It was a sweltering August day when all three Cohen brothers entered the posh Dearborn, Michigan, offices of Henry Ford, the car maker,
"Mr. Ford," announced Norman Cohen, the eldest of the three. "We have a remarkable invention that will revolutionize the automobile industry."
Ford looked skeptical, but their threat to offer it to the competition kept his interest piqued. "We would like to demonstrate it to you in person."
After a little cajoling, they brought Mr. Ford outside and asked him to enter a black automobile parked in front of the building. Hyman Cohen, the middle brother, opened the door of the car.
"Please step inside, Mr. Ford."
"What!!!" shouted the tycoon, "Are you crazy? It must be two hundred degrees in that car !!"
"It is," smiled the youngest brother, Max, "but sit down, Mr. Ford, and push the white button." Intrigued, Ford pushed the button.
All of a sudden a whoosh of freezing air started blowing from vents all around the car, and within seconds the automobile was not only comfortable, it was quite cool.
"This is amazing!" exclaimed Ford. "How much do you want for the patent?"
Norman spoke up, "The price is one million dollars." Then he paused. "And there is something else. The name 'Cohen Brothers Air Conditioning' must be stamped right next to the Ford logo!"
Ford, an infamous anti-semite, retorted "Money is no problem, but there is no way I will have a Jewish name next to my logo on my cars!"
They haggled back and forth for a while and finally they settled. Five million dollars, but the Cohens' last name would be left off. However, the first names of the Cohen brothers would be forever emblazoned upon the console of every Ford air conditioning system.
And that is why even today, whenever you enter a Ford vehicle, you will see those three names clearly printed on the air conditioning control panel NORM, HI and MAX.
Remember to tip your waitress, they work hard and have to listen to his act all week.
Damn, funny and clean... how did that happen
NYG95GA
SuperDork
5/25/10 10:18 a.m.
Pasties and a G-string, beer and a shot, Portland through a shotglass, and a buffalo squeezin'.... 
Strizzo
SuperDork
5/25/10 1:08 p.m.
In reply to aussiesmg:
yeah, except for that whole anti-semitic part...
oops it didn't ;p
http://www.snopes.com/humor/jokes/ford.asp
EricM
Dork
5/25/10 2:28 p.m.
I thought it was real, and then it was just a joke, so you know....
A joke. But Mr. Ford, according to Lee Iacocca was a narrow minded bigot. According to Mr. I, old Henry fired a guy for wearing bell bottom pants, "He's a Queer".
True story according to Lee Iacocca's book. You may remember him as the guy with the Mustang.
Dan
Walt Disney was the anti-semit. (rumor) Maybe true, maybe not.
Being narrow minded back in the day, wasn't exactly uncommon...
914Driver wrote:
A joke. But Mr. Ford, according to Lee Iacocca was a narrow minded bigot. According to Mr. I, old Henry fired a guy for wearing bell bottom pants, "He's a Queer".
True story according to Lee Iacocca's book. You may remember him as the guy with the Mustang.
Dan
You may be talking about Henry Ford II - Henry Ford Sr. died in 1947, long before bell bottom pants or Lee's tenure. Henry Senior's anti-Semitism is well documented.
914Driver wrote:
True story according to Lee Iacocca's book. You may remember him as the guy with the Mustang.
I remember him as the guy with the minivan.
Where's the link to trombone sound?
Waah waaaah waaaaaaaaaah
aircooled wrote:
Walt Disney was the anti-semit. (rumor) Maybe true, maybe not.
Being narrow minded back in the day, wasn't exactly uncommon...
I loved robot chicken's portrayal or Walt Disney's racism. Cracked me right up.
DirtyBird222 wrote:
aircooled wrote:
Walt Disney was the anti-semit. (rumor) Maybe true, maybe not.
Being narrow minded back in the day, wasn't exactly uncommon...
I loved robot chicken's portrayal or Walt Disney's racism. Cracked me right up.
He may not have liked Jews, but he LOVED cuban children
In reply to 914Driver:
Shoot, the minivan was still slightly before me.
