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Volume 28 No. 1 News of the Early Ford V-8 Foundation Museum Jan-Feb 2020 Phone: 260-927-8022 • Email: [email protected]

Here’s to a New Year and a New Decade!

f 2020 is half as good to us as 2019 was, we’ll have a I very good year! But having a good year doesn’t come easily or without a lot of effort.

The Early Ford V-8 Museum is blessed with an incredible staff and a cadre of volunteers who have accomplished more in 2019 than we could’ve dreamed of doing. , and even as far away as S. Dakota. Not to mention a group from who regularly travel to It takes a Great Staff to accomplish Great Things. We Auburn to lend their talents. wouldn’t be as far along as we are without the exper- tise and hard work from our Executive Director, Josh We have a lot to be thankful for and a lot to look Conrad; our Collections Coordinator, Nick Miller; forward to in 2020. our Executive Assistant Helen Dickman; and the work of Interns such as Lucas Cauley, who is still with us for a while longer, and Kendall Likes, who Cheers! spent her time with us putting together a comprehen- President’s & Editor’s Messages 2 What’s Happening Inside the Museum 3 sive education program for us which will be invalu- Miscellaneous 4 able in the near future. Cash Donations - New Members 5 Item Donations 6 Moving a Museum 7 Our extensive list of “volunteers” would take up When Flames Consumed a Xmas Fantasy 8 more room than we have here. They travel from all What’s Happening continued 9 over to come to Auburn to help. They come from Ford Store 10 Foundation Friends Ads 11 New York, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Contents Membership Form Back cover Page 2 Jan-Feb 2020 President’s Message... Times issues on it, do so. It is a wealth of information at your finger tips. from the Editor... Dave Cole wrote a great 5-part series Getting photos and info from Josh, I heard someone on over five issues of the 1984 Times on Helen and Nick about what’s happen- the radio say that the history of the original Ford Ro- ing in the Museum, makes us anxious 2020 is the year that tunda. Dave also has a piece on the to get back to Auburn to see it all for we will finally get 1939 World’s Fair in Nov. Dec. 1989. I ourselves! Always something happen- flying cars and have recommend all of the books by Ford ing! people living on historian and Museum Trustee, Henry Floyd Motors... Mars. I’m not so Dominguez. I especially recommend sure; but “2020” EDSEL, Henry Ford’s Forgotten Son ...continues to grow with new addi- really does sound like the “future”. and Edsel Ford and E.T. Gregorie for tions to the “showroom”. See page 3. fantastic detail and insight into the Ford The re-printing of Jenny Nolan’s article design team. Loren Sorensen’s The We Lose A Good Neighbor from the Detroit News on the fire that Ford Shows is a great photo history as ended the life of the Ford “Rotunda” well as a very detailed written account Sadly, the Antique Mall, Gallery 326 tells the last chapter of that great, iconic of Ford displays. There are great de- has closed. Read all about it on page 4. architectural wonder. But as you know signers, artists and architects who con- the “Rotunda” lives again at the Early tributed to all of this. Architect Albert Ever heard of NAFTCO? Ford V-8 Foundation Museum in Kahn designed the original Rotunda. Auburn and is now complete with a re- Buckminster Fuller applied his geodesic You will on page 4, as I sneak in a presentation of the great photographic dome idea to close the open roof when shameless plug for an organization I’m mural depicting images from the Rouge it was moved to Dearborn. Walter involved with. Assembly line that once graced the inte- Dorwin Teague was responsible for the rior of the Rotunda as it existed in Chi- interior design of all of Ford’s public “Tons” of Item Donations cago and later in Dearborn. The origi- expos starting with the 1934 nal photo mural was 600 feet long and show. Teague designed the World of That’s not an exaggeration. One large 20 feet high, the longest photo mural in Tomorrow for Ford at the 1939 World’s delivery weighed 1,100 pounds! Page 6. the world. It took 4/5 of a mile of spe- Fair in New York. Check out a video cially made photo paper to print this titled “Symphony in F” on You Tube to Moving a Museum! large work of art. Now in the Floyd see some of these futuristic 1939 dis- Motors Gallery at the Museum you can plays. It is amazing! Have fun looking An operation I hope our museum see some of these huge, high resolution back to the “future”. never has to do! These good folks had photographs again lining the inside of a no choice. Page 7. Ford “Rotunda” thanks to the research I want to thank all of you for your sup- and craftsmanship of Matt Short and his port this past year. Members bought Our Historic Article team from Group Delphi. The Floyd 130 square feet in our “Buy the Foot” Motors Gallery continues to evolve. It campaign, since our annual member- Now that our endeavor to resurrect the is really stunning and a very good rea- ship letter went out. Lynn and I bought iconic Ford Rotunda, even as it pales son for you to make a trip to Auburn. two more ourselves this month to re- in comparison to the original structure, member people that we lost this year. we thought it was time to share a well- I have been spending the winter next to The excitement building around the written story on the Ford Rotunda Fire the wood stove reading about the his- Museum in 2019 will continue to grow of November, 1962. It’s on Page 8. tory of FOMOCO design. I thought this year as more people learn about that I’d share some of what I am read- what is going on in “your” Museum for Chevy Monster Trucks, Playing with ing with you. First of all, if you haven’t the ages. Hundreds of License Plates? picked up the “thumb drive” from the Early Ford V-8 Club, with the past V-8 Happy New Year! Here’s to the Do we need to be paying closer atten- “future” in 2020. tion to what the crew at the Museum is Board of Trustees up to? Some of it you might not be- —John Knecht lieve! See page 9. President: John Knecht- NY 5/22 Vice President: Craig Floyd - SD 5/22 Last Minute Donation! Secretary: George Mercer - KY 5/21 Treasurer: Milly Scheidt - NY 5/20 It never fails. Just when you think the Audie Blaylock - IN 5/20 Henry Dominguez - UT 5/22 newsletter is done! But this addition is Tom Johnston - CA 5/22 worth it! Page 6 Jim LaDuc - MI 5/21 Dick Martin - IN 5/21 —Frank Scheidt, Editor Cecil Polan - WV 5/21 Bill Randolph - OH 5/20 The Foundation News is published bi- Frank Scheidt, Editor David Sharp - IN 5/20 monthly by the Early Ford V-8 Foundation, [email protected] John Smith - IN 5/20 a 501c3 Educational Organization Phone: 585-637-8863 (NY) Jan-Feb 2020 Page 3

