Torch Used at the Dedication of the "Henry" and "Benson" Blast Furnaces, Ford Motor Company Rouge Plant, 1920 and 1922

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Artifact Overview

With help from his grandfather, two-year-old Henry Ford II used this torch to light the first blast furnace at Ford Motor Company's Rouge factory in 1920. Two years later, his younger brother Benson Ford, three years old at the time, lit the Rouge's second furnace with the same torch. Each of the furnaces, nicknamed "Henry" and "Benson", produced 1,200 tons of iron a day.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Kerosene torch

Date Made

circa 1920

Subject Date

1920-1922

Location

Not on exhibit to the public.

Object ID

00.1510.89

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. From the Estate of Henry and Clara Ford.

Material

Chromium
Metal

Dimensions

Diameter: 4 in
Length: 13 in
Height: 4.5 in

Inscriptions

plaque: HENRY FURNACE / RIVER ROUGE PLANT / CONSTRUCTED 1917-1920 / BEGAN OPERATION MONDAY, MAY 17,1920. 11:58 A.M. / THIS LAMP USED BY HENRY FORD II plaque: BENSON FURNACE / RIVER ROUGE PLANT / CONSTRUCTED 1917-1920 / BEGAN OPERATION WEDNESDAY OCT.11,1922. 11:20 A.M. / THIS LAMP USED BY BENSON FORD
Torch Used at the Dedication of the "Henry" and "Benson" Blast Furnaces, Ford Motor Company Rouge Plant, 1920 and 1922