Ford Times, April 1978; Will the Kirtland's Warblers Return?

The April, 1978 issue of the Ford Times featured a cover by Charlie Harper, with more illustrations inside. The article asks, "Will the Kirtland's Warbler Return?" The Kirtland Warbler lives in one small area of the world, in Michigan's Jack Pine forest.

The Kirtland Warbler winters in the Bahamas and returns to Michigan, to a habitat of under 50 square miles. The birds nest in the sandy soil known as Grayling sand.

Author Jean Ducey notes that at the time of her writing, the entire world's population weighed 12 pounds, consisting of 200 breeding pairs.

The Jack Pine cones only open with fire. The article states that the U. S. Forest Service completed a 500-acre burn and rotates the cutting and planting of trees on a five-year cycle. 

Camp Grayling cut back on tank training, Mio and Grayling provided guides and daily tours to control visitors, and studies were being made to determine the if the use of pesticides, area resort development, and weather change were impacting the populaiton.

Today, with continual human intervention to protect their habitat, the warblers number around 2000.

The Kirtland's Warbler Audubon photo

This issue includes articles on olden times childhood pranks (like outhouse tipping), recipes for carp, and baseball's wonderful fans. 

The Car Buy's Digest highlighted the new Ford cars.

The Fairmont EPA fuel estimate was 33 mpg highway and 23 city. It had "space age technology" with "computer modeling."

My mother had a Fiesta. It got an amazing 46 mpg highway and 34 city. It was built in Germany.

The Mustang II came in the Cobra II, Mach I, and King Cobra models.MPG was 33 for higheay and 23 for city.

"A Thunderbird for a special occasion," created for the Thunderbird Diamond Jubilee, had many 'custom touches' and rated 22 mpg highway.

The Pinto was a small, thrifty car. 35 mpg highway and 25 city.

Also included are the LTD, LTD II, Granada, and station wagons.

I am surprised by the decent gas mileage of these cars! Compare them to the 2020 models here.

Ford Times: Special Issue on Environment, July 1970

The July 1970 issue of the Ford Times cover art is by Charlie Harper for the article "The Bald Eagle: America's Vanishing Symbol."

"He's in trouble because a good idea backfired," wrote author Boyce Rensberger.

I remember summer of 1963 listening to the radio and hearing a man discuss the eagle as endangered. This article discusses food chains, which Harper illustrated below, and how DDT in the food chain affected wildlife.

"In the Great Lakes states, where DDT level are high, only four percent of the nesting pairs are still able to reproduce," the author warns.

Luckily, DDT was banned and today in Michigan eagles are frequently seen. Just this week my brother, camping in the Upper Peninsula, caught this eagle in the middle of the road!

A

n article noted that in 1913 Henry Ford supported the migratory bird act, along with Theodore Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, and Thomas Edison. 

Ford's River Rouge complex was featured in an article on Ford's "battle against air pollution." By the 1960s, smog was affecting Dearborn neighborhoods. Ford spent $66 million to clean the air, but technology was limited. "300 engineers work full-time on the challenge," Frank Grady wrote. Ford only spent $50 million to develop the Mustang. 

"Everybody Loves Smokey the Bear" informs that Smokey getting 5,000 letters a week from fans.

Some of the letters are included. One reads,  "I would like to baby sit for Smokey. I am nine years old and I am not afraid of bears. your friend, Rhonda G."

Some of us Boomers remember the early 1970s and The Population Bomb scare that humanity was reproducing to levels that would cause mass destruction. "We're Running Out of Elbow Room!" is filled with warnings. First, the author claims that crime increases with population density because of psychological stress. The article concludes without answers, but says that one planner suggests better city planning.

"The Silent '70 Ford" had a muffler "improved with the addition of an asbestos wrapper."

 I noted the use of a black model in the article.

"Ford's Campaign to Control Auto Emissions" begins, "it would take three 1970 Ford cars to emit as much hydro-carbons and carbon monoxide" as was released by one 1960 model. Non-lead gas was "on the way" and research into alternatives to the internal combustion engine was noted to have been going on since 1952.

"National Parks are for People" included photographs by Bill Schmidt.

Cars + Parks = Camping.

"Camping....Why Do It?" is a humorous look at camping. Jean Riss writes,

"Sanitary facilities" Criminy! The simple problem of constructing a latrine in the wilderness tells more in half an hour about a man--his patience and ingenuity, his grasp of engineering principles, psychology, esthetics and the prevailing winds--that you could hope to learn on a world cruise."

 The issue ends with a Torino ad.

Ford Motor Company began publishing The Ford Times in 1908. The last issue came out in 1993. I was given a collection of copies from the 1960s and 1970s.

Ford Times: July, 1961

Ford Motor Company began publishing The Ford Times in 1908. The last issue came out in 1993.

My brother was given a friend's parent's collection of Ford Times from the 60s and 70s. My brother gave me the duplicates. It's fun to look at the car and travel culture of my childhood.

The 5" x 7" magazine included wonderful artwork by artists including Charlie Harper. Harper's art appeared in over 120 issues of Ford Times! You can more read about it here.

Ford Times with cover by Charlie Harper

The July, 1961 edition included articles on "How to Visit a College," "Down the Canyon on a Mule," "Do Women Lack the Packing Knack?," "They Hunt for Relics of Rogers' Rangers," "Wagon Train East," "Piggyback on Penobscot Bay," "Land of a Million Years Ago" about Montana's badlands, and more. There is even an article about an early San Francisco Ford dealer!

