The Lightbulb’s Golden Anniversary

 Henry Ford, like many of us, was a collector.  Starting as a child disassembling watches and other machines to see how they worked. As he built his collection of inventions, he stored them in a spare office in his factory as early as 1907. He didn’t seem to think he had reached the critical mass necessary to install it in a museum until the late teens.  Then planning for that building, as well as collecting for what to display, took an additional decade. Then Ford, rather than building replica rooms, began collecting famous buildings in addition to the machines built there.  The first ones arriving in Dearborn in 1928 and they became the nexus of Greenfield Village.

The Henry Ford Museum complex—then to be known as The Edison Institute—broke ground September 27, 1928. The first roof rafters going up in May, 1929. The walls of the Independence Hall replica that fronts the main building, was completed in August.  

Eventually, it would be ready to open to the general public on June 22, 1933, but Ford was excited about what he’d achieved already, and wanted to host a party as soon as things took shape.

The opportunity that presented itself that same year, was the Golden Anniversary of  the first successful incandescent light bulb invented by his longtime friend Thomas Edison on October 21, 1929. 

The Edison Institute was dedicated by President Herbert Hoover with some 500 personal guests of Edison and Ford. It began with a program of the “history in the remaking” in person with Edison at the reconstruction of his Menlo Park laboratory. Followed by a tour of the historic buildings and finishing with a plush banquet afterwards in the Independence Hall replica. The attendees included Marie Curie, George Eastman, John D. Rockefeller, Will Rogers, Charles Schwab, Adolph Ochs, Walter Chrysler, J.P. Morgan, Orville Wright and, via shortwave radio from Berlin, Albert Einstein.

The reenactment was broadcast on radio with listeners encouraged to turn off their electric lights until the switch was flipped at the Museum. 

This stunt thought up by Edward Bernays, the father of modern public relations (see Era Fashions August, 2021 about hair nets). The entire spectacle was his, an all-out PR assault that included not only the celebratory events mentioned above, but also included a commemorative US postage stamp. 

Muffler Tail Pipe Clamp

 

Have you ever wondered why the exhaust manifold on a Model A becomes distorted and leaks after years of operation—why the outlet of the manifold is no longer vertical? That condition is not normal; manifolds were not always that way.

There is a reason for this and it is not just because of continuous heating and cooling. Many people installing the muffler will tighten the clamp bolt where it fastens the muffler/tail pipe to the frame, obviously to keep it from rattling.

This bolt is only supposed to be little more than hand tight. That is the reason for the castellated nut and cotter pin—so that the bolt will not become un-screwed and fall off. The reason for this is to allow the tail pipe to slide forward and backward when the exhaust system is heated and cooled alternatively. If the clamp is over-tightened the exhaust manifold actually bends when the muffler expands.

I found multiple videos on installing new mufflers, and none mention this, but yes, cast iron will ‘bend’ under these conditions. So remember, do not over-tighten your muffler/tail pipe clamp.

Source: Tiny Tips For Your Model A​

Illustrations from Aries Muffler & Eckler’s

 

What’s Next for The Reflector?

 

There are the few things I’m going to add to this and future newsletters. 

Right off the bat, you’ll notice that the format has changed to landscape rather than portrait.  This, and also the larger type, will hopefully further enhance your reading this newsletter on a computer. Blue links lead you to text pages and green links contain video.

I’m also back to having a table
of Contents, with this one. In addition, though, you can just click on the page number link, and it will pop that page onto your screen. Below that are links outside of The Reflector that contain current Model A News stories and videos. I might still include some as filler, but this will allow you to check things out first hand.

Further on you’ll notice that the calendar is now taking a whole page so you can print just that one page out and tape it to your fridge as a reminder of future club events and member’s occasions.

I wanted to link articles to a Palomar A’s Club blog which would allow folks to make comments about the articles for others to appreciate. That would also benefit us so you could click a button to share the article with others on Facebook or Twitter, and in your feed you would show that article’s title and it would have the right picture under it.  I had problems being blocked by Facebook and forgetting my Twitter login info in my test, though, so I am limited to only having a Facebook share button now.  In a few days, after Shiela has posted it, see what you get when you try clicking on this little box. if you have a FB account, and add a comment.  

 

HOW FINDING KING TUT INFLUENCED FASHION

 

Goddess Nephythys, from a wall of  King Tut’s Tomb. Zita Johann from The Mummy and Myrna Loy from Manhattan Melodrama wore dresses styled after Nephythys as did thousands of others.