FTV: The Vagabonds
It was 1915 when tire manufacturer Harvey Firestone first coined the name ‘The Vagabonds’ for their little troupe of travelers. It was during that golden age when people were just beginning to see cross country travel by automobile as a new form of recreation. The nation’s roads were still a long way from the highways and byways we enjoy today and demands for better roads would be driven by the explosive growth of automobile sales. Like any great adventure, there were a few mistarts before The Vagabonds got (ahem) their wheels under them. Before we get too far ahead of the story, we need to go back to Fort Myers, Florida where the town was all abuzz about the visitors who would arrive on February 23, 1914.
Thomas Alva Edison, perhaps the most famous inventor, if not American, of his time would venture south each winter to escape the New Jersey winters. In the year 1914, he was accompanied by a couple of acquaintances. One was naturalist / author John Burroughs whose writings inspired readers to visit areas he wrote about like his native New York state and Yellowstone National Park. The other visitor arriving on the Atlantic Coast Line train was noted automobile maker Henry Ford. How they became traveling companions is a rather long story, but this visit to Florida to spend time at Edison’s winter retreat had a dual purpose. Edison had been coming to Fort Myers since 1885. He had attracted a lot of attention to the area and hopes were high that the laboratory the Wizard of Menlo Park established there would result in more inventions and thus bring more acclaim (and perhaps tourists) to Fort Myers.
Edison promised to import a massive dynamo/generator system to electrify this backwoods community. When the lights were first turned on at the Edison estate, the entire population gathered and could only wonder in their amazement what it would be like when the rest of the town was wired and ready to glow. Health issues and a falling out with one of his then business investors left the project unfinished until another rich resident paid to import the necessary generator in 1897. When the Edison family returned to the area in 1901, he offered no explanation why he had forgotten his promise or why they had been absent so long. He wasn’t exactly welcomed back with open arms, but his return to Fort Myers was accepted with the hope his presence would (again) attract interest in the area. When rumors of Edison’s return in 1914 in the company of Ford and Burroughs were put in play, there was some skepticism in the local population if any of them would show up.
The group finally arrived and to their horror, a crowd awaited them. A good deal of hoopla would occur before they got to the Edison estate and they were not in the mood to take part in any sort of community celebration. In Spite of their reluctance, a parade of 31 cars delivered them all to the heart of town. Edison and Ford were not fans of this sort of affair, but they smiled, waved, and let the local officials do their thing. Edison and his guests had more important things on their minds, namely an adventure into the Everglades to plan, but there was time. The local guides they employed to get them there warned the northerners about the perils of this wild, undeveloped country. Even locals who know the country, they told the Vagabonds, have entered the Everglades and never returned. Nonetheless, they packed their gear and servants (more on that in a bit) and headed into the wild until they ran out of what little road there was.
Ford had taken similar outings up north. They took a caravan of cars loaded with equipment and family, people to set up camp, and a chef to cook. To them, this was ‘roughing it’. Thinking they were prepared for just about anything, the group took their guides’ warnings lightly…until it rained. An Everglades filling rain of Biblical proportions that would have made Noah cringe took some of the swagger out of the whole affair. With their tents flooded and everybody soaked from head to toe, all they could do was wait out the storm, build a fire, and try to dry out. By now the women began to regret that they had insisted on coming along and the crew was pretty unanimous in its desire to limp back to Fort Myers. Once dried out and rested, they began to find some humor in their mis-adventure. Even though they still had all the equipment necessary to give it another go, not one of them suggested it was worth a try.
Henry Ford had actually worked for one of Edison’s companies eighteen years earlier and held the elder inventor in awe. When he was finally introduced to Edison, he told him of his own experimentation with ‘quadricycles’ – four wheeled contraptions powered by internal combustion engines. Edison encouraged Ford in his efforts but personally thought electric motors would be a better way to go. Ford founded two automobile companies that failed before he succeeded on his third attempt. The next time they crossed paths would be in January 1912 when Ford was invited to visit Edison’s home and workshop in New Jersey. The now successful car magnet was so awed by Edison, he invested nearly a million dollars in Edison’s work to develop a storage battery suitable for an electric car. The project was a bust but apparently Ford never thought worse of his idol for not making a go of his investment.
