Working to Develop Soybean Products, Ford Motor Company, 1940

01

Artifact Overview

Henry Ford believed farmers would prosper if they could produce crops for industry. In 1929, Ford had a research laboratory constructed in Greenfield Village to explore the value of various agricultural products. Soybeans proved promising. In the 1930s, researchers produced soy-based oils and plastics for use in vehicles, created fiber to weave cloth, and experimented with the protein-rich legume to make nutritional food products.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Photographic print

Subject Date

1940

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

84.1.1660.P.189.15159

Credit

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

Material

Paper (Fiber product)
Linen (Material)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 8 in
Width: 9.75 in

Inscriptions

Handwritten in border: plastics research / for plastic car