hey came from all corners of the country and even from Canada. Some 275 registra-tions and over 160 Early Ford V-8s gathered in Auburn, Indiana, and the newly expanded Early Ford V-8 Mu-seum. Read all about it on pages 3 and 4.

The winning ticket for the 1956 Mercury was:Josh Porte of Fairport, NY

The 2nd Place prize of $3,000 went to Mike Weltzien of Houston, TX

3rd Place prize of $1,000 to Mike Stump of Ft. Wayne, IN.

Congratulations to the Winners!

Top States in Attendance:

Ohio - 33Illinois - 27California - 23Indiana - 20New York - 20Pennsylvania - 15Michigan - 14

Thirty-six states were represented, along with Canada.

All seems reason-able as it was a Cen-

tral National Meet, with one exception: California!

23 members and families from that far away indi-cates the terrific support the Museum receives from our friends on the left coast. We were also thrilled to have founder Jerry Windle in attendance! Jerry was heard to say, “I like what you did with the place”.

TC

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Sept-Oct 2019News of the Early Ford V-8 Foundation MuseumVolume 27 No. 5

Phone: 260-927-8022 • Email: info@fordv8foundation.org

ewsoundation

President’s & Editor’s Messages 2 2019 CNM 3-4 Cash Donations - New Members 5 “A Great Day in 1936” 6-7 Miscellaneous 8 Item Donations 9 Ford Store 10 Foundation Friends Ads 11 Membership Form Back cover

2019 CNM A Rousing Success!

Lynn and I got home last night from the 2019 Central Na-tional Meet of the Early Ford V-8 Club hosted by Regional groups 141, 169 and 56 at the Museum. I

must admit that it is still a bit of a blur. I was wearing two hats all the time. I am a member of the V-8 Club and of R.G. 141 so I was a host. Then I also was representing the Foundation and our Museum which was not the host, but a facility being used by the host. But I was also a host because I was President of the Museum Board. Are you following? I feel like one of those old electric cat clocks that you’d see on a kitchen wall in the fifties. The black and white plastic one that had its eyes and tail going back and forth with the seconds on the clock face. It was fun and exhilarating but I’m glad that my wife was there to help with the drive home.

What really is great is that so many people were able to experience the col-lections and the Museum. Now many more people know the significance of this undertaking. What began as Jerry Windle’s dream is now an important American museum. It was wonderful to have Jerry see the result. As I walked around and watched people, I could see the lights go on in their eyes. People appreciated what they saw. They en-joyed the collection and understood the mission of the Foundation. People were smiling all four days.

When rain threatened the Concourse day, Executive Director Josh Conrad went to our new neighbor John Kruse of World Wide Auctions, to see if we could use some of his 220,000 sq. ft. building. All the point-judged cars and Rouge cars fit inside with lots of room. We are grateful to the V-8 Club for holding its Meet at the Museum. I want to thank the Foundation members and members of the EFV8 Club Regional Groups for all of your hard work. Thanks to Ken and Carolyn Bounds for doing all of the registration work for the Meet . You all made it happen.

I had been nervous about the Meet for a year and did not get much sleep for the whole week but it’s over and was a big success. Now back to reality. We need help to sustain the Museum. We cur-rently have $250,000 in the endowment fund and a sizable operating account to pay the Staff and keep the lights on. We have a $500,000 construction loan. It is our intention to pay off an addi-tional $100,000 by the first of the year. We are currently having an audit done. This was scheduled and is very thor-ough. The audit is a good thing. We can stand on it to show to the world that we are on solid ground. Joe Floyd con-tinues to contribute by having a genera-tor backup system installed for the Mu-seum. Joe has also funded additional track lights for both the Floyd and Corey galleries. The generator and lights will be installed this fall.

The Museum, like any other museum, needs support from its members. Please consider helping the Foundation this year as December draws nigh. You have seen the letter from Trustee Bill Randolph on how to help with your RMD. There is still square footage available with the “Buy the Foot” cam-paign. We’d love to name the original building gallery for someone. If you are interested, let’s talk.

Put a trip to the Museum on your calen-dar! John

Sept-Oct 2019Page 2

President: John Knecht- NY 5/22Vice President: Craig Floyd - SD 5/22Secretary: George Mercer - KY 5/21Treasurer: Milly Scheidt - NY 5/20

Audie Blaylock - IN 5/20Henry Dominguez - UT 5/22

Tom Johnston - CA 5/22Jim LaDuc - MI 5/21Dick Martin - IN 5/21Cecil Polan - WV 5/21

Bill Randolph - OH 5/20David Sharp - IN 5/20John Smith - IN 5/20

Board of Trustees

The Foundation News is published bi-monthly by the Early Ford V-8 Foundation,

a 501c3 Educational Organization

President’s Message... from the Editor...

