Celebrating 90 -- Collecting through the Decades: 1950s

In the 1950s, the museum’s curators acquired many objects through a network of antique collectors and dealers. Curators were especially looking for Folk Art and other "early American" objects. Titus Geesey of Wilmington, Delaware--who had collected for over 30 years--sold over 300 objects to the museum over the years, including prints, coverlets, tableware, a weathervane and this mechanical doll. -Jeanine Head Miller, Curator of Domestic Life

In the mid-20th century, Henry Ford Museum built on its early holdings to become one of the preeminent collections of American decorative and folk arts. This ceramic serving bowl was made by Moravian-German immigrants in Alamance County, North Carolina. The playfully-arranged turtles and fish are unique representations in Moravian ceramics, which usually emphasizes abstract decoration. -Charles Sable, Curator of Decorative Arts

German immigrants in Pennsylvania created fraktur--highly-decorated documents--to commemorate life's most significant events. The name fraktur is rooted in a German calligraphic tradition and was primarily used for official documents. The Pennsylvania German frakturs continue this typographic tradition but expand upon it to create a new cultural tradition for a new homeland. -Katherine White, Associate Curator, Digital Content

In the early 1950s, the H.J. Heinz Company donated the small brick building where H.J. Heinz began his business to the Edison Institute. The Heinz House was reconstructed in Greenfield Village. The company also donated a sizable archival collection that helps convey the history of the Heinz House, the H.J. Heinz Company, and other stories of innovation and entrepreneurship. -Brian Wilson, Senior Manager, Archives and Library

It may be the most photographed object at The Henry Ford. The mighty Allegheny has anchored the museum's railroad collection since 1956. Many used steam locomotives found their way to city parks and county fairgrounds, left to the mercies of the weather. But the Allegheny is a gem carefully preserved indoors for more than 60 years--four times longer than it operated on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. -Matt Anderson, Curator of Transportation

Clara Ford was an active gardener who presided over several gardening organizations during her lifetime. Citing her interest in flowers, the William Edwin Rudge Printing House of New York sent Mrs. Ford a set of prints originally illustrated by Mary Vaux Walcott in 1925. When Clara Ford died in 1950, a group of items from her estate--including these prints--came into the museum’s collection. -Saige Jedele, Associate Curator, Digital Content

During its 50th anniversary in 1953, Ford Motor Company celebrated the past and looked to the future. While projects like new exhibits and a company archive were undertaken, Ford engineers completed a special project of their own. Their fully-functional concept car, the X-100, was showcased during the celebrations and featured more than 50 innovations, including heated seats and a telephone. -Ryan Jelso, Associate Curator, Digital Content

Thomas C. Gordon (1841-1922), a self-taught artist, created a 15-paneled panorama depicting scenes from the Civil War and toured it throughout eastern Indiana. In 1956, Gordon's daughters wrote to Henry Ford II, hoping he would want the panorama for his grandfather's "Dearborn Museum." The request was redirected to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. The donation arrived in 1958. -Andy Stupperich, Associate Curator, Digital Content

Henry Ford and Harry Ferguson released the 9N, a Ford tractor with the Ferguson 3-point hydraulic hitch-and-lift system, in 1939. When the agreement ended a lawsuit ensued. In 1952 Ferguson accepted $9.25 million from FMC to settle the patent-infringement case. FMC transferred this tractor, one of eight assembled for the defense, to The Edison Institute in 1952 to complete the tractor display. -Deb Reid, Curator of Agriculture & the Environment

Mail order catalogs opened up the world of retail to families around the country. With thousands of items right at their fingertips this Sears and Roebuck catalog would give access to clothing, equipment, home goods, and everything in between to anyone in the United States. The Benson Ford Research Center now utilizes trade catalogs, like this, to document fashion and innovation of the time. -Sarah Andrus, Librarian