Workers Installing Pistons on Ford Model T Assembly Line at the Highland Park Plant, 1914

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Artifact Overview

Two critical ingredients in Ford Motor Company's moving assembly line were interchangeable parts and the subdivision of labor. Each piston was exactly like another, so that any piston would fit perfectly in any Model T engine. One worker did not make a whole engine -- or even a whole piston. Each worker performed one step in an assembly process.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Photographic print

Subject Date

1914

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

84.1.1660.P.833.832

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 8.25 in
Width: 10 in