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The supreme object of the 20th century, the automobile\u2019s development as both transportation technology and cultural totem is literally the story of American capitalism. In the first episode of a six-part series, we examine the life and legacy of Henry Ford, whose Model T took the nation by storm after its debut in 1908. As Ford rises to an unprecedented position of wealth and power, his virulent anti-semitism and destructive business impulses threaten his company\u2019s dominance of an emerging mass market in the 1920s.\xa0

The Model T\u2019s rise and fall as the nation\u2019s most popular commercial product gives us a chance to examine the dark forces at the heart of the progressive era, connecting Ford\u2019s business innovations (the assembly line, the $5 day, etc) to the racism and hypernationalism that plunged the world into depression and war.

The series will continue with Parts 2-5 on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

Sources/inspiration for this episode include:

Paul Ingrassia, Engines of Change: The American Dream in Fifteen Cars\xa0

William Knoedelseder, Fins: Harley Earl, the Rise of General Motors, and the Glory Days of Detroit\xa0

Lizabeth Cohen, A Consumer\u2019s Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America\xa0