December 2, 1927: Ford Introduces the Model A

December 2, 1927: The Ford Motor Company introduces the Model A, the successor to its legendary Model T.

Ford had previously sold a car named the Model A in 1903 and 1904, but this was before the assembly line, so it couldn't be mass-produced, and it never caught on with the public.

Henry Ford had introduced the Model T in 1908, and it became the best-selling car of all time. But Henry was set in his ways. He said, "You can have any color car you want, as long as it's black." He saw no reason to mess with success.

Except the Model T wasn't as successful as it had been. It was basic, with few amenities. It was mocked as "The Tin Lizzie." It had been surpassed in popularity by several cars.

In contrast, his son, Edsel Ford, was very much into style: In 1927, practically behind his father's back, he led the design of the replacement for the Model T: The Model A. Henry approved it, and also approved a major advertising campaign for it, taking advance of the dawn of "talking pictures," complete with what later be called a commercial jingle: "Henry's made a lady out of Lizzie!"

The Model A was the first Ford to use the standard set of driver controls with conventional clutch and brake pedals, throttle, and gearshift. Previous Fords used controls that had become uncommon to drivers of other makes. It was the 1st car to have safety glass in the windshield. And, of course, it was available in multiple colors.

Price: $385. (About $6,475 in 2022 money.) It sold pretty well, but Ford replaced it with the Model B in 1932.

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December 2, 1927 was a Friday. Ralph Beard, a basketball star who won National Championships at the University of Kentucky and an Olympic Gold Medal, but was banned from pro ball in a point-shaving scandal, was born on this day.

Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. The NBA hadn't yet been founded. And while the NHL season was underway, no games were scheduled. So there were no scores on this historic day.

October 1, 1908: Ford Introduces the Model T

October 1, 1908: The Ford Motor Company begins producing the Model T, a.k.a. "The Tin Lizzie." By 1913, Henry Ford would use the assembly line to crank out a near-continuous stream of them, saying, "You can have any color car you want, as long as it's black." 

He offered his workers $5.00 a day -- $159 in 2022 money. That works out to about $800 a week -- before taxes. He believed that a man should be able to buy the very thing his labor built. Ford was unusual in that he gave his black workers the same pay rate as his white workers.

But he wasn't as enlightened as this would suggest: He was a notorious anti-Semite. He was also a micromanager who tried to run his workers' lives. And when they tried to unionize, he hired a security firm to beat up striking workers. He eventually caved in.

In 1913, Ford started using an assembly line to build his cars. He was not the first executive to adopt the idea, nor even the first in the American automobile industry. But he was the popularizer of it, because it reduced the time to produce a single car from 12 hours and 30 minutes to 2 hours and 40 minutes.

He sold over 1 million Model Ts in 19 years, helping to make Detroit the automotive capital of the world. In 1927, he introduced a successor, a nicer car called the Model A. The song he commissioned to introduce it said, "Henry's made a lady out of Lizzie."

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October 1, 1908 was a Thursday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Highlanders beat the Washington Senators, 2-1 at Hilltop Park in Manhattan. It was a bad season for the team that officially became the Yankees in 1913, but, on this occasion, a battle of Hall-of-Famers was won by Jack Chesbro over Walter Johnson.

* The New York Giants, in a furious 3-way race for the National League Pennant, split a doubleheader with the Philadelphia Phillies at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. The Giants won the 1st game, 4-3, with Christy Mathewson going the distance. The Phillies won the 2nd game, 6-2.

* The Brooklyn Superbas beat the Boston Doves, 2-1 at Washington Park in Brooklyn. Superbas? They had been managed by Ned Hanlon, and there had been a famous circus troupe known as Hanlon's Superbas. They became the Dodgers in 1911. Doves? Their owner was John Dovey. They became the Braves in 1912.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-2 at Columbia Park in Philadelphia.

* The Chicago Cubs, in that 3-way fight with the Giants for the Pennant, beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-0 at the Palace of the Fans in Cincinnati. Ed Reulbach pitched a 2-hit shutout.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates, the 3rd team in that Pennant fight, and the St. Louis Cardinals were not scheduled to play that day.

* The the Chicago White Sox, the Cleveland Naps (who became the Indians in 1915), the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Browns were also not scheduled. The White Sox, Naps and Tigers were in a tight 3-way race for the American League Pennant.