Floyd Motors keeps get- ting better and better!

Recently, two major items have been added:

A restored ’36 Engine mounted on a replica of an engine display stand from back in the day.

What’s a 1936 Ford Dealership without a period-correct cash register for its parts counter? We found this one at the An- tique Mall. It was originally made in 1917 and updated in the 1930s with the addition of drawers. It works perfectly!

There was some concern about whether a visitor, probably a child, could tip the engine over. So we found the biggest kid we could (Nick Miller) and he tried every which way to tip it over and couldn’t. So we think we’re safe! (The bottom is weighted). Have you hugged your Flathead V-8 today?

Fence privacy screening was installed to hide what’s inside our new fence behind the museum. Our storage trailer is sitting in there and we’ll park our parts trailer inside the fence.

Also, the large generator which was men- tioned in the last newsletter is there. See the photo to the right. See MORE “What’s Happening” on page 9 Page 4 Jan-Feb 2020

The Early Ford V-8 Museum is now REMINDER: We need eligible for GE Matching Donations candidates to run for the Board of Trustees. If you Attention GE Employees Past and are interested, please send Present. You can now make dona- an email to: tions to the Early Ford V-8 Museum Milly Scheidt, [email protected] and General Electric will match your Milly will send you the necessary forms to fill out donation. and return. Please email her if you have any questions. HOW DO I REGISTER A DONATION FOR MATCHING? We want to thank the many members who sent us a dona- tion during Giving Tuesday (Dec 3rd) and donated part of After making your donation directly to a charity, log in to the their IRA “Required Minimum Distribution”. Matching Gifts website: www.gefoundation.commatchinggifts.

