Digging Up Dirt

The Ford plant at Willow Run, now the GM transmission plant being closed as part of the reorganization of General Motors, was initially built to assemble B24 bombers for World War II. The federal government bought out farms all around the area to make room for the Ford plant.

Thousands of people came looking for jobs, seriously taxing the resources of Ypsilanti. They pitched tents, slept in their cars, built wood and tin shacks, and a few even found rooms and apartments in Ypsilanti itself. The peak of employment for Willow Run was June 1943, with 42,000 plus workers.

Here are a couple of cool tales from the time:

#1
In the front of the Spencer Schoolyard stands a marker which represents the graves of all those buried in the Willow Run cemetery until October 1941. The graves were dug up and replaced with one marker.

In the words of a school board member at the time (name of Simmonds): “I knew they were doing all the construction over at the Bomber Plant, and that meant moving around a lot of dirt. It occurred to me,” said Mr. Simmonds with a telling smile, “that if I could just get to see Mr. Henry Ford himself, maybe he would let us have some of that dirt they were digging at the plant.”

The school board had obtained permission to remove the old weatherbeaten grave markers and now all they had was a pile of dirt. Mr. Simmonds persisted until he met Henry Ford, and told him about the “dirt we needed to level off that old cemetery for our schoolyard.” Ford instructed Harry Bennett, his concierge for all things unpleasant, to take care of this. “Sure enough," as Mr.Simmonds told Marion F. Wilson for a 1956 book, "the next day several loads of dirt were hauled over and dumped on the old cemetery.” They wouldn’t level it though, not without personal instructions from Harry Bennett. Worried about zombies?

#2
In the center ring of the world's largest industrial operation of the time,were ten "little people." From their previous jobs in the entertainment world, they worked through the roar of rivets and hammering of giant machine presses. They were the midgets of Willow Run. Highly specialized and highly respected by the other employees, the midgets would wedge their way into a B-24 wing tip to buck rivets and insulate fuel cells. Or they might inspect a space so tight that no other inspector could get in there. It took a midget to crawl into a wing or fuel tank to do this dangerous work.

Ford had a rule that everyone must punch their own time card, so at the beginning and end of their shift you could see the midgets being lifted by their larger buddies to punch in and out.

What about the ghosts of Willow Run, and where did the midgets go to work next? Now we know the real cover-up behind the so-called "bankruptcy" of General Motors.

This copy of Life Magazine contains a story about the first closing of Willow Run at the end of World War II, before it became a GM transmission plant.


Our bookstore has plenty of General Motors lore Browse from this page :

Comeback: The Fall & Rise of the American Automobile Industry (ISBN: 0671792148 / 0-671-79214-8)
Simon & Schuster, NYC, 1994. Hard Cover. Book Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. First Printing. Illustrated by B/W photographs.



American Heritage -- August 1973
NYC: American Heritage Publishing Co. 1973, 1973. Hard Cover. Book Condition: Very Good. Vol, XXIV, No. 5. Cover browned. Articles on: Harriet Beecher Stowe; William Durant, the founder of General Motors; Leslie Wilcox's paintings of ships; Bernard DeVoto; Sod Houses; The burning of Chambersburg, PA; "In This Proud Land"-- book selection; Men of the Revolution-- Cornwallis; P.T. Barnum's elephant Jumbo; Battles of the Revolution-- Trenton.



Collision Course: Inside the Battle for General Motors (ISBN: 9781559723138)
Maynard, Micheline
New York City: Birch Lane Press, 1995, 1995. Hard Cover. Book Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. First Edition.



Paradise Lost: The decline of the auto-industrial age (ISBN: 9780394460321)
Rothschild, Emma
NYC: Random House, 1973, 1973. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good-. DJ shelf worn with 2 small tears. An exposition of the U.S. auto industry in the early 70's-problems with customers, workers, shareholders, and competition. The author concentrates on General Motors.



Business and Economic History: Second Series, Volume 18, 1989
Hausman, William J., editor
Williamsburg: Business History Conference, 1989, 1989. Trade Paperback. Book Condition: Very Good. Dissertations and papers from the 35th annual meeting of the Business History Conference. Topics include: Testing the F-4 Phantom II; The Origins of the Brazilian Automative Industry; Eli Lilly and Company, 1876-1948; Rowntree and Market Strategy, 1897-1939; Lessons from the Struggle between Ford and General Motors durings the 1920s and 1930s; Marketing at Burlington Industries, 1923-1962; The Inward Thrust of Institutional Advertising: General Electric and General Motors in the 1920s; Clock, Watch and Typewriter Manufacturing in the 19th Century; Marketing the Women's Journals, 1973-1900; Belgian Domestic Steel Cartels and the Re-Rollers, 1880-1920; The Gilbreths and the Manufacture and Marketing of Motion Study, 1908-1924. 248 pp. Slight edgewear.