The Central National Meet

The big news of course is the 2019 Central National Meet which was held at the Museum in August. As John stated in his message, it was an in-credible success. We have coverage on pages 3 and 4. The Raffle Winners are on the cover.

It’s 1936

We received an excellent article from Joe Floyd entitled: “A Great Day in 1936”. You’ll find it on pages 6 and 7.

A New Street Address

We have a new street address and it’s appropriately named. See page 8.

Open Seven Days a Week

Finally! With the hiring of another full-time employee (Nick Miller), we are now able to be open 9-5 seven days a week.

The “Monument” displays a Special Message

See page 8 to learn about the real rea-son behind our Monument and what it stands for.

Car Donations

One came all the way from Dallas, Texas. It’s a one-owner 1940 Ford Fordor. The other is from Ohio—a 1949 Ford Tudor. Read about them on page 9.

Item Donations

Forgive us if we didn’t get all of the many item donations we received be-fore and after the CNM. There were just too many to list them all!

And there’s much more. We’ve squeezed a lot into these 12 pages and hope you enjoy it!

Frank Scheidt, Editorv8foundation@frontiernet.net

Phone: 585-637-8863 (NY)

How often do you see a helicopter on a concourse field?

A BIG Flea Market with over 30 vendors

The Weather was perfect until...Concourse Day!

The Judging was brought indoors at the Kruse Plaza!

The Touring Class cars and Walk-Arounds had to stay out-doors during the rains. The Kruse Plaza next door graciously allowed us to bring the judged cars inside their massive build-ing, the former Military Museum. The following day, with forecasts of thunder storms through-out the day, was another perfect “no rain” day. So much for weather forecasting!

Sept-Oct 2019 Page 3

’32 Roadster driven from New York

More pics from the 2019 Central National Meet

Page 4 Sept-Oct 2019

Starting them Young!

Two Authors: Henry Dominguez (Left) is a Trustee of the V-8 Museum and author of books on Ford. He was in town for our Board meeting and the CNM. Tim O’Cal-laghan, also an author of many books on Ford, made a surprise visit to the Museum during the Meet. Both were blown away with the outstanding Museum.

ALL of the Memorial Bricks that have been purchased were installed just in time for the CNM.

Bryan Allen, MI in memory of “LB” AllenEFV8 Club, RG#1, CA in memory of Mal & Elaine PinoEFV8 Club, RG#1, CA in memory of Tom Morri-sonJeff Hull, IN in memory of Richard HullDonald & Georgene Iacobucci, OH in memory of Michael IafeliceSalvatore Seda, FL, in memory of Salvador & Gen-erosa SedaSam & Sharon Shreve, OHDouglas J. Skinner, SC in memory of Benson FordDouglas J. Skinner, SC in honor of Benson Ford Jr.

Page 5Sept-Oct 2019

CASH DONATIONS (Since our last newsletter)

Up to $99

Terry Baxter, TXDiane Fitzgerald, ILPaul Krueger, CTMichael Polan, WVBill Reynolds, INChris Sanders, England$100-$499

Jeff Horrocks, MDTom O’Donnell, ILAlfred Reeves, PAJoseph Santoro, NY

Recent Brick Orders

EFV8 Club, RG #71, TX (1) for Alan E. BentzEFV8 Club, RG #141, OH (7)Dick & Linda Livingston, IL (1)Kenneth & Toddy Schroeder, IN (2)

The “Buy the Foot” Campaign is still underway. All do-nors will have their name on a plaque in the Expanded Museum. When you reach 9 square feet (1 square yard) you’ll receive this unique Pewter License Plate Tab.

The list of Sq Ft donors since the last newsletter. Some folks bought more than once and their additional feet are listed here as well.

Dan Adams, ILKyle Aldrich, INJames Brunk, WIPage Clinton, WIDavid Coleman, INRay Colesworthy, VANick Ellis, ILDave Embling, United KingdomCarl Felton, INDiane Fitzgerald, ILScott Gilday ILFrank Guzik, INGeorge Harris, OKPhillip Hatch, MIGreg Hawk, OHJoseph Hitchcock, MEChester Holm, CAMeg Hutchings, DEDavid Johnson, ILMichael Kokocinski, OHDon Leidel, ID

$5,000+Joe Floyd

REMEMBER: Your donation may be

tax deductible under IRS regulations.

