WEEKDAYS: Men on the assembly
line at a Ford factory in Chicago in 1926
Sept. 25, 1926
The 40-Hour Revolution
By Douglas Brinkley
No industrialist enjoyed upsetting the apple cart more than Henry Ford.
In 1914 he announced that he would pay $5 a day to his workers, double
the going rate. With the extra cash, Ford reasoned, they could purchase
his Model Ts. The workers were becoming a bulwark of the middle
class.
Ford's next act came in September 1926, when the company
announced the five-day workweek. As he noted in his company's Ford
News in October, "Just as the eight-hour day opened our way to
prosperity in America, so the five-day workweek will open our way to
still greater prosperity ... It is high time to rid ourselves of the
notion that leisure for workmen is either lost time or a class
privilege." The five-day week, he figured, would encourage industrial
workers to vacation and shop on Saturday. Before long, manufacturers all
over the world followed his lead. "People who have more leisure must
have more clothes," he argued. "They eat a greater variety of food. They
require more transportation in vehicles." Taking advantage of his own
wisdom, he discontinued the Model T and then, on a Saturday, launched
the Model A. The 1927 unveiling would see 10,534,992 people visiting
dealerships just to glimpse the latest product of the Sage of Dearborn.
—Douglas Brinkley is the author of the forthcoming Wheels
for the World: Henry Ford, His Company, and a Century of Progress
1903-2003
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