''The Flivver King: A Story of Ford-America'' is a novel by American author

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer, muckraker, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in sever ...

, published in 1937, that tells the intertwined stories of

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that ...

and a fictional Ford worker named Abner Shutt.

Plot summary

On Bagley Street in the city of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, Little Abner Shutt begins the story by explaining to his mother that "there's a feller down the street says he's goin' to make a wagon that'll run without a horse." The man is Henry Ford. The story follows the progress and growth of

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

through the perspective of a number of generations of a single family. ''The Flivver King'' demonstrates the effects of

scientific management Scientific management is a theory of management that analyzes and synthesizes workflows. Its main objective is improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity. It was one of the earliest attempts to apply science to the engine ...

in factories. The Ford factory began with very skilled workers. Through a process of breaking the skilled job down into simple steps, they were able to hire lower wage, less skilled individuals to do the work. ''The Flivver King'' explains how the Ford Company used scientific management to replace skilled workers while successfully increasing production.

Effects

The first edition, published by the

UAW The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) ...

states on the cover, that it was printed "in an edition of 200,000 copies for its members".Sinclair, Upton. ''The Flivver King''. United Autoworkers of America, Griswold Building, Detroit, MI. Upton Sinclair, Station A, Pasadena, CA. 1937. There is no mistake that the book was meant to provoke and challenge its readers; on the cover (seen

here Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Television * Here TV (formerly "here!"), a ...

), as a preface to the first edition it is stated:

What is Henry Ford? What have the years done to him? What has his billion dollars made of him?

Here is the man, and the story of his life. Here also are his workers, a family of them over a period of three generations. What has the billion dollars done to ''them''?

A dramatic labor struggle is under way. Will Ford recognize the union? Will there be a "sit-down" in his plants? Here, in story form, are the facts needed to understand events.

Characters in ''The Flivver King''

Self-made man "Self-made man" is a classic phrase coined on February 2, 1842 by Henry Clay in the United States Senate, to describe individuals whose success lay within the individuals themselves, not with outside conditions. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Foun ...

and billionaire industrialist who starts out with pure motives, but becomes the "prisoner of a billion dollars" as well as a cynical

anti-Semite Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and

cultural conservative Cultural conservatism is described as the protection of the cultural heritage of a nation state, or of a culture not defined by state boundaries. It is usually associated with criticism of multiculturalism, and opposition to immigration. Cultur ...

. *Abner Shutt - The tome's idealistic protagonist patriarch. A working class fellow who grew up down the street from young inventor Henry Ford, he throws his lot in life in with the

and remains fiercely loyal to Ford in spite of the injustices he experiences. *John Shutt - Eldest son of Abner, he chooses a working class path with Ford middle management but believes his life is better than his father's. *Hank Shutt - Abner's middle son and namesake of the family benefactor who dabbles in organized crime during

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...

before becoming involved in Ford's "Service Department" (the company's private police force who violently put down labor disputes at the company) and realizing the two worlds are not that different. *Tom Shutt - Youngest son and athlete who becomes radicalized in college and begins organizing for the

. *Daisy Shutt - Daughter who opts for a

clerical Clerical may refer to: * Pertaining to the clergy * Pertaining to a clerical worker * Clerical script, a style of Chinese calligraphy * Clerical People's Party See also * Cleric (disambiguation) Cleric is a member of the clergy. Cleric may al ...

career and marriage to a bookkeeper.

References

External links

Memory Hole: Henry Ford and the Nazis
References a passage of ''The Flivver King''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Flivver King 1937 American novels Novels by Upton Sinclair United Auto Workers Novels set in Detroit Cultural depictions of Henry Ford