Tag Archives: Thomas Edison

Freakin’, Tiquen 2023 – Destination Detroit: Part One – The Henry Ford Museum

Vintage postcard of Detroit Michigan.

Vintage postcard of Detroit, Michigan. Image from amazon.com.

This year found us driving for deco to our chosen destination – Detroit. Why Detroit? Why not!  We never explored this area and there are several sights we wanted to see. As well as go antiquing!

We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Novi, Michigan. And by sheer luck, it was centrally located, being about 30 – 40 minutes from the points of interest we visited. We can recommend it if you are out that way.

 

We settled in and had a good night’s sleep. Our first day took us to The Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village.

The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation

The exterior of the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation.

The exterior of the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. Photo by the authors.

The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, has long been on my list of must see places. I don’t know how high this was on Chris’ list, but somehow I convinced him to go along and trust me on this one.

There are several tours available once you get there: the Museum of Innovation, the Ford Rouge Factory, and Greenfield Village. To do justice to the entire complex would take at least two full days.

The Henry Ford Museum

The Henry Ford Museum complex

With limited time, we chose the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. Henry Ford founded the museum based on his efforts to preserve items of the Industrial Revolution as well as common memorabilia that captured life of early America. This huge collection (one of the largest of its kind in the USA), is housed in an equally large building. Architect Robert O. Derrick, designed the 523,000 square foot museum as a facsimile of three Philadelphia buildings, Independence Hall, Old City Hall and Congress Hall.

Construction of the Henry Ford Museum in the summer of 1929.

Construction of the Henry Ford Museum in the summer of 1929. Image from the Collection of the Henry Ford Museum.

Originally named The Edison Institute, Ford chose to open the museum to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Thomas Edison’s invention of the incandescent light bulb. A number of dignitaries attended the opening ceremony on October 21, 1929 (Light’s Golden Jubilee), that included President Herbert Hoover, Thomas Edison, George Eastman, John D. Rockefeller, Orville Wright and Will Rogers.

The Henry Ford Museum three days before the opening ceremony.

October 18, 1929, three days before the opening of The Edison Institute (Henry Ford Museum). Image from the Henry Ford Museum.

Unfortunately no photographs were taken at the Light’s Golden Jubilee banquet, so Ford commissioned staff artist Irving Bacon to create a panoramic painting of it. Starting in 1935, it took Bacon 10 years to complete the painting.

Light's Golden Jubilee Banquet painting by Irving Bacon.

Irving Bacon’s panoramic painting of Light’s Golden Jubilee banquet. Image from the Henry Ford Museum.

Originally, the Edison Institute was a private collection open only to researchers, but after numerous inquiries it opened to the public on June 22, 1933.

Upon entering, the main gallery of the museum, you get a sense of the building’s size and scale before entering the exhibit hall.

The Henry Ford Museum

The main lobby – there are several entrances to the exhibits

Depending on where you go in will determine your initial experience. We entered near the transport displays.

Trains

Walking in, this behemoth greeted us. And the sheer scale was overwhelming.

The Henry Ford Museum - Trains

The 1941 Allegany Locomotive

And the next was more intriguing.  We never knew stage coaches were used as passenger cars on the railroads!

The Henry Ford Museum - trains

The 1831 DeWitt Clinton – Reproduction built from fragments and exact plan specifications

And the engineer’s glamorous life.

The Henry Ford Museum - trains

The life of an engineer

Refrigerated cars enabled transportation of all kinds of perishables goods throughout the United States and Canada.

And soon, passengers rode in relative luxury.

But don’t worry! If you get stuck in a snow drift, help is on its way,

Automobiles and More

This section of the museum exhibits cars from the very early – and dangerous – days to more current examples. Also included are auto accessories for the family on the go!

I say this falls into the dangerous category.

And on the other end of the spectrum; just as dangerous. But it sure looks pretty!

The Henry Ford Museum - cars

The Goldenrod which held the wheel-driven land speed record from 1965 to 1991

FYI: the following are not presented in the order of production. But rather in the order seen. Also, we cannot possibly show you every exhibit. So, here are some of our favorites.

Almost everyone remembers the ubiquitous school bus. Unless you walked through 3 feet of snow, up-hill going and coming!

