As I strolled through the Edison Ford Estates in Fort Myers, Florida, in 2021, I was captivated by the legacies of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. The question that lingered in my mind was how these two remarkable individuals forged such a lasting friendship. A deeper dive into their lives revealed a profound truth: “Show me your friends, and I will show you your future.” Their friendship was not just a bond but a testament to mutual respect and admiration.
Thomas Edison was a man of vision. He was famous for saying that work is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. He was also an intelligent worker. He didn’t do it alone. He allowed people into his circle to help him. He was a slow and calculated planner.
He would sit and stare out a window until he formulated his new idea, and then he proceeded to run his hypothesis.
Henry Ford, on the other hand, was a man of action. He was a go-getter. He loved to get his
hands dirty and work hard. He was 16 years Edisons junior. So how did these two become such hard, fast friends with this age gap? It was when Ford was just beginning to build a car. He met Edison for the first time, and in one encouraging word, a friendship was started. Edison encouraged him to continue. He built him up, saying, “You have something good here starting. Keep going!” Ford took that to heart. He continued and revolutionized the automobile industry with a few words of encouragement. Ford looked up to Edison like a father figure.
“Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.” ~ Henry Ford
Another person, Harvey Firestone, looked up to Edison like a father figure for the same reason. You may recognize the name. Firestone, 21 years younger than Edison, started small with just a little bit of rubber and a few tires, but by the late 1920s, they were sponsoring the Indy 500, and their tires were everywhere. They also had a partnership with Ford, and they were fast friends as well.
They called themselves the Vagabonds: Edison, Ford, Firestone, and John Burroughs. Burroughs was a well-known writer in the 19th Century. He was ten years Edison’s senior. He was very involved in nature conservation and loved writing about it. These four men went on many camping trips together, along with their wives, in the Adirondacks and Catskills. They had what was called “The Fireside Fellowship.”
They came from all different walks of life and had differing opinions, which they shared openly and freely around the fire. However, they had mutual respect for one another. Their firm belief in The Almighty cemented their friendship. They often talked about His Hand and Providence in their lives and business.
They often dropped everything to help each other in times of need. Edison was in his late 60s, and his laboratory caught fire. The buildings were not insured, and he lost all of his equipment. He didn’t know how to restart or pay for his projects. Henry Ford wrote a check for $760,000 (this was in the mid-to-late 1920s, so you can imagine how much that would be today). That cemented the relationship with Edison. He had no idea he mattered that much to Ford. He didn’t think he
mattered that much to anyone. This is what friends do. They helped push each other toward excellence. They built each other up when not in the other’s company but also respected each other’s business. James Newton (Jimmie), a young, brilliant businessman and author of Uncommon Friends, built Edison Park in the late 1920s. He became a good friend of the Edisons during that time and often helped them. Firestone offered him a job, but he respectfully waited until after Mr. Edison had passed away two years later in 1931 before he started to work for Mr. Firestone. He could have offered “Jimmie” a sum of money he couldn’t refuse, but he was also a man of integrity and respected his place, and the timing wasn’t right. They both were men of integrity. That is hard to find nowadays.
The friendships that we have in our lives matter. Are they people who inspire you? Who cultivates you to pursue excellence? Do they build you up when others aren’t around and encourage you in word and deed? Do they show up for you when you need them the most? Do they compete with you or try to control you? Or do you find yourself doing most of the work in the friendship? If it is only one-sided, then that is not a friendship! Are they as excited to spend time with you as you are with them? These are all great questions to ask oneself in any relationship! Remember, show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future!