In the “GE Participants”section, click to log in using your We’re losing a good neighbor GE-issued SSO ID and password. Once on the Matching Gifts site, search for your charity and then register the details. GALLERY 326 ANTIQUE MALL CLOSING Remember you can only register what you personally gave. The announcement read: “It is with heavy hearts You may not include donations from others. that we have to make this announcement. We Thanks to member Bob Hargraves for tipping us off to this are closing our location in Auburn, Indiana. We fund raising opportunity. were not able to secure a lease for the future. We have enjoyed being a part of the Auburn com- munity for the past 5 years! Our last day will be December 31st!”

John Kruse and Kruse Plaza, will repurpose the building.

This is a “plug” for an organization your editor recently joined. Shortly after I joined, NAFTCO’s editor had to resign due to health issues. It was stated that unless they It wouldn’t have been “Christmas at the Museum” without a found an editor, the club, which has been around since Christmas Tree! Josh, Helen, Nick and Lucas had a great time 1998, would probably fold. I asked if I could “help” in decorating this enormous tree behind our ’40 Woodie. some way, and wound up being named the new editor! Now all I have to do is learn a whole hell of a lot more about antique Ford tools than I know now, and do it soon. My first issue is Spring (March 2020).

At any rate, if you are interested in joining this unusual and one-of-a-kind club dedicated to any and all tools per- taining to early Fords and their service, send an email to:

Steve Thompson: [email protected] Visit their website: http://fordtoolcollector.org/

—Frank Scheidt Jan-Feb 2020 Page 5

CASH DONATIONS (Since our last newsletter) Up to $99

James Bates, OH Joyce Clements, NM $1000 - $4999 James & Marianne Devitt, Todd Bryan, MI Bette Kenward, MI NY Michael Cescon, NC Robert Burge, TX Leo Kuhn, IN Mike Evans, IN Greg & Susan Eaton, IN Roy Carver, IN David Landes, MN Herman Hasselbrack, OH Dave & Jill Fry, NY Mark Cleveland, IN Greg Martin, MI Edward Kenney, CA John Knecht, NY Jeff Cook, IN Aaron Meyer, IN William & Phyllis Roman- Richard Depew, IN Bob Palma, IN ski, MI $5000 & Above Kelly Dill, OH Chuck Parrish, IN Stan Stack, IL William J. Anderson, MI Tim Ellis, IN Wayne Roselius, IN $100-$499 EFV8 RG#141, OH, proceeds George Finley, TX Pat Scheiner, IN from the Central National John Gintzel, OH Steven Skoros, MI Bruce Cameron, CA Meet Randy Hallman, MI Harold Stafford, Jr., IN EFV8 Club, RG#54, NE in Joe Floyd, SD Phillip Hatch, MI Dave A. Stensland, IN memory of Harold Kurtzer, Peter J. & Jane Kitchel Steve Holle, IN Ed Suchorski, WI Charlotte Moyer, Ray Moyer, McLaughlin, NH Scott Holley, IN Mike Valek, PA Jim Tice and Dayle Woods Robert Holsinger, MD Debra Wake, MI International Monster Truck Stan Hood, IN Lorah L. Weesner, IN Museum, IN Steve Kandra, OR Chad White, IN Robert Nelson, DE Joe Kennedy, IN Jerry Wilson, NJ Ron & Susan Thorne, UT Gary Wright, CA