The Company and The Union
Serrin, William
NYC: Knopf, 1973, 1973. Hard Cover. Very Good-/Good+. First Edition. ISBN:0394461916. 308+ pgs. Cover faded, prev. owner's stamped name on title page, dj slightly soiled and worn on edges. The inside story of the 1972 strike by the UAW at General Motors and how the UAW has accommodated the large car companies.



The Man who Discovered Quality: How W. Edwards Deming Brought the Quality Revolution to America--The stories of Ford, Xerox, & General Motors (ISBN: 9780812917741)
Gabor, Andrea
Times Books, NYC, 1990. Hard Cover. Book Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. First Edition. An account of Deming's principles and visions concerning quality control by following the 14 points. 326 pp, indexed. Small scuffed/worn area on side of page ends.



Life Magazine June 17, 1957 -- Cover: Mayflower II
Time, Inc., Chicago, 1957. Magazine. Book Condition: Very Good-. Includes: Photos of Greenwich, Conn. teens playing 'Living Droodles'; Mayflower II recreates historic voyage; Whooping cranes hatch at Audubon Park Zoo; New pill for diabetics could replace insulin shot; Michael Redgrave in Heublein ad; Dacron fashions - photographed on Dupont properrties; The reigning Royalty of Europe, Part 1 -- In a democratic era, they survive by serving it -- Britain, Holland, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Greece; Supreme Court finds du Pont's link to General Motors illegal; GI William Girard to be tried by Japanese court for shooting; Father-son actors Ed Wynn and Keenan Wynn; Edward Nixon marries Gay Lynn Woods. Edgewear, covers are worn, back cover has corner torn off at lower spine.

Homage to William H. Youngren, January 1989 New Yorker, p. 105

This past year we marked the two-hundredth anniversary of the death of Dewey Bright, the most prolific, probably the most gifted, and in his own time the most famous of Shiny Bright's sons. The occasion has been observed in a number of ways. A new thematic catalog of Bright's works, compiled by Thaxter Broyan, will be published this spring by Yela University Press, superseding Alfred Whatthen's 3004 catalogue. (Though Watthen's catalogue is long outdated, its computer source code is still used to identify the file extensions of Bright's mp3s (which, although they sound like mp3s of Bright's period, are available only in privately distributed (though free) source code using Watthen's extensions.)

Moth & Flame publishers has brought out a collection of essays by various hands, Bright according to the not so Bright, as recently as last fall. Equally important are the many new recordings that have appeared on surgical chip, especially an excellent 10k gigabyte series sold as a temporary implant. There is a great need for first-rate performances of Bright's large and varied oeuvre. His reputation has had its ups and downs, there has never been a complete clone or vocdot edition of his music (though Broyan has been working on one), and his historical position and significance have always been something of a mystery.

Born at Hartford in 1951, Bright (as I shall call him here) was trained in music by the radio and began to compose at an early age. But he also had a far more extensive formal education than most 20th century musicians; after playing sax for tips in blues clubs he entered a graduate program in clarinet performance, receiving a master's degree and an invitation to go back from whence he came. An excellent sight reader but lacking social skills, he became interested in the clarinet as a solo instrument, in order to keep away the nosy and curious. In the early 21st century he published the two volumes of his Ya nevah heard this (Don't let your ears mess up the rest of your body), one of the most important and informative 21st century musical treatises. When Bright went dark, in 2051, an LE edition of the surgical transplant of the two volumes reached the best seller list in a quick spurt and then fell into history. Occasional vocdot issues of scattered songs seem to bubble up about as regularly as Bright tributes held sporadically at several small colleges.

For the most part, however, in the decades following 2051, his reputation swiftly declined. The Permantics' discovery, about 2079, of the music of Shiny Bright, and with it the majesty and intellectual density of thought sampling, suddenly made almost all the music between his time and theirs seem superficial. Even Bob Dylan and Eminem lost stature, and came to be valued mainly for having prepared the way for Marsalis and the birth of historiographism. When, in the first decades of last century, Dewey Bright at last regained some stature of his own, it was, in turn, as the composer who had prepared the way for them as such rather than the other way around.

What does all this wealth of music add up to? Where,finally, in our view of 21st century music does Dewey Bright belong? No clear, comprehensive answer is as yet possible. The absence of a complete edition of his works, and of first-rate live and recorded performances, has long constituted an insuperable obstacle to any such general evaluation. What the world needs now is an actual compact disc which was not posthumous when it was made, and it is possible that one has been found. More on this to come.

