Ford Tractor Company
Ford Tractor Company was a company in Minneapolis, Minnesota, active 1916–1917, that built tractors to facilitate "horseless farming". It was not related to the Ford Motor Company.
The choice of name has been assessed as deceptive by later commentators. Businessman W. Baer Ewing had hired tractor designer Robert Kinkaid to develop his product line, but named the company after one Paul Ford, a local hardware clerk Ewing had hired, allegedly to leverage the Ford name to take advantage of customer confusion with Henry Ford.[1][2] The company may have hoped for a quick settlement with Henry Ford to acquire the name, but instead Henry Ford marketed his own line of tractors, beginning in 1916, under the brand name Fordson.[3]
The company is the subject of a silent educational documentary produced in 1917, Horseless Farming With Ford Tractors.[4]
References
- ^ Terry Dean Larry L. Swenson. Antique American Tractor and Crawler Value Guide, Second Edition. Voyageur Press. pp. 95–. ISBN 978-1-61060-342-3.
- ^ C.H. Wendel (25 September 2005). Standard Catalog of Farm Tractors 1890-1980. Krause Publications. pp. 312–. ISBN 1-4402-2568-0.
- ^ Robert N. Pripps Andrew Morland. Ford Tractors : N-Series, Fordson, Ford and Ferguson, 1914-1954. Voyageur Press. pp. 14–. ISBN 978-1-61060-634-9.
- ^ Farming With Ford Tractors - 1917 Educational Documentary
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