Henry Ford, The 12-Year-Old Watchmaker

Henry Ford examining a Watch at the Magill Jewelry Store

exhibit in Greenfield Village. 

"One night," said Ford, "I went to work on the watches waiting for repairs. My boss was alarmed when he first learned about it, but after he examined the watches he was pleased. So pleased that he gave me a steady job.

"But he was afraid his customers would not approve of a boy repairing their valuable watches, so I continued to work at that bench in the back room, out of sight."

That workbench has been recreated in Greenfield Village, down to the most minute detail. Many of the instruments on it are the same ones with which Henry repaired watches, instruments which were found and repossessed only after long search.

At one point, Ford had considered making watches for 30 cents apiece, which he thought he could resell for a dollar apiece. But he abandoned those plans to work on other projects, notably his Model T.