Why did they use wood in pickup boxes?

[purplepickup]

Thanks for the answers guys.  I might have to wait a couple years to explain heifers and traction to my 13 yr old grandson.  

If you see toe nail gouges in my pickup bed you'll know I've been testing for traction.

[Leon]

Was it so Henry Ford had a place to put all the shipping crates rather than throw them out?

[purplepickup]

Was it so Henry Ford had a place to put all the shipping crates rather than throw them out?

I saw a show on PBS about Henry Ford.  He had his suppliers make shipping crates to his specifications and they had to be bolted together, using specific bolts,  instead of nailed.  He would then use the pre-cut pieces of wood from the crates for floorboards in Model T's and bolt them down with the same bolts he saved from the crates.  

He was a "waste not, want not" kind of guy.  Some more Henry trivia....his sawmills in the upper penninsula of Michigan were producing huge piles of scrap and sawdust.  Instead of just burning it or hauling it away, he and a relative, Edward Kingsford came up with a way to make charcoal briquettes and they sold the scrap as bags of Kingsford Charcoal.

[alchevy]

See this picture of the only car that's legal to drive on the roads in Mississippi. The law is still on the books that states that you cannot open a driver's side door when parrallel parking on a street. This car has no driver's door.

If you remmember from watching Andy Griffith on TV, they always scooted across the seat of the patrol car from the passenger side.

[abonecoupe31]

The wooden crate lumber story is factual.

My grandfather Harry, and his brother, my uncle Walt, bought a new 1914 Model T that was  totaled with about 3 miles on her for $25.  The guy that bought it got a belly full of beer at the tavern, celebrating the purchase of his first new Ford, and got hung up on the Inter Urban tracks in Grand Rapids, MI.  He lost the dual with the electric train, and got the steering column shoved thru his chest, dying instantly.  Walt saw the car on the wrecker's boom being towed to the scrap yard, and flagged the driver down, and had it delivered home, after stopping by the place where my grandfather worked and getting the $10 he was short for the purchase.

They ordered a new body from the dealer in Grand Rapids, Universal Ford, and in a few weeks it arrived on a flat car at the railroad station.  They took the body out of the box and saved the crate, where Walt cut it to fit using the templates provided, using the band saw at the furniture factory where he was employed.

Believe it or not, after 14 years of service, they buried this car behind their house, to fill in a low spot in the yard.  (Harry bought an Essex sedan)  It was still a running, servicable car.  But T's weren't worth anything then.  It's still there.  I always wondered how much of it is still intact.  They also buried a Star touring car, which is missing the ring and pinion gears.  The guy spent the entire afternoon removing the parts, only to find out it was in worse condition than his gear set.

I've still got my uncle Walt's valve grinder they used on the T.