The Henry Ford Museum - cars

An early school bus

One of Anthony’s favorites.

The Henry Ford Museum - cars

1927 LaSalle Roadster

Front end detail of the 1927 LaSalle roadster.

Front end detail of the LaSalle roadster. Photo by the authors

The Henry Ford Museum - cars

1914 Electric Model 47

Look at this cutie.

The Henry Ford Museum - cars

A car or a Muppet?

The hottest new trend of 1936? Streamlining!

The Henry Ford Museum - cars

1936 Lincoln Zephyr Sedan

I promise, this section is almost done!

The Henry Ford Museum - cars

1937 Cord 812 Convertible

The Henry Ford Museum - cars

1931 Bugatti Type 41 Royale

The Henry Ford Museum - cars

1931 Duesenberg J – luxury in steel

The Henry Ford Museum - cars

Tucker – what could have been…

The Tucker was unique in that the center light turned with the front wheels. Therefore, making visibility better.  And common today, tail lights were visible from the side for safety. Reconfigured doors made entry and exit easier. Also, grills on the rear fenders facilitated airflow in to cool the rear-mounted engine.

Tucker rear fender detail.

Rear fender detail of the 1948 Tucker, showing the vent grill.

Unfortunately, poor financial planning and pre-selling car features that didn’t exist as yet doomed the Tucker Corporation company.

And finally, an icon of American culture.

The Henry Ford Museum - cars

The Wienermobile

On the Go!

The Henry Ford Museum - on the go

Freedom, nature, and family togetherness

With new, comfortable cars came new roads. And these roads allowed travelers the freedom to explore the country. If you could afford it, bringing your own home with you was the way to go.

The Henry Ford Museum - cars

The Airstream – American home on wheels

The Henry Ford Museum - on the go

The 1959 VW Westfalia camper

Newly mobile but not into camping? Because of this, there came a demand for somewhere to stay. And so, enter simple, and affordable, over-night lodging.

The Henry Ford Museum - on the go

Roadside lodging

The Henry Ford Museum - on the go

Simple accommodations – perfect for the night

The Henry Ford Museum - on the go

Necessity – the mother of invention

With sightseeing on the rise, better accommodations came into demand.

The Henry Ford Museum - lodgings

Welcome to your home away from home

Of course all this freedom creates a need for gas, repairs, and “comfort” breaks. Therefore, service stations became a necessity.

The Henry Ford Museum - roadside convenience

A typical station

A by-product of this new mobility was a rise in traffic deaths; 35,000 by the 50s, Safety came to the forefront.  And various, if not dubious, methods were proposed.

The Henry Ford Museum - car safety

The Cornell-Liberty Safety car was…unique

And let us not forget child safety! No more sitting on Mom’s lap while Dad drove!

The Henry Ford Museum - car safety

Evolution of the car seat

Now we have a nice over-night room, and a safe, well gassed and tuned car.  Its time to take care of our other physical need. Food!

Our one disappointment at the Henry Ford Museum was not being able to eat at Lamy’s.  Lamy’s is a fully functioning period diner.  Unfortunately, it was closed the day we went.

The Henry Ford Museum - food

Lamy’s – a period experience

Don’t despair, we had a delicious lunch in the Plum Market Kitchen.

The Henry Ford Museum - food

Pork cassoulet, green beans, mac & cheese

Bellies full, we headed over to the next exhibit. And briefly, some of the presidential cars.

Henry Ford Museum - Presidential Cars

F.D.R.’s custom Sunshine Special

Henry Ford Museum - Presidential Cars

John Kennedy’s 1961 Lincoln

Henry Ford Museum - Presidential Cars

Nixon was the last president to use the car

Innovations

It wasn’t just cars that evolved. Homes did as well!

And a really interesting exhibit celebrating Julia Child.

The Henry Ford Museum - Innovations

An interactive exhibit allows for you to host your own cooking show

The Dymaxion House

Touted as the affordable house of the future. It used the most cutting edge material of the time.

The Dymaxion House

Cozy by today’s standards

It didn’t catch on, and very few were manufactured. However, one family lived in one for twenty years. But, they found it to be space limited. Also, the natural air circulation under performed. Their solution was to built a brick house directly to it. The result looked like a traditional house giving birth to an alien.

