The postcard above shows Henry Ford, Thomas A. Edison, and Harvey Firestone at the Edison home in Fort Myers, Florida. The photo appears to be a colorized version of a black and white original. The Library of Congress has a black and white photo that seems to be identical (only the thumbnail is available online).
Ford, Edison, and Firestone were considered the three leaders in American industry at the time, and often worked and vacationed together. Between 1914 and 1924 they participated in a number of "vagabond" automobile camping trips together. Another friend who sometimes participated in trips with them was the famous author John Burroughs. The photo below shows Thomas Edison, John Burroughs, and Henry Ford at Edison's home in Fort Myers.
The last photo shows all four men posed on an old waterwheel in West Virginia in 1918. Left to right are Harvey Firestone, Henry Ford, John Burroughs and Thomas A. Edison.
Here is some biographical information about the four men from Widipedia:
• Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was a prominent American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry.
• Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor, scientist, and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb.
• Harvey Samuel Firestone (December 20, 1868 – February 7, 1938) was an American businessman, and the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tires.
• John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and essayist important in the evolution of the U.S. conservation movement.…By the turn of the century he had become a virtual cultural institution in his own right: the Grand Old Man of Nature at a time when the American romance with the idea of nature, and the American conservation movement, had come fully into their own.
An excellent series of images, and a very interesting video, thanks. I fancy being a vagabond too, particularly if I had all those millions.
ReplyDeleteI had not heard of John Burroughs before. He sound an interesting man. He had a great beard. Thanks for posting the video too - a fascinating insight,
ReplyDeleteThat's a powerful trio! Great card.
ReplyDeleteWhat a meeting of great minds that must have been.
ReplyDeleteAnother Fort Myers postcard post! Yay!!
ReplyDeleteYou can find that picture and many others at the Edison and Ford Estates here. (Edison was the first snowbird ;>)! There's also a statue of the three friends (not Burroughs) in a downtown Park.
Nice post.
wow - that was one great beard.
ReplyDeleteloved the video. Strange how such rich men liked to rough it.
Nancy
Ladies of the Grove
They look unpretentious and I bet they had a lot of fun. I would like to have gone along on those trips.
ReplyDeleteGreat men who enjoyed meeting other minds outside of their own field. Not unlike the TED talks on the internet. Wish we had the conversation transcript.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting history. I was not familiar with Burroughs either. It is almost an oxymoron to think of these moguls worth millions as vagabonds
ReplyDeletePostcardy, thank you for your comment on my Sepia Saturday post at Hangingonmyword, Unfortunately it seems to have disappeared!? I published it but something went wrong I think. I didn't want you to think I'd deleted it on purpose! And of course you don't have to publish this, I just wanted to get the message to you. Sorry again.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting history and photos of these men.
ReplyDeleteI can't think of anything more fun than camping out in a three piece suit - can you? These are great pics and I enjoyed the video too! Excellent beard on Burroughs
ReplyDeleteFascinating post. I think the idea of the three millionaire pioneers of the 20th century hanging out together very funny and quite touching
ReplyDeleteFascinating post. You have to somehow admire famous and successful people who can still manage to travel around with friends - albeit other rich and famous people - rather than an army of followers and acolytes.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun they had together I'm sure...it's funny with their last names listed together like that, and their grand appearance they could have been a team of Lawyers! Great informative post! But the pictures are even more priceless, thanks!
ReplyDeleteHow interesting to know that these giants in their own fields bonded and socialized with each other.
ReplyDeleteI have another copy of the Waterwheel photograph. Interestingly, it is reversed, with Edison on the left. Each of the individuals is identified by white lettering.
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