THIRTY YEARS OF PROGRESS

The original catalog description provided by the Ford Motor Company reads as follows: “Henry Ford is one of the greatest idealists in the world today, a man whose visions have come true. Yet many can recall the time when the first Ford car was built in this little brick building.” View of small brick building - first Ford [Quadricycle] - close-up of motor in operation. “The Ford Motor Co. first began manufacturing cars in 1903 in this building located on Mack Avenue, Detroit.” Large building with ‘Ford Motor Co.’ written across front - old car. “The Rouge plant of Dearborn has an area of 1096 acres, 14 miles of roadway, 92 miles of railroad track, and 1-1/3 miles of dock.” Aerial view of plant. “People come from all over the world to visit the Rouge plant.” Group entering plant. “The steel rolling mill, blooming mill, and open hearth furnace buildings.” View of buildings. “There are ten of these open hearth furnaces in this building. The molten steel is poured into hundred-ton ladles and made into ingots.” View of ladle on crane, worker operating crane - ladle being filled with molten steel - ingot being poured. “The blooming mill. Here the ingots are reheated in a soaking pit after which they are lifted out and carried through the blooming mill and transformed into blooms.” Ingot lifted from pit, dropped on rollers, rolled into bar. “In the rolling mill the steel is rolled into bars.” Interior of plant - bar being rolled. “The pressed steel plant.” Large machines pressing out parts. “The spring and upset building. Here is the greatest installation of electric furnaces in the world.” View of workers and electric furnaces. “The glass plant. More than ten million square feet of plate and safety glass are made every year.” Exterior view of plant - large smokestacks - interior showing long conveyors. “The blast furnaces. A thousand tons of iron are produced daily in the blast furnaces.” View of furnaces. “Some of the molten metal after it is weighed is made into pig iron.” “This is the foundry with a capacity of 1,925 tons, or 292,271 pieces of iron castings daily.” Exterior of plant - crane - ladle pouring molten steel. “Here is the main powerhouse, which furnishes 150,000 horse power.” Exterior of plant - smokestacks - group touring power plant, large generators. “Here are the coke ovens where more than 3,750 tons are produced daily.” “The motor assembly in the motor building.” Assembly of block, crankshaft, pistons. “Testing and running in the motors.” Large assembly line of blocks and motors. “The final assembly line. The frame is put on a conveyor timed to give each man an opportunity to complete his job.” Chassis being assembled. “The bodies are lowered from a conveyor above.” “When the car is finished it is driven off the assembly line for a final test.” Cars being driven out of plant. [1932]