Bob Metcalf, INCliff Miller, INGrace Navarro, SDKathy Noble, INHenry Otto, MILee Packer, MIMichael Reiling, INBill Reynolds, INBurt Richmond, ILMax E. Selvel, INKim Smith, MILinda Souder, CAJoseph Valentino, CAErich Veigel, INDave Whitman, OHDale Wimer, PA

$1000 - $4999

Kaywin Martin, FLJerry Vincentini, NE

New Life MemberGeorge Finley TX

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!A GREAT DAY IN 1936

by Joe H. Floyd

here were some years your grandparents can point to as being very important. 1936 was indeed one of those years. Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, Winston Chur-chill was elected Prime Minister of England, Joseph Stalin had eliminated all of his opposition to become Premiere of Russia and Franklin Roosevelt was getting ready to run for his second term as President of the United States. The winds of war were blowing over Europe and the United States was still suffering from a great economic depression which started with the stock market crash in 1929. The Ford Motor Com-pany had just opened its Rotunda to the public in Dearborn, Michigan.

Our story starts some 83 years ago on a 900-acre farm located in the lower Sioux River Valley in Southeastern Lincoln County, South Dakota on a homestead farm belonging to George and Sarah Reynolds. George had inherited the farm from his father. It is early June and George and Sarah had just finished their noon meal. Sarah was in the kitchen and George was at the dining table reading the local paper.

George says, “We should really go to town and see if we can purchase another automobile. I am just about out of bailing wire to keep ours running, and if we are going to visit your sister in Brookings this Fall, we need to do something.” Sarah replies, “George we cannot because there is a depres-sion on.” George replies, “Do you remember last fall at the county fair we met that gentlemen, Whittie Larson. He gives the news for WNAX radio in Yankton. I was listening to him on the radio in the living room before we ate and he said that Henry Ford, in a speech to his dealers in Detroit, announced the depression was over.”

There was a long silence and Sarah said, “Give me a few minutes to get my hat and purse.”

So, the Reynolds left the house and got into their 1929 Model A Ford and drove the five miles to the county seat, Canton, SD, which had its own rail siding and granary. This was where George sold their crops the Fall of each year.

They crossed the tracks and headed west down Main Street, passed the courthouse square towards Mr. Wilson’s garage two blocks down. As they approached Sarah said, “Look George, he has painted his building, new canvas awnings, signs in the windows and all the lights are on.” They parked their car just short of the garage. As they walked towards the garage George said, “Look Sarah, the sign says they have financing.”

As George reached down to open the door of Mr. Wilson’s garage for Sarah, what they did not know was that thousands of families throughout the United States had made the same decision. The Ford Motor Company, having fourteen differ-ent models for 1936, were about to have one of the biggest sales years ever.

Six week later two freight cars showed up on the Canton rail-road siding. Normally, that did not happen except during harvest season. It was not long before some of the younger boys in town were down to the siding to see what was going on. When they returned home, they said all they could see was the freight cars were owned by the Ford Motor Company. That news got around town quickly and the next morning some folks came to see what was to be unloaded from the cars. Soon three brand new automobiles and two Ford trac-tors were unloaded. Mr. Wilson’s mechanics got them started and drove them down to his garage. One of the cars was a dark red four door touring sedan with a trunk. Folks com-mented that was a good idea. Most cars of the time did not have trunks as part of the car body.

After harvest, George drove Sarah to Brooking, SD some 100 miles north, mostly on newly paved roads recently con-structed by the local WPA Administration. However, before they left George spent another eleven dollars and had Mr. Wilson install a radio in their new Ford car, so he could listen to Whittie Larson on WNAX radio. It was a clear channel radio station at 550 on the dial. The station was owned by the Gurney Seed Company, the same company that sent seed catalogues to your grandparents each Spring.

COMMENTARY

George and Sarah Reynolds are fictional, but they represent the second-generation homestead farmers in the Sioux River delta. It is some of the best crop land in South Dakota. The farmers in this area sold their grains each year regardless of price to keep the soup lines supplied during the depression and helped feed most of Europe following WWII. The farms are much larger today, and land sells for over $7,000/ acre.

For years historians have argued if it was Henry Ford or the beginning of the manufacture of war goods that ended the Great Depression. At that time when any of the nation’s in-dustrialists spoke, like Henry Ford or Firestone, their com-ments were printed in every newspaper in the country. They were like Warren Buffet of today. My money is on Henry Ford.

