The Ford Century in Minnesota

The Ford Century in Minnesota
Author: Brian McMahon
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780816637195

In 1903, before the Ford Motor Company was even incorporated, Stephen Tenvoorde signed a contract to sell "Fordmobiles" at his bicycle shop in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Four generations later, the Tenvoorde family still operates what is now the oldest Ford dealership in the world. Brian McMahon chronicles how the fortunes of the company and the state became intertwined during that century. Ford assembled Model T cars in the world's tallest automobile plant in Minneapolis and a three-story structure in St. Paul--both still standing. These factories quickly became functionally obsolete after the development of the moveable assembly line. The hunt for a new site to build a modern, single-story plant stirred intense rivalry between Minneapolis and St. Paul. Henry Ford took a rare personal interest in the search and selected a 125-acre parcel in St. Paul overlooking the recently built High Dam on the Mississippi River, which allowed for navigation and hydroelectric power. The Twin Cities Assembly Plant would go on to manufacture millions of cars, trucks, tractors, and military vehicles until its closure in 2011. Henry Ford's large-scale experiments with every aspect of the industrial economy sent ripples and shockwaves through the lives of Minnesotans--management and assembly line workers, dealers and customers, families and communities. First-person accounts of more than forty retired auto workers share what it was like to work at Ford--from the early years of the Minneapolis plant to the final hours of the Twin Cities Assembly Plant in St. Paul. McMahon documents the company's transformation--through the Depression, the rise of the United Auto Workers Union, World War II, women joining the workforce, competition from imported cars, globalization, outsourcing, and the closing of the plant. This publication was made possible in part by the people of Minnesota through a grant funded by an appropriation to the Minnesota Historical Society from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Any views, findings, opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the State of Minnesota, the Minnesota Historical Society, or the Minnesota Historic Resources Advisory Committee.

The Ford Century

The Ford Century
Author: Russ Banham
Publisher: Artisan Books
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2002-01-01
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 9781579652012

Marking the centennial of the Ford Motor Company, this illustrated history of the company chronicles the various innovations, from the invention of the assembly line to the V-8 engine, that transformed modern transporation.

In Search of Lake Wobegon

In Search of Lake Wobegon
Author: Garrison Keillor
Publisher: Studio
Total Pages: 134
Release: 2001
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

"This book combines text and image to reveal the real-life origins of the place where "the women are strong, the men are good-looking and the children above average." Keillor meditates on the enduring culture of the county and on the years he spent there as a young writer and an outsider. And a short story of Lake Wobegon, "October," appears here for the first time in print."--BOOK JACKET.

Car Country

Car Country
Author: Christopher W. Wells
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Total Pages: 465
Release: 2013-05-15
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 0295804475

For most people in the United States, going almost anywhere begins with reaching for the car keys. This is true, Christopher Wells argues, because the United States is Car Country—a nation dominated by landscapes that are difficult, inconvenient, and often unsafe to navigate by those who are not sitting behind the wheel of a car. The prevalence of car-dependent landscapes seems perfectly natural to us today, but it is, in fact, a relatively new historical development. In Car Country, Wells rejects the idea that the nation's automotive status quo can be explained as a simple byproduct of an ardent love affair with the automobile. Instead, he takes readers on a tour of the evolving American landscape, charting the ways that transportation policies and land-use practices have combined to reshape nearly every element of the built environment around the easy movement of automobiles. Wells untangles the complicated relationships between automobiles and the environment, allowing readers to see the everyday world in a completely new way. The result is a history that is essential for understanding American transportation and land-use issues today. Watch the book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48LTKOxxrXQ

Rochester, Minnesota

Rochester, Minnesota
Author: Ted St Mane
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2003
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780738531502

In 1869 The Minnesota Guide summed up Rochester, Minnesota as "a fine business point." Today Rochester is not only a fine business point but also a world-class medical center, a technology town, and a city of such favorable charms and amenities that it has been repeatedly recognized as "the best place to live in America." The story of Rochester's journey from frontier crossroads to international destination is found in Rochester, Minnesota. With nearly 200 photographs and insightful commentary that help preserve the city's rich history, this book is a tribute to the individuals and institutions that gave rise to this classic Midwestern city. The homesteaders of the 19th century, the founders of Rochester's tradition of medical excellence, and many of the enterprises that contributed to Rochester's growth are remembered here.

Minnesota Twins

Minnesota Twins
Author: Dennis Brackin
Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group USA
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2010-03-12
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1610602692

A treasury of Twin Cities baseball history packed with photos from the archives. Major League Baseball came to the Minnesota prairie in the spring of 1961, and ever since, the Minnesota Twins have held a cherished place in the hearts of sports fans throughout the region. With Hall of Famers like Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, and Kirby Puckett and beloved characters from Billy Martin to Kent Hrbek to Joe Mauer, the history of the Twins encompasses highs and lows, heroes and goats, but always nonstop excitement. Minnesota Twins: The Complete Illustrated History provides an in-depth and entertaining look at the team, its players, its stadiums, and the memorable moments through the years. Illustrated with photos from the Star Tribune’s archives, it is the ultimate celebration of a beloved franchise.