Dennis Allsop, RI (1) Edward Allsop, RI (1) Jim Alwell, OH (1) Recent Brick Orders Bruce Bade, VA (1) The list of Sq Ft donors George W. Ball, MO (1) since the last newsletter. Bill Bennett, CA (1) Some folks bought more Grace Bennett, CA (1) than once and their addi- Larry Berge, CA, in memory of Bud Berge Greg Borjeson, FL (1) tional feet are listed here as Larry Berge, CA, in memory of Gordon T. Berge Ken Canankamp, OH (2) well. Steve & Donna Carmack, CO (2) David Dubbert, NY, in memory of Diane B. Tom & Cindy Christenberry, TN (4) Dubbert Mark E. Moriarty, NY (1) LaVon & Carma Collins, IN (2) David Dubbert, NY, in honor of Lori J. Juliano James A. Nafziger, AZ (1) Richard Decroff, CA (1) Bob & Tanya Powitz, CT (1) EFV8 Club, RG#1, CA, in honor of John & Pat EFV8 Club, RG #50, TX (10) Don & Joan Reither, OH (5) Davis EFV8 Club, RG #106, KY (1) Ted Ristau, CT (1) Fred Gerber, AZ (1) EFV8 Club, RG#39, OK, in memory of Ken & Sawallich Family, MI (1) Robert Gordon, CA (1) Karel Lollman and Melvin Reynolds Fred Selensky, OK (2) George Hammett, SC (2) EFV8 Club, RG#39, OK, in memory of Judy A. Max E. Selvey, IN (1) Bob Hargraves, AR (2) Douglas J. Skinner, SC (7) Rahn-McCartney and Dale Edgar Whited Harold Kent, WA (10) Donald Sveen, FL (10) EFV8 Club, RG#56, IN, in memory of Robert David Kerr, AR (3) Martin A. Troutman, NY (1) Arnel Kimmett, CO (1) Bob Younce Ray Vinson, FL (1) Dick Kiusalas, MA (1) EFV8 Club, RG#124, MO in memory of Jack Jeff VonMatt, NY (1) John Knecht, NY (2) in honor of Stirnemann Dan & Susan Wachtel, AL (1) Ed Qualmann & Michael Wells Bill & Sally Wacker, MN (1) EFV8 Club, RG#126, MI in memory of Arnold Ray Kunsman, NY (15) Timothy D. Walling, NC (1) Kranz Bob Lincoln, OH (1) Ed Warnock, CA (20) George & Martha Mercer, KY (2) Karl Lenaburg, IN in memory of Shelba Dave Weinheimer, PA (2) William Mooney, MI (1) Lenaburg Yvonne & Denver Woolsey, OK (1) Page 6 Jan-Feb 2020

Bill Bennett, CA: 1,100 lbs of tools and parts! Loads of KR Wilson tools included. Bill even shipped them from Calif! Bill is an early Charter Member of the V-8 Foundation.

Tom Johnston, CA: MILLER MACK B-MODEL Semi Truck with pup trailer. And we get even More KRW! Joe Floyd, SD: Period-correct Antique Cash Register for Life Member Ken Thomas, OH: Floyd Motors. Mostly KR Wilson tools, some K-D tools, a Heyer Lab Test set (top portion), valve tools, timing fixtures, etc.

Between Bill Bennett and Ken Thomas’s donations, Collec- tions Coordinator, Nick Miller will have his hands full docu- menting it all! We’re anxious to find pieces we don’t already have and display them in the Ford Garage! Dave Sharp, IN: Ford Stool A Late Donation for use in the Carpenter 1940s Ford Garage; Tire Water Test Marvin Baumann of MI: It’s not just another Ford 8N. It’s a Tank. Jet-Powered one! (Marvin also donated the Dearborn-Winning 8N some years ago that’s on display in the Farming section.) Ron Stauffer, IN: A Ton of A large sign with the Turbine-powered one reads: car/truck/tractor models. Too many to list! Turbine-powered Ford Tractor Model 8N Garrett Model GTP 30-67 Turboshaft Gas Turbine Engine. 56,000 RPM Boeing B-52 Aircraft Wingflap Gearbox New Holland Tractor Model 1630 Hydrostatic Transmission. A larger photo and a photo of the impressive sign are posted on our website: http://fordv8foundation.org/news.html Also see http://marvinbaumann.com/fordtractors.html