Wilson’s garage is fictitious, but there was a Ford dealer on Canton’s main street. There is a picture in the court house showing the dealership with a large sign saying “1934 Fords $520.00”. Early Ford dealers were allowed to sell all Ford products.

Page 6 Sept-Oct 2019

T

There is no evidence as to the ownership of the rail cars used to transport new Ford cars and trucks in the 1930’s. These rail road cars were specially fitted to carry up to four units and were either owned or lease by the Ford Motor Company.

In the mid 1930’s the Federal Government established the Federal Communication Commission known as the FCC. Through a licensing process they established power levels and frequencies radio stations could operate. In the process they established several clear channel stations which could operate at full power, day and night. As a result, late at night you could hear the great bands of the time from a radio sta-tion hundreds of miles away. WNAX was such a station with the license given to Mr. Chan Gurney, then a U.S Senator from South Dakota. This station can still be heard by dialing 550 AM on your radio.

THE 1936 FORD GALERY

Let me personally welcome you to the 1936 Ford Gallery located in the Early Ford V-8 Foundation Museum in Auburn, IN. When you walk in you will see it is designed to look like an early Ford dealership by Group Delphi of Ft. Wayne, IN. There is a salesman’s desk where you can pick out the model that best fits your needs. Over to the right you will see a red four door Ford touring sedan, like George and Sarah’s, res-cued from a 70-year barn storage in southern Illinois. That is

the car we used as a guide for the restoration of many of the models.

In the center you will see how Henry made fourteen models possible that year. You will see one of the only remaining model Fords built in Nazi Germany. To the left is how the National Cash Register

Company got around the restrictions in many cities that said “No Trucks Allowed”. Then on the turntable, one of the six stainless steel Fords stamped out by Ford for the Allegheny Ludlum Steel Company of Pittsburg, PA for their salesmen who drove them all through the war. The car was completely restored by Lon Krueger of Phoenix, AZ.

Enjoy your time in 1936. Details of the finding and restora-tion of each car is in a book for sale in the Museum Store.

(See page 10)

The V-8 Museum is Invited to a South Bend Event

We took one of Joe Floyd’s incredible 1936 Fords, the do-nated black Roadster, along with our 1940 Lincoln Continen-tal Cabriolet to the Second annual Concourse D’Elegance Copshaholm in South Bend, Indiana on July 13th.

There were 74 outstanding vehicles in 11 classes. This was an opportunity to take our Museum to the public. John Knecht, Josh Conrad and Craig Floyd attended the Friday evening Collectors dinner. Saturday morning vehicle placement started at 7am. By our request, the Museum's cars were not Judged, allowing more time to meet the public.

The response to the Museum cars was fantastic. The Con-course Organizers are very impressed with our entire collec-tion and have invited us to participate in the 2020 event.

Page 7Sept-Oct 2019

It’s still 2181, but General Doolittle Drive is gone. We had the opportunity to rename our “street” and chose ROTUNDA DRIVE, since it goes right by our new Rotunda!

But for now, if you mail us via USPS, please continue to use P.O. Box 284, Auburn, IN 46706.

For UPS and Fed Ex, 2181 Rotunda Dr. 46706 is best.

Page 8 Sept-Oct 2019

Nick Miller and Craig Floyd had the opportunity to par-ticipate in the 6th Annual Lincoln Homecoming at the Gilmore. The David Cole/Ken Tibbot 1940 Continental was in good company with many beautiful Continentals and Lincolns. Perfect weather for an event at Hickory Corners, MI. The annual event is to maintain and operate the Lincoln Motor Car Heritage Museum. Many people thanked us for bringing the Lincoln to the event.

Some Comments left by V-8 Museum visitors:

Lots of classic Fords here. If you are into the older cars - this is the place to visit! This is a new museum - and well worth the stop!

WOW!Main focus is a private donor collection of 1936 Fords that is out of this world! Loved it and would go again!

The museum is stretching into 3x it’s previous space which includes showcasing it’s newest donation - one of the 4 re-maining stainless steel 1936 Ford Tudors (which has been completely restored & polished to an eye-blinding gleam!)

We stopped by earlier this week to take a pre-dedication look and while Josh had had a long day, he came around several times to chat with us. He’s the most interactive museum manager we’ve ever met.