America's Assembly Line

America's Assembly Line
Author: David E. Nye
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2013-02-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0262018713

From the Model T to today's "lean manufacturing": the assembly line as crucial, yet controversial, agent of social and economic transformation. The mechanized assembly line was invented in 1913 and has been in continuous operation ever since. It is the most familiar form of mass production. Both praised as a boon to workers and condemned for exploiting them, it has been celebrated and satirized. (We can still picture Chaplin's little tramp trying to keep up with a factory conveyor belt.) In America's Assembly Line, David Nye examines the industrial innovation that made the United States productive and wealthy in the twentieth century. The assembly line—developed at the Ford Motor Company in 1913 for the mass production of Model Ts—first created and then served an expanding mass market. It also transformed industrial labor. By 1980, Japan had reinvented the assembly line as a system of “lean manufacturing”; American industry reluctantly adopted the new approach. Nye describes this evolution and the new global landscape of increasingly automated factories, with fewer industrial jobs in America and questionable working conditions in developing countries. A century after Ford's pioneering innovation, the assembly line continues to evolve toward more sustainable manufacturing.

Spring Grove

Spring Grove
Author: Chad Muller
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2002
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780738519494

Spring Grove: Minnesota's First Norwegian Settlement is a tribute to the state's earliest Norwegian emigrants, and to generations of Norwegian Americans who have made this small farming community amongst deep valleys, fjord-like bluffs, and winding streams their true vesterheim. It is a tale told through striking historic photographs, many previously unreleased, and personal narratives, often humorous and always insightful. The area was first settled in the 1850s by pioneers like James Smith, who, inspired by the landscape, named the place Spring Grove. Smith was followed by the likes of "Big" Ole Gulbransgutton, who chased crooked land surveyors out of town with his bare fist; by the innovative Mons Fladager, whose business acumen earned him the title of "Father of Spring Grove"; and by the 20th-century cartoonist Peter J. Rosendahl, whose work gave a comical voice to the challenges of cultural assimilation. Spring Grove: Minnesota's First Norwegian Settlement also conveys the universality of the Norwegian immigrant experience, and anyone with Norwegian roots who desires to learn more about their ancestors will find it an enjoyable read.

Tractor Wars

Tractor Wars
Author: Neil Dahlstrom
Publisher: BenBella Books
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2022-01-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1953295746

"Mr. Dahlstrom...has written a superb history of the tractor and this long-forgotten period of capitalism in U.S. agriculture. We now know the whole story of when farming, business and the free-market economy diverged, divided and conquered." —Wall Street Journal Discover the untold story of the “tractor wars,” the twenty-year period that introduced power farming—the most fundamental change in world agriculture in hundreds of years. Before John Deere, Ford, and International Harvester became icons of American business, they were competitors in a forgotten battle for the farm. From 1908-1928, against the backdrop of a world war and economic depression, these brands were engaged in a race to introduce the tractor and revolutionize farming. By the turn of the twentieth century, four million people had left rural America and moved to cities, leaving the nation’s farms shorthanded for the work of plowing, planting, cultivating, harvesting, and threshing. That’s why the introduction of the tractor is an innovation story as essential as man’s landing on the moon or the advent of the internet—after all, with the tractor, a shrinking farm population could still feed a growing world. But getting the tractor from the boardroom to the drafting table, then from factory and the farm, was a technological and competitive battle that until now, has never been fully told. A researcher, historian, and writer, Neil Dahlstrom has spent decades in the corporate archives at John Deere. In Tractor Wars, Dahlstrom offers an insider’s view of a story that entwines a myriad of brands and characters, stakes and plots: the Reverend Daniel Hartsough, a pastor turned tractor designer; Alexander Legge, the eventual president of International Harvester, a former cowboy who took on Henry Ford; William Butterworth and the oft-at-odds leadership team at John Deere that partnered with the enigmatic Ford but planned for his ultimate failure. With all the bitterness and drama of the race between Ford, Dodge, and General Motors, Tractor Wars is the untold story of industry stalwarts and disruptors, inventors, and administrators racing to invent modern agriculture—a power farming revolution that would usher in a whole new world.

A Century of Innovation

A Century of Innovation
Author: 3M Company
Publisher: 3m Company
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2002
Genre: 3M Company
ISBN:

A compilation of 3M voices, memories, facts and experiences from the company's first 100 years.