Henry Ford, 1863-1947: Life After the Model T

15 January 2012

Henry Ford with a Model T in Buffalo, New York, in 1921. About one million Model Ts were produced that year. The car was introduced on October 1, 1908.

PEOPLE IN AMERICA, a program in Special English on the Voice of America.

Every week at this time, we tell the story of a person important in the history of the United States. Today, Steve Ember and Frank Oliver complete the story of industrialist Henry Ford.

(MUSIC)

STEVE EMBER: In nineteen three, a doctor in Detroit, Michigan, bought the first car from the Ford Motor Company. That sale was the beginning of Henry Ford's dream. He wanted to build good, low-priced cars for the general public. As he said many times: "I want to make a car that anybody can buy."

To keep prices low, Henry Ford decided that he would build just one kind of car. He called it the Model T.

FRANK OLIVER: The Model T was ready for sale in October nineteen eight.

The Model T cost eight hundred fifty dollars. It was a simple machine that drivers could depend on. Doctors bought the Model T. So did farmers. Even criminals. They considered it the fastest and surest form of transportation.

Americans loved the Model T. They wrote stories and songs about it. Thousands of Model Ts were built in the first few years. The public wanted the car. And Henry Ford made more and more.