From left to right, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr. (President Coolidge’s father), President Calvin Coolidge, a bucket, Henry Ford, and Thomas Edison, at the Coolidge Homestead in Plymouth, Vermont, on August 19, 1924. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.
The scene in 2014:
As mentioned in this post, three industrial giants of the early 20th century stopped in Plymouth, Vermont in August 1924 to visit the president. Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone (not pictured) were traveling around the country on a camping trip, using cars to travel from place to place to promote the many recreational opportunities that cars provided. During their brief stay in Plymouth, Coolidge presented Ford with a sap bucket that had belonged to his great-great grandfather; the presentation ceremony was recorded in the photo above, and also in this film, starting at about the 3:18 mark.
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I have a photo of my great grandfather Johnson who was a telegrapher during Coolidge’s presidency with Ford handing a young boy a dime on the Coolidge lawn on 8/19/24 with Coolidge, Ford, Firestone & Edison.