lifelike speed so that when shown it didn’t go in fast motion. Ford would have employed only the best cameramen. Since their films were educational or promotional films they certainly didn’t want them to look like the silent comedies of the era that intentionally went fast for comedic purposes. Also, going too fast would have made the various processes almost impossible to see. Jim Patrick

bobt wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 06, 2023 6:46 am

I really enjoyed the painting process. I'll bet a lot of workers had the nickname "NUBBY". bobt

LOL..I agree! Also with Leo above, you woulda thought the correct length bolt woulda been used.

I'm always amazed at the invention and engineering in making the machines that "invented" the wheel! Can you imagine
how noisy this place had to be? And a lot of those machines, well, lets face it obviously good thing there was no OSHA back then, or should I say, it's too bad it WASN'T!

I’m a little too careful and meticulous to have lasted long in that place. I would have been in perpetual conflict with Ford’s roaming goons who would have been been constantly on my case for going too slow. Everyone would have had to work their stations at the same constant speed to prevent a slow down or stoppage in the line. The workers would not have been able to take breaks because the machines never stopped. It would have been a hot, noisy, dangerous, hellish place to work, but there would have been crowds of workers standing in line to take the place of workers who could not cut it. Jim Patrick

Not to derail the thread but I spent 11 years working in Kingsford in the old Ford toolroom. At that time there were plenty of old-timers who would tell horror stories of Fords goons. Broken arms hauling men out of the bathroom who were in more than a minute or two. House raids if you were suspected of shopping ANYWHERE except the Ford Store or had suspected alcohol in the house. Both resulting in instant firing and loss of any earned pay. Ford apparently had a small army of spy’s everywhere you turned……

Let's see----15 million Model T's x 48 spokes per car = 720 million spokes. That's a lotta spokes! bobt

BUSHMIKE wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 06, 2023 10:46 am

Not to derail the thread but I spent 11 years working in Kingsford in the old Ford toolroom. At that time there were plenty of old-timers who would tell horror stories of Fords goons. Broken arms hauling men out of the bathroom who were in more than a minute or two. House raids if you were suspected of shopping ANYWHERE except the Ford Store or had suspected alcohol in the house. Both resulting in instant firing and loss of any earned pay. Ford apparently had a small army of spy’s everywhere you turned……

Yeh I sure's heck couldn't stand that repetitive routine. And a lot of those positions were just downright dangerous. I too have read of those "goons" doing house raids after work hours to make sure Henry's workers abided by the "living code". God help you if you smoked too. There was a long list of requirements to be "priveleged" to work in a Ford factory as well as live in a "Ford town". Must've been awful.

How much can be believed? as they say, "never let the truth get in the way of a good story" A bit like the feuding between Ford and Dodge brothers so-called starting in 1914, yes a lot of legal back and forth, so let the lawyers sort it out, The Dodge Bro's still went to Edsel's wedding in Dec 1916.

Even at 0.75 playback speed, the work still looks repetitious and fast, I wonder how long their shifts were between breaks?

I have never heard the term "NUBBY'. Would that be someone that lost parts of their fingers?

Thanks for posting it over here! I was too excited when I found it and only posted it on the Facebook page

DHort wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 05, 2023 9:59 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbowovVdYyE

Thank you to Jarrod Williams for this video. I have not seen it before.

Ford could not tolerate drunk or hung-over workers, or butt-hurt slackers, or the persistently inept, except by pricing his product a good bit higher. An impaired worker would have been a hazard to himself and others, as well as to the company. The Ford plants were among the cleanest and safest industrial workplaces in early 20th Century, if not the safest. A great many rural people moved to Detroit and other manufacturing centers to get steady employment and avoid a life of drudgery on family farms or as hired farm hands and to get on a path to prosperity rather than mere survival. Farm life in those days was HARD work, and hazards were many. The advent of combustion power made life a good deal easier for farm people who could afford it, but it drastically reduced the manpower needed to run even a small operation. That drove a lot of young people off the farms. As a farm boy with too many brothers on a small family farm, you'd have little choice but to move to town and seek employment or join the army. Faced with a choice between the packing houses of Chicago or the steel mills of Pittsburgh or the coal mines of Appalachia or Ford factories in Detroit, I'd take Ford and Detroit any day. Ford offered good pay, medical care, education, and indoor work on a regular schedule. Prior to 1913, a sober workman who avoided debt owned his pay 100%. Banks paid interest on cash deposits. Opportunity and ownership were the real "Golden Door".