The Dymaxion House

The Dymaxion House of the future

The Dymaxion House

View of the living areas. Can you spot the Chase and Kensington items?

And another view.

The Dymaxion House

A space for everyone in the family

More work and living spaces.

The Dymaxion House

The modern kitchen

We stopped next at the American gallery. And for those who like Art Deco…

Henry Ford Museum - Deco Display

Look what I found. A Viktor Schreckengost Jazz Bowl.

Also on display are examples of classic furniture. Some are still being produced today!

Planes

And finally, the aviation area.  It is hard to believe that flight as we know it – including space travel – started like this.

Henry Ford Museum - aviation

It started with the Wright Brothers

You can even take a short (simulated) flight right in the museum!

In case you are wondering, yes those are essentially wicker chairs barely bolted to the floor in the Ford Trimotor Airplane.

Henry Ford Museum - aviation

Nothing like a sturdy place to sit during your flight

Anthony found the Douglas DC-3 accommodations more to his liking.

Henry Ford Museum - aviation

A bit more contemporary and comfortable.

Henry Ford Museum - aviation

Douglas DC-3

It was a favored plane for travel.  Fast for the time, it had good flying range, and reliability. Also, it was comfortable for passengers. But its popularity waned after the war. It couldn’t compete with the new larger, and faster planes being built.

Charles Lindbergh became a hero for the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Here is a replica of his airship, the Spirit of St. Louis.  It is a highly modified version of a Ryan M-2 strut-braced monoplane. The original is in the collection at the Smithsonian Museum.

If your heading out to explore Antarctica, go in style!

Explorer Richard Byrd with pilot Floyd Bennett are generally credited with reaching the pole, However, controversy remains. And this display highlights certain incongruities in the flight records.

What is it? It is a 1931 Pitcairn-Cierva Autogiro. Unlike the helicopter, it could not take off vertically. Though, It had the ability to land vertically. The Detroit News purchased and used this example as an eye-in-the-sky to gather news.

Henry Ford Museum - aviation

The Detroit News Autogiro

It may be hard to believe, but this only is a small sampling of the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. If you are out near Detroit, it is well worth you time.

We hope you enjoyed going along with us on our outing. Look out for Part 2: Tabernacle, Tables and Trays. (Oh, my!)

Henry Ford Museum - aviation

That’s all, folks!

Chris and Anthony                                                                                                                                    The Freakin’ ‘tiquen Guys

The Hotel Edison – Art Deco refuge in Times Square

Plaque outside the 47th Street entrance.

Bronze Plaque outside the 47th Street entrance. The image of Edison is a replica of the one used on a medallion created by Julio Kilenyi.

So much of Times Square’s history has either been torn down or is buried under a generic world of themed restaurants and stores that it is a pleasant relief that Hotel Edison remains. It’s lobby, is a place to sit and catch your breath in a wonderful Art Deco setting. In the early 1990’s the lobby was given an Art Deco face lift, while not a restoration of it’s 1931 appearance there are enough surviving original details that can make you feel that you have stepped back into the 1930’s. The six murals that line the lobby are sensitive 1990’s creations that evoke the of WPA murals of the late 1930’s.

The Hotel Edison, designed by Herbert J. Krapp, formally opened on January 17, 1931. Thomas Edison, turned on the lights in the 26 story hotel, by pressing a telegraph key in his home in Llewellyn Park, Orange, New Jersey. One of the features of the Edison, that was mentioned in all the advertisements, was that each of the 1,000 rooms featured a radio, a novelty at the time. Over the years, the Edison was used in at least two period films, the south entrance way can be seen in The Godfather and Bullets Over Broadway.  Below are some photos of the interior Art Deco details of the lobby.

 

Up until the late 1980’s the Edison was a prominent building in the Times Square skyline, now it is completely hidden by all the tall buildings that have been constructed along Broadway. Here are some photos of the exterior details of the hotel.

So the next time you visit Manhattan, and you find yourself in the Times Square area, and you want some relief from the present day, step in the Edison and back into the 1930’s.

 Chris & Anthony