The Flivver King: A Story of Ford-America was written by Upton Sinclair. If the name Upton Sinclair sounds familiar but you are not sure why I have two words for you “Meat Packing” Yes, Upton Sinclair wrote the Jungle. In case you never read the Jungle I should warn you it is not about the quality of the meat but about the quality of the working environment that the meat is processed in.

Like the Jungle the Flivver King is about the worker. As a matter of fact it was originally published in 1937 by the United Automobile Workers of America.

The story starts with little Abner Strutt saying “Mom,” there’s a feller down the street says he’s goin’ to make a wagon that’ll run without a hoss.”

That fellow was a young Henry Ford working on a motor car after working his days at the Electric Company. In those earlier days Abner Shutt would run after Henrys car when it did run and he and the other kids would help Mr. Ford turn the car around since in those days it didn’t have reverse gear. The kids would also help Mr. Ford push the car home when it broke down (which it did often since in those days it didn’t have a radiator and the engine would melt itself).

Abner Strutt grew up to be a small man a missing finger from a period in his development when he didn’t get fed well and lost a finger to frost bite selling papers.

Abner had a decent job but wasn’t progressing since he didn’t know the right people. He read that Henry Ford was building a motor car and figured he would ask him for a job. At that time Ford was building cars in an old rented Bicycle Factory. Abner was hired to work on the Model A. He rolled tires to a body, picked out the correct nuts (right and left were all mixed together) and put on the tires. He was very good at his job. It was Abner that told Mr. Ford that things would be better and less mistakes would be made if the left and right nuts were sorted before they got to the car.

At this time lost of people were manufacturing cars. Henry Fords unique idea was to lower the price not raise the price. Every year a new model of car would be released (just like today), the Model A, then B, then C. And for every new model the price would go up a Hundred Bucks or so. Cars were fashion statements for the wealthy. Ford wanted to lower the cost and build a car that would last ten years. This way a wealth person could purchase a new car and then sell the used car at a secondary market. Ford also had hand in the pricing of the used car market.

It was General Motors that developed the production line. They had a part of car that had 20 people running to it, move slowly down a belt so the workers could sit while the parts came to them. Henry’s spies brought the idea to him, and he of course improved it so the ENTIRE vehicle moved while the workers stayed put.

The next idea Henry had was to increase wages. He wanted his workers to be able to afford his vehicle. But it wasn’t so easy. He didn’t raise wages to issued bonuses to people that lived to his “CODE OF ETHICS”. Single Men could not earn it unless they took care of an elderly person. Social workers visited workers home to make sure they lived ethically.

This is what is so horribly sad about this book. Even if you disagree with an employers right to send social workers into the home of his employees to make sure they lived an ethical life, you can not argue that in the beginning Henry Ford was an IDEALIST.

Yet by the end of the story Henry Fords idealism is corrupted by a billion dollars. I wrote the first line so I shall write from the end of the book. Abner’s daughter in law is staggering in the rain after being attacked and her husband Abner’s son was beaten with billy clubs while handcuffed. Ford is leaving a party and his chauffeur notices her. “What is that?” asks the chauffeur.

“Maybe she is drunk,” said the guard.

The car sped on. They had their orders, they stopped for nothing. They were carrying a billion dollars, and such a sum of money cannot manifest either sympathy or curiosity ; it has enough to do to take care of itself.

The book follows Abner from his early youth to his youngest son being beaten by Ford’s anti-union goons.

It follows happy times when Ford rose salaries and they family purchased a home, to times during the great depression when the entire family lived in that house plus borders since only 2 out of the 8 family members had jobs and then only one or two days a week at salaries much less then they had made prior to the Great Depression.

It follows the family working in the factory as the machines get faster and faster and use less and less labor.

It follows Abner’s son from his days of running booze from Canada during probation to his days working for Mr. Ford as a goon, a job he learned well protection the booze.

It follows Abner’s son from his days of college football to his days organization the first Automobile Union in America.

It follows Abner’s oldest son from his days learning skills in metallurgy from Henry Ford’s schools and earning $45 a week, living in a snotty neighborhood looking down on the labors that he came from.

Abner’s Stutts family is the perfect symbol for the Ford America. Four kids each forever changed by Henry Fords invention. Each made different by Henry Fords earlier idealism and made different again by his corruption of the billion dollars.
The book always follows Henry Ford, from his early days building a horseless carriage in his shed and everyone thought he was nuts. To raising the money to build and sell cars. His sponsoring car races to build advertise his cars.

He then wanted to lower the cost of cars so more people could purchase it. His investors didn’t like this idea so he bought some of them out.

The growth of his company, is anti-war stance. He went to Europe to promote peace.

His desire to raise wages (more of his investors bought out).

To increasing of production. 2 Million cars in a year before the great depression.

The great depression. Making announcements that he would increase production and then cutting production. (He wanted America to have faith in the eccnomy.). Problem was then thousands would storm his factories looking for the job he announced in the paper.

Raising wages and then firing half the staff. Past ideologies now is nothing more than publicity for him.

While at the end of the book Henry Ford is evil, he is made out more sad then evil. Thought this might be the safety of time. In 1934 it might have been hard to feel sad for Henry Ford.


Recommended: Yes