One Hundred Years Ago: July 1926 Question

Warning Light Month for Ford

In July of 1926, the Ford company was in that tense transition, still building and selling the Model T, but increasingly aware that it was losing its edge. Despite introducing lower ride heights, larger pedals, better brakes, and body color choices in the 1926 models, other car makers were catching up. Chevrolet was offering more style and features, and Ford’s own people were convinced a new car was needed.

Rooftop Painting

In the 1890s a tobacco company hired painters to cover barn walls to advertise their products—the seed of the idea that tall sloped roofs could be good advertising space. In 1912, the earliest documented painted-roof ads appeared in Oregon.

In 1926, the U.S. Commerce Department launched the “air-marking” program. Towns and airports were urged to paint their names and north-pointed arrows so pilots could navigate before radio beacons existed. Edsel Ford was strongly promoting commercial aviation so he encouraged dealers to paint their city names and arrows on their roofs. In On July 8, Ford’s Photographic Department documented an air-marker painted on a Ford dealership roof in Seguin, Texas.

Still Powerful, but Pressured…

Still powerful but competitively pressured, Ford was still experimenting with labor reforms while edging toward a Model A era. It was this month, a century ago, with Edsel’s pushing for the change, that Henry directed Ford’s key engineers to begin working on a successor/transition car