Yes they were and together with essayist John Burrows and tire and rubber magnate Harvey Firestone, made up the “Vagabonds”. Their aim was simple, to ride out to the country side and enjoy life. These bros were probably one of the first groups of people who did what would one day be commonly known as a “roadtrip”. We’re not sure if the term existed back then, but a roadtrip is certainly what they did.
Henry Ford wanted to test out his new Model T invention and wanted to live out his dream, which was to enjoy “the blessing of hours of pleasure in God’s great open spaces.” This was a dream that he wanted fulfilled not only for himself but to as many people as possible. And we all know today that this dream was indeed fulfilled. Ford was able to manufacture affordable cars that became used by hundreds of thousands of Americans in no time and he and his buddies got their dream road trip that started in 1918.
However, everything began long before a single automobile was made. In 1896, Ford was working as a chief engineer for Thomas Edison’s company. A 33 year old Ford was showing his latest draft for a diesel powered automobile concept to his boss, Edison. Edison liked his plans and encouraged the relatively young mind to push further with his idea. 16 years later, they met again and since then they became life-long friends. In 1914 they decided to travel to the Everglades in southwest Florida for a vacation and every year since then for the next 10 years, they would go out on an excursion somewhere.
Soon John Burrows joined in the picture for he loved the outdoors very much. He was a writer and the open fields of the countryside provided an inspirational literary charm to him. Then another brother wanted to join in and he had business in mind. He’s the business and pleasure at the same time type of guy and he wanted to survey the countryside for potential water power source, this was Harvey Firestone and he completes what would be dubbed as the Vagabonds.
They built campsites, raced against each other on the open field, chopped wood, did high kicks, shared stories around the bonfire, slept under the stars, practiced their birdcalls learned to identify plants and even got to hang out with the president at that time. It was to become the template of what a perfect summer road trip ought to be.
It was a long and wild trip but, as they say, all good things come to an end. Burroughs passed away a few years after their first trip together and Firestone called it quits when he got frustrated about all the media attention their intimate private trip was getting. The trips gradually devolved into a “travelling circus”, he said.
And so, the remaining Vagabonds, Edison and Ford, retired to their homes in Fort Myers because they had houses there and they spent the rest of their days as good neighbors until Edison went to his eternal rest in 1931. Their properties have, today, been converted into a historical museum.
It sure was fun while it lasted.
