When Henry Ford (1863-1947), began selling the Model T in 1909, the world
was a much different place than it is now. Horses and wagons were
common place. There were no highways, and most roads were still
not paved. Shopping malls, "drive thru" restaurants and traffic
jams were in the very distant future. But when Henry's "Tin Lizzie" hit the
market, it was the beginning of the end of the 'horse and buggy era'.
Why was the introduction of the Model T so significant? The 'T'
wasn't the first car sold to the public. By 1909, there were quite
a few cars already on the market. The Model T wasn't even Henry
Ford's first car. The Ford Motor Company had been in business
since 1903, and had already produced a number of different models
by 1909. So what was it that made the 'T' so special?
The answer is really pretty simple; the 'T' was the first car
that the average person could afford to buy. It wasn't very
fancy, but it was reliable (by the standards of the day) and cheap
and easy to fix when it did break down. Henry Ford also constantly
looked 
for ways to make it even better and cheaper. In 1913, he
invented the world's first moving assembly line, which
allowed the same number of workers to build many more cars.
As the car became cheaper to build, the priced dropped each year
until it reached an unbelievable low of only $260 in 1925! See original Model T advertising.
As Americans traded their horses for Model T's, life was changed
forever. Farmers used them as tractors, and to power farm machinery
such as water pumps and wood saws. Many were used as trucks to
haul just about everything you can imagine. Some were even
fitted with skis and used as snowmobiles!
By 1928, when the Model 'T' was replaced by the second Model 'A',
over 15 million Model T's had been sold. There were more Model T Fords on the road than all other makes of car combined and Henry Ford had become the United State's first millionaire. Roads were being paved
and highways were being built. The auto age had arrived!
Take some time and read some of the articles listed on the Kid's Page for
stories about the Model T Ford, The Car That changed the World!
