A 1916 tractor show hosted by Fremont, Nebraska, was the largest in the world at the time, marked the public debut of the Ford tractor, and was attended by industry giants like J.D. Oliver, Cyrus McCormick, and Henry and Edsel Ford. Ford had long dreamt of applying motor power to agriculture and putting it within reach of the average farmer, just as he had done with the automobile. He had three prototypes available for the show, scheduled for the second week of August, and he was ready to demonstrate them to an eager audience. Tractors were the future of agriculture, and farmers turned out by the tens of thousands, pocketbooks in hand, to see what was available.
They were not disappointed. Fifty different companies supplied around 250 machines, and they plowed hundreds of acres while demonstrating their potential. In addition to McCormick and Oliver, the show was also attended by such luminaries of the automotive industry as Alfred P. Sloan of United Motors (soon to be General Motors), George Holley of carburetor fame, and the great Charles Kettering. The undisputed star of the show, however, was Henry Ford.
Henry and Edsel arrived in Fremont on August 6th, and reporters from the Fremont Evening Tribune were there to record the details. There were around twenty-five people in the Ford party, which included a six-piece orchestra. They had arranged for accommodations at a camp on Fremont Island in the middle of the Platte River. A chef was brought in from Omaha, and guards were positioned to keep out intruders, especially reporters, as Ford was on vacation and not interested in granting any interviews. This photo of George Holley and Henry Ford was taken at the camp on Fremont Island:
Ford made a good impression on Nebraskans during the trip, and not just because he directed his orchestra to play for the public at the local high school each evening. A manager of the local Western Union Telegraph office where Ford conducted business described Ford as follows:
“Henry Ford is just a common sort of an individual who likes to associate with people and is fond of wearing overalls and a wide straw hat . . . He impressed me as a good-natured farmer rather than a millionaire.”
One Nebraskan made a particularly good impression on Henry Ford in return, and he was well-rewarded for it. The Fremont Herald reported that a man known locally as Fisherman Carl “attended the gates leading to the cottages occupied by the Ford party.” Carl lived on Fremont Island and earned his livelihood by fishing (hence the nickname). It is not known what Carl did to impress Ford, but the Fremont Herald reported this on September 15, 1916:
“Perhaps Carl’s good disposition and the fact that a steady income is not assured him in his vocation appealed to Mr. Ford. At any rate, Carl received a letter Wednesday from Henry Ford, the chief feature of which was the advice that he had been placed upon his list of private benefactions and that henceforth, for life, he would be paid a monthly pension of $15.”
The paper noted that it had been unable to verify the story, but that Carl’s friends and the other residents of Fremont did believe it to be true.
One day of the tractor show, Wednesday, August 9th, was designated “Ford Owners’ Day,” with the goal of getting as many Ford automobiles as possible to Fremont. It was Henry Ford that designated it as such, not the event organizers, and Ford owners in Nebraska and the surrounding states were invited through their local Ford dealers. There was a good response with an estimated 1,500 Fords in attendance. This panoramic photo found on the Library of Congress website was taken that day:
Many of those Ford-driving spectators wanted to purchase one of Ford’s tractors after the demonstrations, but they were not yet for sale. After further development, the tractor, called the Fordson, was first exported to Britain to help with the war effort and finally made available to American farmers in 1918.
Some events of the tractor show were filmed. The Fremont Evening Tribune reported that “a moving picture operator” was present when Ford arrived in Fremont via train and had his equipment set up for “a shot at the famous manufacturer,” but that Ford had spotted him and ducked his head as he hurried to a waiting automobile. Additionally, it was reported the following January that the State Board of Agriculture was showing a film of the power farming demonstrations held at Fremont which featured twenty types of tractors, including the Ford. If that film still exists, it would be a fascinating piece of history to view.
One newspaper tried to give credit for the enormous success of the show to the pretty girls driving the tractors:
That surely did not hurt, but most of the credit undoubtedly goes to the star power of the man that made car ownership achievable for the average American.
Sources:
Advertisement. Chase Motor Sales Company. Springfield Daily Republican, 15 Sept 1918, p. 20.
Advertisement. Fordson Tractors. Baltimore Sun, 23 June 1918, p. 29.
“Atchison Man Knows H. Ford.” Atchison Champion, 23 Jan 1917, p. 6.
“Bars Picture Men from City Park: Ford Entertainment Delayed by Board’s Attitude.” Fremont Tri-Weekly Tribune, 10 Aug. 1916, p. 1.
“Biggest Crowd Ever in Fremont Assembles to Get Line on Iron Horses.” Omaha Daily Bee, 10 Aug. 1916, p. 3.
“Enormous Crowds at Tractor Show.” Fremont Herald, 11 Aug. 1916, p. 1.
“Free Movie Show Offered.” Lincoln Journal Star, 15 Jan. 1917, p. 2.
“Gives Details of New Ford Tractor.” Jackson Citizen Patriot, 28 Aug. 1917, p. 5.
“Henry Ford Comes for Week’s Visit.” Fremont Tribune, 7 Aug. 1916, p. 2.
“Henry Ford Coming to Tractor Meet.” Fremont Tri-Weekly Tribune, 1 July 1916, p. 6.
“Henry Ford Makes Carl Volstedt Life Pensioner.” Fremont Herald, 15 Sept. 1916, p. 2.
“Henry Ford Will Arrive Tomorrow.” Fremont Tribune, 5 Aug. 1916, p. 8.
“New Ford Tractor of Original Design.” Sunday Oregonian, 9 Sept 1917, p. 59.
“Novel Auto Application: Ford to Furnish Iron Horse for Farm Purposes.” Detroit Free Press, 5 Jun. 1906, p. 10.
“Prominent Auto Men Go to Fremont to the Tractor Show.” Omaha Evening Bee, 9 August 1916, p. 4.
“This the Supreme Show Says Legge.” Fremont Tri-Weekly Tribune, 10 Aug. 1916, p. 4.
“Tractor Magnates See the Big Show.” Omaha Evening Bee, 9 August 1916, p. 4.