This isn’t just a souped up tractor. It has significant historical value. Ford built one in 1957 named Typhoon. The one and only one was scrapped many years ago. Marvin wanted Rick Spurr, NY: Vintage Tung-sol car bulb and flasher display. to build another that he called Ty- Paul Orwick, IN: 1949-53 Ford Shop Training Set with sev- phoon II. eral film strips and records in a case. Many are ones the Mu- seum didn’t already have. They will be digitized. It’s an incredible Rodney Delagrange, IN: 32 License Plates piece of engi- neering and Debra Wake, MI: Assortment of Books needs to be seen to appreciate it’s Ken & Toddy Schroeder, IN: Two Lincoln Zephyr Ads ingenuity! Jan-Feb 2020 Page 7

How to Move an Airplane Museum! Josh Conrad was lucky to spot this “caravan” driving Our friends at the nearby Hoosier Air Museum decided to toward the Hoosier Air Mu- move because the airport they were located next to is ex- seum’s new location and cap- tending the runway. The extension would cause visitors to tured some neat photos. go quite a distance out of their way to get into the mu- seum. So they moved into the Kruse Plaza across from our We wish them luck with their museum. new exhibits.

Here’s what is posted on their Facebook page:

The Hoosier Air Museum has permanently closed it's facility on County Road 62 in Auburn. We will be relocating some of our displays to the J. Kruse Educational Center located on Interstate 69 south of Auburn.

Other artifacts will be going to other museums and our Neal Loving roadable aircraft is go- ing to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.

The Early Ford V-8 Foundation visited the Hoosier Air Museum in 2005 during our very First MotorFest—15 years ago, before we even had our Museum built.

We had a wonderful time there. A great little museum packed with interesting aviation items.

They even had a flight simulator that visitors were wel- come to try out! We hope they will be able to set up dis- plays at Kruse. It’s a shame to see such a great museum close its doors. Page 8 Jan-Feb 2020

pounds, would have crushed the structure, so Ford turned to When flames consumed a R. Buckminster Fuller, who came up with the design, the first commercial application of his experimental geodesic dome. Christmas fantasy Described as 'ultra-modern', the Rotunda reopened as part of Ford's 50th anniversary celebration on June 16, 1953. By Jenny Nolan / The Detroit News With the Rotunda's new design came a new lure for visi- tors: an annual Christmas display called the Christmas Fan- he Christmas light displays along Hines Drive and at tasy, which first opened on Dec. 15, 1953. That first year TDomino's Farms attract huge crowds and malls and pri- Donner, Blitzen, Prancer and Dancer were there, along with a vate homes all over the metro area are aglow with holiday 37 foot, 6 ton Christmas tree. Santa's Workshop formed the lights. But for generations of Detroiters the only place to be at centerpiece, with Santa's elves building transportation toys on Christmas time was the Ford Rotunda in Dearborn. But that a miniature assembly line. Nearly 500,000 visitors saw the tradition went up in flames in November of 1962, just as Christmas show that first year. Each year the Christmas Fan- preparations were under tasy was topped off by a way for another spectacu- giant Christmas tree. lar 'Christmas Fantasy'. In 1958, a 15,000 piece The Rotunda was de- miniature circus high- signed to resemble a stack lighted the Fantasy, with a of gears with a geodesic parade, a ten piece band dome in the center. From on a wagon pulled by a 1936 to 1962, the Ford ten-horse team, a steam Rotunda attracted visitors calliope and 800 tiny ani- from around the world. It mals, 30 tents, 435 per- was the fifth most popular formers and customers, all tourist destination in the in a scale of 1/2 inch to the in the foot. The hand-carved cir- 1950's. cus was the creation of The building had its Jean LeRoy, a former cir- roots in the 1934 Chicago cus clown. World's Fair, known as the The preparations for Century of Progress Expo- the 1962 Christmas dis- sition, which opened in play were well under way May of 1933 and attracted when disaster struck on more than 40,000,000 Nov. 9. While workers visitors over its two-year run. One of the major attractions at applied tar to the dome as the fair was 's Rotunda, which was dis- weatherproofing, they kept it warm with an infrared heater. assembled after the fair and brought back to Dearborn where Somehow the tar caught fire. Shortly after 1 p.m., an em- it was reconstructed using more permanent materials. De- ployee saw flames on the ceiling of the main floor, and gave signed to be the showcase of the auto industry, the Ford Ro- the alarm as workmen raced down from the roof. Sheets of tunda was opened to the public on May 14, 1936. flame shot 50 feet high. The black smoke was visible for The original steel framework was covered with Indiana miles. limestone, forming a design representing a stack of gears, In less than an hour the Rotunda lay in ruins. All employ- decreasing in size towards the top. Located on Schaefer Road, ees and display workers escaped injury, except for the engi- across from the Ford Administration building, the circular neer in charge of the building, who ran to the roof at the first structure had an open courtyard 92 feet in diameter and a alarm and suffered from smoke inhalation. The roof collapsed wing on either side. Huge murals on the walls depicted the shortly after the fire started, and a shouted warning to the manufacture of the Ford automobile. Exhibits were changed firemen barely got them out of the building before the walls regularly, but Ford products always took center stage. collapsed. Besides its own attractions, the Rotunda served as the Over the nine years the Christmas Fantasy was held, al- gateway for tours of the Rouge Plant. In 1960, the Rotunda most 6 million people visited it. Thousands of Detroiters had was more popular than Yellowstone, Mount Vernon, the their first visit with Santa at the Rotunda, and memories of and the Statue of Liberty. Story Book Land and the miniature circus mingle with child- The building was closed to the public during World War II, hood memories of stockings by the fireplace and cookies for and following the war underwent a massive remodeling Santa. in 1952, in which the courtyard was covered with an 18,000 pound dome. The weight of a conventional dome, 320,000 (Printed with permission from the Detroit News) Jan-Feb 2020 Page 9