"Wagon Train East" by Charlie Harper, and illustrated by him, is about a wagon train that went into the Cherokee National Forest

 "Piggyback on Penobscot Bay" illustrations

There was an article by Jo Copeland about how to dress to "Look as Smart as Your Car."

 Copeland talks about what she saw at turnpike restaurants as "the most bizarre outfits this side of a beatnik coffee house." Appalled, she offers suggestions on how to travel in style.

Copland calls the coat illustrated above a 'topcoat,' but I grew up calling them 'car coats.'

"When I am at the wheel, I like to wear short cotton gloves, the kind that wash and dry easily, because my hands stay cooler and cleaner. Bare hands perspire and stick uncomfortably," Copeland wrote.

I know Jo Copeland's name from collecting vintage designer handkerchiefs. I have several in my collection.

Jo Copeland handkerchief

Jo Copeland handkerchief

Learn more about Copeland at Living in Fifties Fashion and at  here

"Seeing Detroit" is about the Ford Rotunda's 25th year. The building was built for the 1934 Chicago Century of Progress Exposition. It was dismantled and relocated to Dearborn, MI.

 In November, 1962 a fire destroyed the building!

The article "How to Beat the Heat" promoted air conditioned cars but also suggested parking in the shade, the use of tinted glass, woven upholstery, opening the vent windows, and the wearing of skirts for women.

"Digger in Velvet" by Franklin M. Reck, illustrated by Charles Culver, was about moles. "He 'hears' with his snout and his tail rather than his ears. He can neither walk nor run," Reck informs. "Next time you catch one of these unrelieved nuisances, pause to admire the world's most efficient sapper with the silk fur and one-track mind."

"The Ford Times Dictionary of Automotive Terms" included expected terms like 'air cleaner' and 'additive.' Then there is 'A-bomb', a hot rod term for a Model A Ford, and 'balloon-foot,' an overly cautious driver. 'Beach buggy' was a car with oversized tires that could drive on the sand, and 'brain box' was slang for a crash helmet.

Of course, there had to be an article on a Ford car. The Falcon achieved over 32 miles per gallon in an Economy Run! Shell Oil reported that a 'skilled driver' with a 'specialized car' could get 168 miles per gallon! 

Another travel destination highlighted was Guilford, CT.

 The illustrations were by Sasha Maurer

"Comforts of Home...Outdoors" touted the latest camping gear.

Travelers would want to know the best places to eat so every issue included "Favorite Recipes of Famous Taverns." This issue included The Red Barn in Fort Scott, KS and its Heavenly Hash and Santa Cruz's Shadow-Brook's Sauce Philippe.

Heavenly Hash
1 can fruit cocktail drained
one or two sliced bananas
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup halved seedless grapes
1/2 cup whipped cream
lettuce
Combine fruit, sugar, and marshmallows. Fold whipped cream into mixture and keep chilled. Serve on lettuce.
The Henry Ford includes digital copies of Ford Times found here.

Charles Harper's Birds & Words

I received Charles Harper's Birds & Words from my husband for Christmas, a book that has long been on my wish list. It is a reprinting of Harper's 1972 book presenting the bird portfolios sold at $5 each in the back of the Ford Times, the Ford Motor Company's lifestyle magazine. 

Harper's original introduction was of great interest to me as I knew little about the life of the artist. He grew up on a farm, but farm life disagreed with him. He was repulsed by how farm animals were treated. After his service in the army he spent some unsatisfying time in New York City before studying at the Cincinnati Art Academy. A trip out west gave him direction. As he studied nature he began to understand the complexity of human existence and our relationship to nature. He wrote, 

"...the more I learn about nature, the more I am troubled by unanswerable questions about human exploitation of plants and animals and our casual assumption that the natural world is here only to serve people. I see all living things as fellow creatures with as might right as I have to be here and to continue living. I have to ask myself how man, the predator with a conscience, can live without carrying a burden of guilt for his existence at the expense of other creatures. Where does none draw the line between preservation of nature and preservation of self?"

Western Tanager from Ten Western Birds

The book is divided into the six portfolios:

• Ten Western Birds, from Ford Times 1956
• America's Vanishing Birds, from Ford Times 1957
• Ten Southern Birds, from Ford Times 1958
• American Bird Architects, from Ford Times 1959
• American Bird Census, from Ford Times 1960
• Ten Collector Prints

Marsh Hen from America's Vanishing Birds

Each bird is given two pages, one page showing the illustration and a page for Harper's descriptions, which are often whimsical, a pure delight to read. The title font Kismet was specially chosen by Harper for the book. 

Meadowlark from American Bird Architects

Baltimore Oriel from American Bird Architects

Readers also learn about how Harper developed his unique style, paring images down to geometrical shapes.

Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher from Ten Western Birds

Although I do love all the illustrations, it was the section of America's Vanishing Birds that moved me the most. These birds became extinct directly by human hands: The Great Auk, destroyed by 1844; the Carolina Paroquet, gone by 1904, hunted for ladies' hats; the Passenger Pigeon last seen in 1914; the Heath Hen which in 1830 was commonly found around Boston; and the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, Labrador Duck, and Eskimo Curlew. Endangered, but still with us, he included the Whopping Crane, Trumpeter Swan, California Condor (extinct in 1987 but being reintroduced), and the Everglade Kite.

I knew the book would be a visual feast, and that a study of the art would be interesting. I had not realized that Harper was also "an alternative Audubon" who was an environmentalist at heart.

Charlie Harper's Birds and Words
www.ammobooks.com
$27.95 US/$31.95 Canada/$14.95 GBP
ISBN: 978-193442905-1