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Charles Corm 100 years ago: CHARLES CORM A man of culture, who used a car to establish a country Introduction Built on the slopes of Mount Lebanon, the port city of Beirut has a history dating from prehistoric times, through the Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Islamic and Ottoman periods, primarily as a trading and cultural centre. Under the French mandate in the 1920s, Beirut was known as the ‘Paris of the Middle East’. It was also a major trading gateway, including to Iran. In 1925, a budding Iranian business entrepreneur, Habib Sabet, visited Beirut and expressed “unprecedented excitement” at the sight of such a thriving environment. After a few days, he decided to buy a car, specifically a Ford. Visiting the local dealer, Sabet recalled he was a “respectable and well-mannered poet and scholar, very elegantly dressed, always wearing beige silk shirts and high-quality suits”. Sabet drove the car, a Model T, to Haifa then to Teheran, selling it for twice the purchase price. Not surprisingly, he repeated this exercise a number of times. Habib Sabet credited the Ford dealer as the source of inspiration for his business, one which turned him into a billionaire and one of Iran’s richest men. But who was this Ford dealer described as a poet and scholar? He was Charles Corm, born in 1894, the son of a very famous Lebanese artist who trained at the Rome Academy. Daoud Corm, famous artist and Charles’ father, painting Pope Pius IX The eldest son of Daoud Corm, Charles attended a top university in Beirut run by the Jesuits. After graduation he travelled to Paris, where he mixed with the Bohemian set that included Rodin. While liking the lifestyle, Corm wanted to support himself financially and not be dependent on his father. So, at the age of 18, in 1912, he travelled to New York. To survive, he set up an import/export business on Broadway. As his first language was French, he resolutely attended the same Broadway show again and again until he had learned the basics of New York English. Corm was inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit in New York, while being impressed by the skyscrapers – and by how many automobiles there were on the streets. The Car Looking to expand his business and seeing the car as the future, Corm travelled to Detroit, intent on getting a meeting with the number one manufacturer – Henry Ford. Henry Ford, one of the richest men in the world at that time Model T production at the new Highland Park plant was expanding rapidly, operating the first moving automobile assembly line in the world. It employed about 13,000 people and produced more than 200,000 vehicles in 1914 alone. (By 1927, when production ended, a claimed 15,000,000 vehicles had been built there.) Ford had also started to expand internationally, first in Canada, followed by Europe, South America and Japan. But how did a young chap from Lebanon, fresh out of college, manage to arrange a meeting with a practical man, born on a farm, whose business was enjoying incredible, world-leading growth? The answer was sheer persistence with a dash of charm. By sitting in Ford’s waiting room, week after week, he finally got to meet the man. Asked what he wanted, Corm replied that he was after an exclusive agency agreement to sell Ford’s cars in Lebanon. The response was, “Where is Lebanon?” Corm pointed to a dot on the world map and Ford then asked, “Son, do they have any roads?” Corm’s reply combined his newly acquired entrepreneurial New York spirit with his innate trading skills: “You provide the cars and I will build the roads.” That clinched the deal and Corm left Detroit with a document signed by Henry Ford. Assembling department Charles Corm & Co. headquarters – Beirut 1921 However, the Great War intervened and it wasn’t until the middle of 1921 that things stabilised enough for the first shipment of Ford automobiles to arrive in wooden crates at Beirut Port. Over the next three months, 90 vehicles were assembled from what we would now call ‘knock-down kits’ and sold. Corm himself was known to “get his hands dirty” working on the assembly. Picture of the first Ford Transport ship at Beirut Port on 5 September 1921, carrying 90 cars Ford kits in wooden crates Alexandretta branch A further 60 Model Ts were ordered, a phenomenal accomplishment at a time when automobiles were still more of a curiosity than a necessity. The roads were more likely to be dirt tracks, cluttered with mules and horse-drawn carts and carriages. Latakia branch, circa 1927 Model T Ford on display in Beirut, 1925 Managing the business called for frequent visits to the new branches. Interestingly, Corm never learnt to drive but instead employed a driver. A trip from Beirut to Haifa would take six hours, often on dusty unmade roads. He would sit on the Model T back seat writing continuously. A chain-smoker, when he ran out of paper, he would use the cigarette wrappers to continue