We read the book, "All the Bright Places" which inspired us to want to come to Indiana. (The book is about two teenag-ers who want to escape from their small Indiana town. Then they travel around their state to see important or unusual sites.) Then we read about Joe Floyd donating his cars, so we had to come and see the museum and the Stainless Steel Ford! —Grace, Andy G., Joe and Alex from Elkton, South Dakota.

2004 Ford Expedition Donated

Toni Vachon of Indiana donated this car to us. So far, it has been invaluable in hauling donated parts (3 full loads) and items and supplies for the Central National Meet. It’ll be put to good use!

A SCHULTZ FAMILY HEIRLOOM“This 1940 Ford V-8 Deluxe Fordor sedan was purchased in Hastings, Nebraska by my grandfather, Albert Schultz who pur-chased the automobile from my father, Robert Schultz. The original 1940 Ford showroom brochure which remains in excel-lent condition was found in the glove compartment.”

So wrote Bert Schultz when he donated this beautiful ’40 Ford Fordor that was in his family its entire life. It was trailered to the Museum by Jimmy & Connie Gibson of Texas as they made their way to the 2019 Central National Meet. Bert also donated several automobilia items shown in the photo below.

Here’s the donated 1949 Ford Tudor, but that’s not the donor, Dave Koehler of Ohio! This is the previous owner, Mike Pitcher when he loaned us this car a few years ago. Dave bought it from him and is donating it to the museum.

Mike Klinger (IN): 1939 Ford Running Gear (complete)Robert Reitz (OH): Several books and manualsBill Beaty (FL): Floyd Clymers Historical Motor Scrapbook (1)Carol Yeomans (CT): 1936 Photos in Frames (4), 1936 Photos (6)Perry Stump (OH): "Suggested Time Schedule" - FoMoCo BookGlen Stack (NY): A large 1932-41 Ford Horn Collection Toni Vachon (IN): 2004 Ford Expedition. Tom O'Donnell (IL): 2 Neon Clocks with Floyd Collections Carsplus a ton of parts and some literature.Ron Dopke (IL): 1 large framed photo of Henry II, Benson & Bill Ford, framed portrait of Henry Ford, plus print ads and brochures.Scott McGregor (CT): A much-needed ViseDarlene Gunn (CT): Many books in memory of her husband, CharlieDoug Swanson (CA): Original 1930s Check and InvoicePaul & Joanne Oman (WI): 1953 Ford Pickup Show Room Banner(In Memory of: Robert A. Zecher, Tujunga, CA.)Given by the Zecher Family, C/O Lisa Roberts (AZ): “The Ford Factory”, “The Good Old Fords”, “The Ford Shows”Don and Mary Samuelson (WI): 1937 FactographJoe & Terry Vetter (NY): 1938 book "An X-Ray of the Quality Car in the Low-Price Field", "1938-39 Chassis Parts List"Jimmy Gibson (TX):1933 thru 1953 Ford Carburetor CollectionCharles Pruit (IN): Massive 46, 47, 48 parts collectionLowell F. Beggs II (IN): Magazines, Books, PostersDarrell Harding (MI): 20 Ford Used Cars mirror hangersMary Ann & Lynn Ewing (OH): 10lb Postal ScaleTerry Maldeney (IN): Many 1953 Ford parts EFV8COA RG#36 (MD): Trash Can, HoseRalph Alix: 1938 Service Bulletins - Mechanical - BookMike Gall (PA): "The Ford Rotunda" BrochureDonald Storteboom (MI): Bronze Rouge Triangular tool Badge, Silver Ford Postmaster Sav-A-Key, Ford 30 Years of Progress Coin Randy McKean (MI): 2-1932 Engines & Parts

Page 9Sept-Oct 2019

If we missed listing your donation on this page, please let us know. We received a record number of items during the CNM.

Sept-Oct 2019Page 10

1948 Ford Flathead V-81/6th Scale!

Just $25 plus $7.00 S&H

Call 260-927-8022 to orderor mail a check to:

Early Ford V-8 MuseumP.O. Box 284

Auburn, IN 46706

IncredibleDetail!

From HAWK—Americaʼs

Oldest Model Company

“THE FLOYD COLLECTION”A 95-page book written by Joe Floyd of South Dakota, donor of his complete collection of 1936 Fords to the Museum. Joe tells a bit about himself and his background, then a story about each and every 1936 Ford that’s featured in this book with color photos.

$25 + $3.75 S&HALL proceeds benefit

the V-8 Museum!

Page 11Sept-Oct 2019

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