Century of Progress Souvenir Specimen Box of Materials Used in Ford Automobile Manufacture, 1934
THF153819 / Century of Progress Souvenir Specimen Box of Materials Used in Ford Automobile Manufacture, 1934
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Artifact Overview
Ford Motor Company mounted the most talked-about exhibition in Chicago during the World's Fair in 1934. One highlight of the Ford Exposition building was "Out of the Earth" -- a series of dioramas showing the major resources used in automotive production. Visitors could return home with souvenir boxes that contained samples of some of these natural materials.
Artifact Details
Artifact
Souvenir
Date Made
1934
Location
at Greenfield Village in Soybean Lab Agricultural Gallery
Object ID
98.59.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Betty P. Price
Material
Cardboard
Iron ore
Sillimanite
Mohair
Plastic
Copper (Metal)
Cork (Bark)
Rubber (Material)
Zinc alloy
Soybean
Asbestos
Glass (Material)
Bauxite
Cotton (Fiber)
Dimensions
Height: 0.875 in (postal box)
Width: 3.75 in (postal box)
Length: 5.25 in (postal box)
Inscriptions
MAN MUST GO TO THE EARTH / FOR ALL MATERIALS / FORD EXPOSITION / A CENTURY OF PROGRESS
Keywords |
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Related Content
SetHenry Ford: Worlds Fair
- 24 Artifacts
The Texas Centennial Exposition in Dallas celebrated the frontier past of Texas, especially its 1836 victory over Mexico. The Ford Motor Company Pavilion, among the largest of industrial firms' buildings at the fair, was designed by industrial designer Walter Dorwin Teague. Its interior displays focused on how agriculture and natural resources of the Southwest could be transformed into car parts.
SetHenry Ford: Soybeans
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Henry Ford believed that industry and agriculture should complement one another. In the 1930s, he pursued soybeans as a crop that might unite the two. Ford built a soybean laboratory in Greenfield Village. Experiments there led to the use of some soy-based oils and plastics in Ford Motor Company vehicles.
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Chicago's 1933-34 Century of Progress Exposition used the theme of progress to encourage optimism during the Depression. The 11-acre Ford Motor Company exhibit became the most talked-about exhibit of 1934, featuring a central Rotunda designed to simulate graduated clusters of gears. After the fair, this building became an attraction at Ford headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, until it burned down in 1962.