The Vagabonds: The Story of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison's Ten-Year Road Trip

I have long been a fan of the books of Jeff Guinn. The Texan has written excellent biographies of Charles Manson, Jim Jones of the Jonestown massacre, Bonnie and Clyde and participants n the Gun Fight at the OK Corral. His speciality isAmericana. The Vagabonds deals with the close friendship of two giant geniuses of America. Henry Ford (1862-1947) was the quirky and opinionated creator of the Model T and the Ford Motor Company. Ford was anti-Semitic and lacked a college degree. What he did possess was a keen intelligence and business smarts Thomas Edison (1847-1931) was responsible for 1,093 U.S. Patents an all time record. He was a genius!. Henry Ford at one time worked for Edison and the Menlo Park inventor of such modern marvels as the phonograph and the incandescent light bulb was his hero. In 1914 Ford and Edison visited the Everglades close to the latter's Fort Meyer mansion,. Their wives were along for a miserable brief camping trip. Along with Harvey Firestone of the tire company they decided to go on one camping expedition every year With interlude time due to World War I (Ford visited Europe on his Peace Ship seeking to end the raging war) and health and business issue this practice continued until 1925. John Burroughs the crotchety naturalist accompanied the Vagabonds on several trips. Journeys were made from California to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and upper New York State. The Vagabonds even lunched with Presidents Harding and Coolidge on two of their trips.Along the way we learn about the development of America's love affair with the automobile and how highway travel developed from the production of the first Model T in 1908 to the explosion of modern American travel in the 1920s. Jeff Guinn writes in a folksy and fun style that make spending time in his company a delight! A fun and informative read for all! Highly recommended!

What American DOESN'T know Thomas Edison? Even still, Henry Ford was the reason I picked this up (I'm a lifelong car nut). And Harvey Firestone was instrumental in a number of areas. Naturalist John Burroughs was the least known of them to me but he seemed to be one of the key features in those early trips. But what I didn't know was their long-standing connection to one another, their distinctive travels together or the many places where their influential visits are still demonstrating influence.The book reads like a mini-biography on their individual lives and their mutual connections. The trips seem to serve as a meeting place and bully-pulpit for their enterprises and adventurous spirits. Their travels began as a means to meeting the last of those - adventurers who wanted to see places and experience life out of the ordinary. Their celebrity - after all, these were some of the most widely known and photographed men in the US when they were traveling together - was both a blessing and a bane. It meant it was hard to arrive anywhere incognito. And yet, as their trips continued, they each - in their own way - leveraged that for their own purposes, rightfully so. After all, if a media member is going to interrupt their vacation, the least they can do is help the Vagabond accomplish a larger goal.Not every trip went according to plan. The early trip to the Florida Everglades for example was a disaster in every way. But for the most part, these trips served each of them as a respite and welcome repose from the push-pull of their working lives and - it seems - some of the happiest days they knew.Overall, if you're a student of any of these men, this book is a worthy read. A fun, fast read, it's focus on the facts of the trips is a needed component but the impetus for me was understanding WHY they took these trips in the first place was the best component.

"The Vagabonds" makes for fun-filled reading. A traveller to Ft. Myers, Florida can visit the Ford-Edison houses and start to learn of the friendship between those two innovators. At the beginning of the automobile age, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone travelled together in auto convoys, visiting different places in the United States. In part, their camping trips were to publicize automobile travel....and sell Ford automobiles Firestone tires. As Ford and Edison were widely known in the United States, their trips were newsworthy and the caravans were followed by a hoard of newpaper reporters. Reading "The Vagabonds" is a wonderful way to learn about these highly successful movers of the American economy. A fun book to read.

4 stars for this enjoyable and well researched book about the summer outings Thomas Edison and Henry Ford enjoyed a hundred odd years ago. There were plenty of witty asides to compliment the interesting historical look at the era. I’d highly recommend this book to anyone interested in US history and/or the nature of celebrity.Btw, kudos to the printer for such a sturdy book. My copy got soaking wet a few weeks ago when a rogue wave drenched me on my beach chair. My iPhone got destroyed but not my book. After I let it sit and dry off for a while it was still, to my surprise, rather readable.

I love American history, have read many books, and have given many of them 5-star reviews. However, only a few would I have rated even higher if possible,... and this book is included on that short list. Upon completion, I felt completely satiated. My contentment was utmost, I felt almost euphoric, as though I had been included in a well kept secret. The only other short, niche, American history that I have ever read that rivals the satisfaction I experienced , was "Harry Truman Excellent Adventure" by Algeo. Great job Mr. Guinn.Dr. Stanley E. Toompas, Optometrist& Author of, "I'm the One the Other Isn't"

I am a trailer nut so I enjoyed the story.