Our experience in selling books in an online community, began with Record Manager and Dick Weatherford's Interloc bulletin board, matching dealer wants with offers. Shortly thereafter, browser based bookselling and record selling became a pioneering effort with Moneyblows Books & Music. For record marketing, we turned to gemm and have listed with them for over a decade.
GEMM is a great marketplace, overstocked with some things, understocked with others. If you're looking for records, don't overlook GEMM.

The vinyl mystery of bossa nova history

Speaking with a customer the other day, I was reminded of a mystery in the history of bossa nova vinyl. What's the earliest edition of Joao Gilberto's Chega de Saudade? What's the deciding factor? Is it the color of the label, the color of the printing on the back side of the sleeve? Is it whether the sleeve is soft, encased in plastic, or cardboard like the typical album sleeves in America?

Some labels may be blue, some may be bright green and white, others greenish gray. There may be as many as 4 jacket variants and 3 label variants.

The customer told us of a huge record store in Rio de Janeiro, called Modern Sound, with a basement full of LPs and a clerk named Elvis. Though the customer speaks fluent Portuguese, he has a difficult time solving this mystery of bossa nova history. Communications with Modern Sound is only by telephone; they do not allow email contact with employees. We welcome comments by those with knowledge of this subject!

Much of the media coverage I have seen equates the health of the banks with the health of our economy. There seems to be little disagreement on this point. Hence, a wonderful time for a poem such as this one:

With Usura

With usura hath no man a house of good stone

each block cut smooth and well fitting

that design might cover their face,

with usura

hath no man a painted paradise on his church wall

harpes et luthes

or where virgin receiveth message

and halo projects from incision

with usura

seeth no man Gonzaga his heirs and his concubines

no picture is made to endure nor to live with

but it is made to sell and sell quickly

with usura, sin against nature

is thy bread ever more of stale rags

is thy bread dry as paper,

with no mountain wheat, no strong flour

with usura the line grows thick

with usura is no clear demarcation

and no man can find site for his dwelling.

Stone cutter is kept from his stone

weaver is kept from his loom

WITH USURA

wool comes not to market

sheep bringeth no gain with usura

Usura is a murrain, usura

blunteth the needle in the maid's hand

and stoppeth the spinner's cunning. Pietro Lombardo

came not by usura

Duccio came not by usura

nor Pier della Francesca; Zuan Bellin' not by usura

nor was 'La Calunnia" painted.

Came not by usura Angelico; came not Ambrogio, Praedis,

Came no church of cut stone signed: Adamo me fecit.

Not by usura St. Trophime

Not by usura Saint Hilaire,

Usura rusteth the chisel

It rusteth the craft and the craftsman

It gnaweth the thread in the loom

None learneth to weave gold in her pattern;

Azure hath a canker by usura; cramoisi is unbroidered

Emerald findeth no Memling

Usura slayeth the child in the womb

It stayeth the young man's courting

It hath brought palsey to bed, lyeth

between the young bride and her bridegroom

CONTRA NATURAM

They have brought whores for Eleusis

Corpses are set to banquet

at behest of usura.

I found this poem to be descriptive of what banks do. Though it is a poem, and may be taken by some in the context of the author's politics, it warns of things that seem to have happened!

Eddie Daniels on clarinet

Reading back to an interview given by Eddie Daniels, to the LeBlanc Bell, in the summer of 1993, I share some of his comments quoted by Tom Ridenour:

"I wanted to play my own music, music from my heart--and the voice that came from my heart was the clarinet. It has such subtlety and warmth, a natural sound. I'ts the instrument that I most connect with, the instrument that makes me feel alive...it truly excites me when young people hear this "primitive" acoustic instrument and prefer it to electronic ones. People are confronted with technology all the time, but the clarinet is such an earthy thing-- a piece of tree with holes in it!"

"All my training was classical, no jazz at all. This may not be true for all people, but for me, jazz is not something that can be learned in a classroom; you learn it by listening and doing it."

"Music saved my life by giving me a goal to work toward. Constantly having the beauty of music in front of me inspired me. Things weren't always great at home, and my escape was to practice. If not for music, I might have been an outcast--who knows?--in jail. Music gives you an inroad to yourself."

If you have never been to jazz.com you are in for a treat. Just as Barney Google could never have known his last name would become the "smith" or "jones" of the internet, who could guess a site named "jazz.com" could ever live up to its name? Thanks to its estimable editor Ted Gioia, it surely does. Check it out.

On this day when the world of celebrity merges with the world of government, we visit the life of another unlikely personage who brought happiness-- however fleeting-- to many.

Leo Ezekiel Mannes was born Oct. 10, 1911, in San Francisco, on a hill. The latter detail would follow him through his career and the city of birth would mean nothing at all.

His father was an accomplished violinist. The family moved to Los Angeles, where as a young man he performed in a tent show. During the 1920's he began hanging around the radio station KPMC, where he did some children's shows and performed with a jazz trio.