writing. These now form part of the massive Corm archive, which includes plays and poetry. Among his customers was the French High Commissioner, the representative of the French “colonial authorities”, who would normally be expected to drive a Citroën or Renault. This helped sales as other French officials and those of influence followed his lead. Corm had stiff competition from other vehicle manufacturers, both European and American. He often beat them because his company was the only to offer finance options and payment plans, making the vehicle more affordable to a wider range of customers. Price list Letter to Aleppo branch His success was such that at one point, one third of the vehicles sold in the Near East were Fords, all via Corm’s business, which made it the largest Ford franchise in the world. Poster promoting Charles Corm & Co. At its height, Corm's company, Société́ Générale Industrielle & Commerciale, was the first and largest multinational in the Levant region, with branches in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Transjordan and Turkey (Beirut, Damascus, Aleppo, Tripoli, Latakia, Alexandretta, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa, Amman, Homs, Zahlé, Antioch, Tyre) – and more besides. Haifa branch Aleppo branch The company employed upwards of a thousand Turks, Lebanese, Syrians, Iraqis, Transjordanians, Iranians and Palestinians (Jews, Christians, Baha’is, and Muslims alike), becoming the source of livelihood of thousands of families. As the business expanded, so did the range offered – to include agricultural machinery and customised Ford vehicles for the Lebanese Security Forces. The business thrived and signed agency agreements with other suppliers, such as International Harvester, John Deere and Firestone. Fordson & Firestone Spare parts shop As Corm had forecast, the use of motor vehicles increased in the region and the development of the required infrastructure followed, including the building of new roads. Often, bridges were constructed from the packing case material used to transport the cars. New Regional Headquarters The French poet and philosopher, Paul Valéry, gave Corm a copy of his new book Eupalinos in 1921, inscribed, “To my friend Charles Corm who, naturally, knew Eupalinos better than anyone else”. Eupalinos was an Ancient Greek engineer famous for building a tunnel, described as one of the three greatest works of the Greeks, the point being that Corm regarded architecture, like art, as a major human endeavour; and as such, it was yet another of his interests. In 1928, though lacking any formal architectural training, Corm designed the Ford Motor Company's Middle East Headquarters building. Inspired by New York skyscrapers, it was unique in the area, both in style and the material used. Erected in 1929 in Beirut, It was the Middle East's first skyscraper and the highest standing structure in Lebanon until 1967. Its strength was such that it withstood the 1956 Chim earthquake – a 6.0 magnitude tremor along the Dead Sea seismic fault system that caused much damage and heavy casualties throughout Beirut and Lebanon. The eight-storey building contained 12 hangar-like bays, which flanked the main structure and contained the workshops, including car assembly areas and the showrooms. According to Corm’s son Hiram, most Beirutis suspected that the building, called “Maison Blanche de Beyrouth”, was of such magnitude that it must be a church or religious space of some sort. “Maison Blanche de Beyrouth” The property later became the Corm family residence. A New Country – Lebanon The full story of the re-establishment of Lebanon is outside the scope of this article. However, it may be argued that Corm’s combination of personal magnetism, charisma and commercial success “greased the wheels” for the creation of an independent Lebanon, and enabled the establishment of diplomatic relations among emerging Middle Eastern states. For example, Charles Corm organised and personally funded a pavilion at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. It was described by Mayor La Guardia as one of the most popular attractions which, given it was small, hastily assembled and from a small, almost unknown country, was a great achievement. It told an inspiring story of the Lebanon’s past and present. This raised the profile of the area, which particularly impressed both the French and American authorities: a valuable factor in aspirations of future independence. 1939 New York World’s Fair Mayor La Guardia with General Eisenhower Corm’s cultural interests were wide, including as a writer and poet, while he strongly advocated Lebanese identity and nationalism in a country torn by sectarian conflict. His intention was to find a common root that could be shared by all Lebanese. Politically, Corm was the driving force behind the Phoenician movement that paved the way to Lebanese nationalism and independence in 1943.
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