Couple days ago, Acidman makes mention of his favorite Americans; I can definitely agree with him on his list, but I can’t imagine even trying to limit it to ten; America grows ’em great and in vast numbers.

Two Americans Rob mentions are personal favorites of mine, as well; Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford.

It’s easy enough to learn about both of these men, form any number of sources, but you can tell a lot about a man by the toys he collects, and such a collection exists in regard to Edison and Ford.

In Dearborn michigan, there exists a place that is pure magic, to those of us who have a love affair with the Machine, and that place is the Henry Ford Museum, and Greenfield Village, both part of a larger Edison Institute.

The Henry Ford is a must see. Ford’s first car. Edison’s last breath. (yes, it’s there, in a test tube) One of the largest steam engines in captivity. A huge steam/natural gas generator, as big as a large home. Watt/Newcomen steam mineshaft pumps. A DC-3 hangs from the ceiling. Machine tools of all types. Tractors, harvesters, threshers. Rifles, shotguns, vacuum cleaners. A Fullerhome. THe Original Wienermobile. The infamous Rosa Parks bus. The equally infamous Kennedy limousine. The Reagan limousine. The Lincoln chair. All of these things, and hundreds of thousands more. And that’s just the museum.

The Village, Greenfield Village, that is, contains some very interesting things. Things you wouldn’t expect even existed, anymore.

The Ford Homestead. The Edison homestead. The McGuffy Schoolhouse (remember the McGuffy reader? “See dick run”) Noah Webster’s home. the George Washington Carver homestead. the Wright Brother’s workshop. The original Henry Ford shed.

What’s so special about Henry’s shed?
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