The radio station wanted to lasso the rural folks who, fleeing the Dust Bowl, had landed in California. So it was that one day, the station manager, Glen Rice, excitedly broke into regular programming to tell a most unusual story. He said that as he was riding in the hills in Malibu, he had lost his way and by chance, stumbled upon a small village of hill folk who had been out of touch with civilization for 100 years. They lived in log cabins, had a blacksmith shop, and lived as people did in the 18th century.

Day by day, the radio station disclosed more pertinent facts, such as the tidbit that the hill people were directly descended from Daniel Boone. On April 6, 1930, some of the "hill people" showed up at the radio station studio on mules. Their leader was Zeke Craddock.

Zeke Craddock was Leo Ezekiel Mannes, and the whole thing was a stunt out of his busy imagination as a radio promotion man. It was so successful that crowds of radio listeners were soon camping outside the radio station in the hopes of following the "hillbillies" home to their secluded hideaway. Zeke Craddock and his actors outwitted the fans by disguising themselves in coats and ties and they stole away undetected. The ersatz bumpkins were periodically trotted out to large crowds at Grauman's Chinese Theater and other radio promotion events.

"Zeke" changed his pseudonym from " Craddock" to "Manners" and his gang of miscreants broke up into three different musical groups. Zeke Manners and one of his pals, Elton Britt, said to have been the world's highest yodeler, set off for New York City in a Model A. Upon arriving they sang at radio stations, theaters and saloons and street corners.

Not every listener was enthralled. Mr. Manners once rather ruefully recalled being given $2 to stop singing in a hotel bar.

Not long after, the group got a spot on "The Rudy Vallee Radio Show" and soon were appearing on Fred Allen's show. For awhile, Mr. Manners was one of the Three Links of Sausage, with their sponsor being Armour & Company, the meatpacker.

When the sponsorship expired, the group tried being the Murray Hill Billies in reference to that Manhattan neighborhood. The name flopped. Their success came as Zeke Manners and His Gang. In 1935 they went to London and performed for the royal family.

In 1943, Mr. Manners joined the Army, serving with the Army Air Forces' motion picture unit. He appeared in "Winged Victory," Moss Hart's musical celebrating the Air Forces.

After the war, Zeke Manners shuttled between the East and West coasts. From 1950 to 1952, he was the host of one of television's earlies talk shows, on Channel 7, WJZ, which is now WABC. The show was a two-hour free-for-all. Eddie Cantor would pop in; Virginia Graham got her start as a television host by serving as Zeke's sidekick.

Back in Los Angeles, he became the nation's first cross-country radio disc jockey on the ABC network, according to a Newsweek magazine of the time. He managed this (echoes of Tom Joyner's early career) by exploiting the time differences. He would creep out of bed at 3:30 a.m. At 4:30 a.m. he would do a 45-minute show for East Coast audiences. An hour later, he would do another show for audiences in the Rocky Mountain time zone, etc., until the cycle finally ended at 7:45 a.m. Pacific Time.

In his "hill billy" persona, he banged out tunes on the accordion, piano and organ, often backed up by ABC's janitors clanking pails. His character was something between a cowpoke just off the Chisholm Trail and Li'l Abner, albeit one who happened to live in a Manhattan penthouse with a valet.

Times changed and so did Zeke. In the mid-1950s he worked as a rock 'n roll disc jockey. In the 1960s he appeared in Las Vegas with a bluegrass group. He can be spotted in a 1985 movie, directed by his nephew Albert Brooks. The movie was "Lost in America" and he was one of a couple living in a trailer park.

All his life, he wrote songs. He wrote "The Pennsylvania Polka" with Lester Lee, which was introduced by the Andrews Sisters in 1942, and was included eight times over in the 1993 movie "Groundhog Day."

His song "Fat Man Blues," a collaboration with William G. Cahan, a surgeon, included the line, "All this eatin' is defeatin' your chance / Of ever getting any good romance."

The Byrds recorded a song he wrote about the initial moon landing, "Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins."

Another of his original band names, from the 1920s, was the "Beverly Hill Billies." He was the only surviving member of that group when the television show of the same name appeared in the 1960s.

By that time, he had long been known as the "Jewish Hillbilly." So, when he sued the television show for stealing his name, he had no trouble proving it was his. After all, he was Jewish. And, if you recall, he had been born on a hill.

He was made musical director of the television show. When the show ended, he developed a nightclub act for himself and the show's star, Buddy Ebsen, which appeared in Las Vegas and elsewhere.

His deathbed request, dutifully fulfilled by his family, was to be buried "as a hillbilly." He was dressed for the hereafter in a baseball "gimme" cap celebrating the Spice Girls, red suspenders, and purple shades from the 99-cent store. A cigar was placed in his pocket.

So, though you may never have heard of Zeke Manners, take heart.