Shorpy - Highland Park Model T plant: 1916

**Magnatomicflux** · September-10-11, 02:06 PM

Geez.....I'd hate to be the guys who showed up on horses!

I wonder what the guy in the left foreground is so bummed about? Maybe the guy to the right stepping off the curb looking back just made some snarky comment about his floppy hat....

http://www.shorpy.com/node/11210?size=_original

**stromberg2** · September-10-11, 04:02 PM

What a thriving city! If only it looked like that today. Is that looking down Manchester?

Stromberg2

**Magnatomicflux** · September-10-11, 04:15 PM

Yep. Here's the view today

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=91+manc...52.92,,0,-4.09

**canuck** · September-10-11, 05:46 PM

It leaves one speechless, don't it?

**Richard** · September-10-11, 06:32 PM

there is a street car down the road but no tracks?

Car with its back window blown out cannot be that old

**skyl4rk** · September-10-11, 09:00 PM

Why did everyone wear hats back then?

**Patrick** · September-10-11, 10:01 PM

Because most men were pimps as well

**313WX** · September-10-11, 10:57 PM

Originally Posted by skyl4rk

Why did everyone wear hats back then?

A lot of men wear hats today as well, except they're baseball caps.

It's for the same reasons, some men do it because they have a receding hair line [[or bad hair) they don't want anyone to see. Others do it because it's just the style.

**gnome** · September-11-11, 04:46 AM

A hat keeps one warm in the winter, provides shade in the summer and it protects one from rain or falling cinders.

**stromberg2** · September-11-11, 12:23 PM

Wow, sad to see all those businesses razed.

Stromberg2

**jiminnm** · September-11-11, 04:45 PM

Originally Posted by skyl4rk

Why did everyone wear hats back then?

Men wore hats, generally fedora style, until 1960. When JFK ran for Prez, he rarely wore a hat and the wearing of hats became passe almost overnight.

**luckycar** · September-11-11, 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by gnome

A hat keeps one warm in the winter, provides shade in the summer and it protects one from rain or falling cinders.

So do BBWs!

**downtown_racine** · September-11-11, 07:59 PM

The Universal Car. Nuff said.

**Lowell** · September-11-11, 11:08 PM

As for hats there is only one man in that picture who is not wearing a hat and he appears to be holding one in his hand.

The title of the picture might be, "When we were China."

**kathy2trips** · September-12-11, 12:17 AM

Looking through some of the streets in that neighborhood, the homes look to be late Victorian in style: lots of bay windows, gables, etc. Those folks really had a way with wood and can only imagine what the insides are/were like.

I wish we could save historically significant neighborhoods like this; repair, recycle, and replace...then protect. That means protected neighborhoods in limited access, gates, cameras. Taking chunks of neighborhoods using main streets and freeways as boundaries and rehabilitating them is nothing new. But until the criminals realize that it's not worth their while to terrorize your hood, it's short-sighted and foolish not to protect your investment in your community.

**rid0617** · September-12-11, 02:15 AM

Being from the older generation I remember the hats. No man was properly dressed in public unless he had a hat on. No properly dressed man went out in public without a suit and tie as noticed on many of the old baseball stadium pictures. The working man always had clothes that were worn for work only. Totally amazing looking at the 2 different pictures. No beauty in those parking lots

**milt721** · September-12-11, 02:13 PM

I wonder what the guy on the roof is doing. [[On the Ford plant between the "Y" and the stair tower.)

**rid0617** · September-12-11, 02:36 PM

What I thought was cool is the proof of free enterprise. Smart people that sell work clothes and sack lunches right across from the plant

**downtown_racine** · September-12-11, 02:38 PM

My first thought was China as well.

**rsa.313** · September-12-11, 02:43 PM

what is shown in the picture is the end of the "AA" building and the "Z" building. the "AA" building was the first on the site, along with the power plant and two administration buildings. 2/3's of "AA" was torn down in the late 60's along with one of the administration buildings and the power plant. the model t strip mall stands on that site today. the "Z" building [[along with the adjoining "X" and "Y" together which form the crytal palace), 1/3 of the "AA" building and the administration building [["OO") still stand today.

speaking of retailers, in that section of the building ford actually ran stores in the factory themselves. the idea was that you took your voucher on payday to the ford bank, cashed it, then bought all of your wares from ford in the factory. this included everything from appliances to bread to furniture.