Forming a friendship with John Burroughs wasn’t as natural a fit as it had been between Ford and Edison. In fact Burroughs wasn’t a fan of automobiles, writing drivers would, “seek out even the most secluded nook or corner of the forest and befoul it with noise and smoke.” The popularity of Ford’s Model T was, for Burroughs’ ‘the beginning of the end’ and he described the vehicle as ‘a demon on wheels’. Ford was not one to tolerate negative opinions from outsiders or employees, but he gave Burroughs a pass on his anti-car rhetoric. To open a dialog with the naturalist, Ford wrote him a letter praising his works (particularly on birds, one of Henry’s passions). Ford also offered to send him a Model T. He thought maybe actually driving a car would help change John’s perception about the evils of automobiles. Burroughs accepted as long as the arrangement was not used for any form of publicity purposes.
Driving may or may not have had the desired effect on Burroughs, but certainly meeting Ford in person did. According to author Jeff Guinn (The Vagabonds – The Story of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison’s Ten-Year Road Trip Simon & Schuster (2019)), “Burroughs was impressed by Ford’s sincere interest in ornithology and, in fact, most things about nature. Ford, in turn, was starstruck by another person he’d previously admired from afar. They took nature hikes together. In September of 1913, Ford convinced Burroughs to take a car trip with him to see where the philosophers the naturalist had introduced him to (Emerson and Thoreau) had lived. Edison was invited but could not make it. When Burroughs shared that he was afraid they were about to lose their family farm in New York due to the hefty mortgage payments, Ford bought the property outright and deeded back to the Burroughs family.” The generosity Ford showed to his new friend made a bond between them that laid the framework for future traveling adventures.
Akron, Ohio tire manufacturer Harvey Firestone became part of Ford’s inner circle of friends, something not all of the automaker’s suppliers could claim. When early autos transitioned from hard rubber to pneumatic tires, Firestone was able to provide the quality and quantity of tires needed for the growing number of Model T Fords being sold. As the yearly Vagabond tours evolved, Firestone became the ringmaster. Ford would finance everything and Firestone would outfit the vehicles with the necessary equipment and staff. Edison, Ford, Burroughs, and Firestone’s version of ‘roughing it’ included staff to set up camp, cook the meals, and deal with problems. Harvey was also the one who kept tabs of where essentials like gas and garages for emergency repairs could be found. Should the weather become a factor, Firestone would always have alternative lodging in mind. Each year, a different excursion would be planned with the exception of 1917 when WWI made it impossible for them to take to the road.
Another crucial factor in these outings involved press coverage. Henry made sure Ford dealerships would let the local press know they would be coming – it was a great advertising tool. Having Edison along always attracted the national press. With the newly emerging coast to coast wire services sending stories near and far, they got a lot of bang for their buck. There seemed to be no end to the fascination this traveling band of famous men (and on many occasions, children and wives) held for the general public. Ford had become so popular a figure that he was on the ballot for a senate seat in 1918 though he ran without campaigning. There was also talk about him running for president in 1920, but neither he nor his wife were keen about entering politics.
Over the years, Edison’s second wife, Mina, grew to resent Ford. She felt he used her husband more as a publicity tool than as a friend. Ford idolized Edison and they both knew the power of the press, yet both were reluctant to step forward to speak. Every town they passed through would plan some form of celebration when they were coming and it was Firestone who was usually pressed into service as the spokesman. Ford, Edison, and Burroughs would sign autographs, wave, and shake hands, but it sometimes took some coaxing.
Previous stories I have read about both Edison and Ford held they had definite opinions on a host of subjects. Both jumped at taking part in helping America gear up for their entry into WWI, but neither was anxious for the US to join the conflict. Once Uncle Sam was in, they felt it was their duty to support their country. In the wake of WWI, both spoke in favor of a League of Nations, the precursor of the United Nations. Ford was anti-union, but had angered other automakers when he first introduced an eight hour / $5 per day wage to entice his factory workers. Ford felt it would compel them to do their best work and stay with the company. Ford was also a supporter of immigrant workers as his factory employed many in the repetitive jobs many American workers disliked,
One thing I had not read much about were the decidedly anti-semetic leanings of both men. Burrough’s idolatry of the two took a serious hit in 1919 when Ford and Edison discussed how the world’s woes were being caused by, ‘Jews or Jewish capitalists’. Everything evil that had occurred from the Civil War to WWI, to them, had been stirred up by Jews. The source of much of their distrust and misinformation about Jews was a book entitled The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Guinn describes Protocols as, “A malicious manifesto of Jews conspiring to gain control of the world through infiltration of business and government. It had long been proven to be a forgery but Ford (and many others) persisted in believing every word because it reinforced their own prejudice.”