MORE LICENSE PLATES GALORE!

The Museum has been picking up license plates any time they find them for free or very cheap. Strangely enough, we sell quite a few on ebay. What we don’t sell whole, we cut up and make neat things with them and sell them in the Museum’s Gift Shop For example: PLENTY! Back in November, Josh was contacted by the International Mon- ster Truck Hall of Fame and Museum (located in Kruse Plaza) which was having an unveiling of a special truck at their Gala which was being held at the Kruse Event Plaza. The truck was built in secret and they needed a place to hide it for two days. And:

WHERE BETTER TO HIDE A CHEVY THAN IN A FORD MUSEUM? If you have any license plates or know of anyone who does, we’ll be happy to take them off your hands. Let us know. Henry Ford would be proud of our “recycling” efforts!

This photo shows just how “monstrous” this truck is! That’s our For tickets call 260-667-3775, or send a check or money 1940 Ford Garage to the right and our Gift Shop on the left. order with a self addressed stamped envelope (if you want your stubs) to: 1957 Mercury, PO Box 284, Auburn, IN 46706

The ’57 is now on display at the Antique Auto Mall where tick- ets are being sold there. Page 10 Jan-Feb 2020

Official License Plate Frame!

Guaranteed to color coordinate with all State license plates. Black frame with white lettering. The New 2-Volume Ford V-8 Engine Album

Just $8.95 each plus $3.75 shipping. A compilation of several article on the Flathead V-8 found in the V-8 Times and engine refer- ences from the Ford Restoration Books—all in one 2-Volume set. 456 pages of information! Edison and Ford Order now for just $60 plus $5.50 S&H. These in Florida volumes are in limited supply. Order Now. Edison and Ford in Florida [Images of America Series from Arcadia Publishing]. Visit http://fordv8foundation.org/store The lives of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford intersected to find these and many more unique at their winter homes in items. Order right online. southwest Florida. Edison first visited Fort Myers in 1885, building a home and While youʼre online, visit our Ebay laboratory soon after. There, he wintered with his wife, Mina, and their children, Madeleine, Charles, and Theo- Store: dore. Ford purchased the adjacent estate in 1916, winter- https://www.ebay.com/str/fordv8found ing in the area with his wife, Clara, and son, Edsel. Here in southwest Florida, these famous neighbors relaxed and ation found time to explore new projects. This 128 page, soft cover book is now available from the Ford V-8 Museum for just $19.95 plus $3.95 S&H. Items are added almost every day! Jan-Feb 2020 Page 11

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