A.M. Wibel records series, 1903-1943 (bulk 1923-1943).

ArchivalResource

A.M. Wibel records series, 1903-1943 (bulk 1923-1943).

The A.M. Wibel records series is made up of two subseries, the Office papers subseries and the Ships Salvage records subseries. The Ships Salvage records subseries, 1926 (2 cubic ft.), Acc. 546, is described separately. The Office papers subseries consists of two subsubseries: the General Files subsubseries, 1923-1943 (19.6 cubic ft.), Acc. 390, and the Numerical Files subsubseries, 1903-1943 (19.2 cubic ft.), Acc. 390. Both subsubseries are made up of an extensive variety of materials in terms of both scope and format, reflecting Ford Motor Company's worldwide reach in many areas of industry, not to mention Wibel's great responsibility within the company-in some cases, a responsibility that seems to have extended beyond the Purchasing Department. Types of materials and subjects covered include correspondence, cost analyses, leases, product comparisons, purchase orders, specification blueprints, strike data, credit reports, wage reports, labor agreements, and publicity event documents. Blueprints are scattered throughout the collection, not just in the sections so named or noted. To a lesser extent, this is the case for photographs as well. Of particular note are blueprints for parts for the Consolidated Bomber Project, or B-24. The General Files subseries is arranged alphabetically by subject. Topics important due both to their bulk in the collection and their relevance to automobile manufacture include general purchasing costs; data, cost analyses, specifications, and related materials on automobile bodies, rubber, aircraft (including bombers such as the B-24); and other World War II-era government contracts. Five boxes of Wibel's office correspondence are arranged alphabetically by correspondent or topic. More individually significant are files on various suppliers, as well as minutes and other materials from Ford's lending arm, Universal Credit Company (or Universal Credit Corporation). Noteworthy both in size and interest are Wibel's extensive files of clippings on national strike data, a topic of concern at the then non-union Ford Motor Company. Within the Numerical Files subsubseries, files are numbered and arranged within lettered groupings. The exact nature of the original filing system for this subsubseries is not known. Many, but not all, of the letter groupings correspond to a category: for example, B for Bodies, C for Clutch, J for Steel, etc. In addition to a number, every file has some sort of descriptive title as well. The files are arranged by letter code and then alphabetically by folder heading. There is some overlap between this subsubseries and the General Files subsubseries. Topics of significant interest in the Numerical Files subsubseries include the Henry Ford Hospital; Henry Ford Trade School; Ford Motor Company of Canada, Ford Motor Company Ltd. of England, and other national and international Ford branches or subsidiaries, including a small amount of information from Ford Motor Company of Japan, Ltd.; worlds' fairs, including the New York World's Fair and the Ford Exposition of Progress in Chicago (1934); Ford's Brazilian rubber plantations; Soviet corporation Autostroy; wartime production and government bids and contracts; labor relations; and impact assessments of various taxes and pieces of legislation. As in the General Files subsubseries, there can be found clippings files on topics important, from Wibel's perspective, to the company's smooth running and financial well-being, including salary data from a time when salary caps and disclosures were a contentious issue. Also abundant are data on raw materials such as glass and steel and parts such as tires.

40.8 cubic ft.

Related Entities

There are 14 Entities related to this resource.

New York World's Fair (1939-1940 : New York, N.Y.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vr3vgx (corporateBody)

"Negro Week" was a program on the contributions of blacks to American culture held at the New York World's Fair in July 1940, and consisted of festivals, exhibitions, song and dance recitals, choral and symphonic music, concerts, religious services, guest speakers, and a children's program. From the description of New York World's Fair Negro Week records, 1940. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122580393 From the guide to the New York World's Fair Negro Week records, 1940, (The...

Century of Progress International Exhibition (1933-34 : Chicago, Ill.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6912wmj (corporateBody)

The Century of Progress Exposition, the World's Fair, was held in Chicago, 1933-1934. From the description of Records, 1933-1934 (inclusive). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 232007613 A Century of Progress International Exposition was held in Chicago during the summers of 1933 and 1934. The fair celebrated the scientific and technological advances made in the century since the founding of Chicago in 1833. The main features of the fair included exhibits depicting th...

Autostroy.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vr07df (corporateBody)

Ford motor company

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r53djn (corporateBody)

When Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903, Alexander Y. Malcolmson was elected the Company's first treasurer, but his assistant James Couzens actually managed financial functions. People holding the position of Ford Motor Company treasurer from 1903 to 1955 included Alexander Y. Malcolmson, 1903-1906; James J. Couzens, 1906-1915; Frank L. Klingensmith, 1915-1921; Edsel B Ford, 1921-1943; B. J. Craig, 1943-1946; and L. E. Briggs, 1946-1955. In 1903, the business office was in a small building o...

Companhia Ford Industrial do Brasil

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6m08w6w (corporateBody)

The plantations of Fordlandia and Belterra were two attempts by the Ford Motor Company from 1928 to 1945 to establish a permanent rubber plantation presence in Brazil. The goal of setting up the Ford Motor Company of Brazil was two-fold: to supply Ford's internal demand for rubber as well as to provide a better way of life for the Brazilians who lived and worked on the plantations. The plantations were testaments to the innovations of agriculture and industry related to commercial cultivation in...

Ford Motor Company of Canada

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66h8rnh (corporateBody)

Universal Credit Company of America.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sr658g (corporateBody)

Universal Credit Corporation.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dg3wt1 (corporateBody)

Wibel, A. M. 1886-1965.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62c6k5s (person)

Henry Ford Hospital

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6s51hkw (corporateBody)

Ford, Henry, 1863-1947

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xk8d59 (person)

Industrialist and philanthropist Henry Ford, born July 30, 1863, grew up on a farm in what is now Dearborn, Michigan. Mechanically inclined from an early age, he worked in Detroit machine shops as a young man and became an engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company in 1891. Henry and Clara Jane Bryant, married in 1888, had one child, Edsel, born in 1893. In that same year, Henry tested his first internal combustion engine, and by 1896 completed his first car, the Quadricycle. Ford partnered in ...

Ford Motor Company ltd.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65t87dz (corporateBody)

Ford Motor Company entered the British automobile market in 1904 when the Ford Model A was presented at the Cordingly Auto Show. In 1907, Perry, Thornton & Schrieber, Ltd. gained the license to distribute Ford automobiles including the soon to be released Model T. The vehicles were shipped to Great Britain disassembled, or knocked down, and assembled in England. Ford Motor Company, (England) Ltd. was established on March 11, 1911 and produced the first British built Model T in October, 1911 ...

Henry Ford Trade School

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gf5586 (corporateBody)

Henry Ford believed that a working knowledge of industrial arts was the most practical knowledge a young man could have. To this end, Ford established several schools where he could offer a technical education that would prepare people for work in industry. His first and major trade school was begun in Highland Park, Michigan in 1916 adjacent to Ford Motor Company's Highland Park Plant, opening with six boys and one instructor. Frederick E. Searle was appointed superintendent. Classes not only e...

Ford Motor Company. Purchasing Dept.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dc56s1 (corporateBody)

Albert M. Wibel was born in 1886 on a farm near Peru, Indiana. After graduating high school, he taught school while pursuing higher education at Indiana University at Bloomington. An interest in the Model T brought him to Detroit in 1912, and he began working for Ford Motor Company in the Engineering Procurement Office, attending night school to obtain a law degree. Wibel advanced steadily at Ford and by 1927 he was responsible for the entire Purchasing Department, which managed a vast worldwide...