Protocols had begun in Russia as a deliberate smear campaign and the lies spread by this work of fiction were embraced by groups like the KKK (not to mention Hitler). When the two men singled out railroad magnate Jay Gould as an example of a typical Jewish capitalist, Burroughs had enough. He pointed out that he and Gould had been childhood friends and the railroad man was actually a Presbyterian. These anti-semetic stereotypes even found their way into the McGuffey Readers that were used extensively to teach children’s moral guidelines: “The books [often] relegated Jews to the role of swarthy villains opposed to white, moral Christians.” Hitler would later use Ford and an example of a great man who understood ‘the Jewish Problem’.
Ford’s views would become common knowledge and many excused this ‘one flaw’ in the otherwise famous man. To help his own cause in a lawsuit against a large Chicago newspaper, Ford purchased the small Dearborn Independent to use as his own newservice. When the paper’s circulation failed to grow as Ford thought it should, he followed misguided advice to make it more sensational. The paper became a platform for even more anti-semetic rhetoric that increased circulation. Ford also insisted his dealerships include the price of a subscription with the sale of each Model T. It would not prove to be one of Ford’s better business decisions. Unfortunately, the national flames of hate being fostered toward minorities in many parts of this country were fanned by such a high profile figure spreading more untruths.
Ford had owned the Independent for eight years and it had lost him $5 million. He was sued for libel by Aaron Shapiro in February of 1925 over his portrayal in the paper. Shapiro, the council for the American Farm Bureau Federation, sued Ford and the first verdict was a hung jury. When convinced he would lose the up-coming appeal, Ford settled with Shapiro for an undisclosed amount and a public apology. As Guinn recounted, “Ford described himself as ‘deeply mortified’ by the newspapers ‘resurrecting exploded fictions’ and pledged to ask [Jews] ‘for forgiveness for the harm I have unintentionally committed by retracting so far as lies within my power and offensive charges laid at their door.’ Now that he knew about them, he’d see that such offensive sentiments were never expressed in its pages again.” Some accepted the apology outright, some were less enthusiastic about his statement, but by the end of 1927, he shut down the Independent no doubt hoping the memories of this episode would fade quickly.
There are photos in many publications and museums of The Vagabonds camping in Upper Michigan. Their fifth publicized tour and their first trip to the U.P. was actually planned for 1921. When the opportunity to travel east to West Virginia and thereby invite President Harding to come along materialized, the entire 1921 itinerary was changed. Ford and Edison wanted some time to lobby the President about some of their pet projects. When Harding’s agenda shortened his stay to two days, things didn’t exactly work out as they had planned. Indeed, most of the press centered around the Chief Executive and the famous Vagabonds became secondary to the stories that went out on the wire services.
Using Ford’s luxury yacht Scialia, the Vagabonds were finally able to access islands and Ford’s landholdings in Upper Michigan with ease in the late summer of 1923. Unlike other publicity driven adventures, they planned to get as far away from crowds and reporters as they could on this ramble. From various ports of call, they would caravan by car to inspect many of Ford’s properties in places like Iron Mountain, Kingsford, Sidnaw, Alberta, and L’Anse. Ford’s wife Clara did manage to stir up a little press of her own when she chided some young girls at a Lake Michigamme campground for not being dressed properly. While he was still contemplating a run for president, the headlines from that day (‘Mrs. Ford Rebukes Women in Overalls and Short Stockings at Michigan Resort’) were not the kind of publicity he was seeking. Later articles featured the camp counselors defending their charges for ‘dressing appropriately for the environment they were in.”
The Vagabonds remained friends after their touring days came to an end. The photos of them camped out in Sidnaw are some of the last taken as their decade of autotouring came to an end. Their last hurrah was centered around the historic Longfellows Castaway Inn in Massachusetts where they stayed (rather than tent camping) and made day excursions in 1924.
The Model T (so named because it was the twentieth version of the car and the letter ‘T’ is the twentieth in the alphabet) would give way to newer models, the first upgrade being the Model A. The name of Ford would be forever tied to Michigan and his vast holdings in Upper Michigan are still here, but most are no longer part of his empire. The Vagabonds’ travels have also faded from memory but records remain in historical museums of the towns through which they passed.
Top Piece Video: Jackson Brown form the R&*R Hall of Fame induction in 2004 – surely even Henry Ford’s Vagabonds found it hard to travel when they found they were Running on Empty!