Commems Collection Medals: 1979 Thomas Edison - Edison Institute/Greenfield Village Golden Jubilee

Here's the third of three Thomas Edison medal posts I've parepared.

The first installment of my Edison series can be found here:

- 1947 Thomas Edison Centennial - So-Called Half Dollar

The second, here:

- 1979 Thomas Edison - Light Centennial


In 1979, the Henry Ford Museum (today often abbreviated to "The Henry Ford")piggy-backed on the Edison Light Bulb anniversary with an anniversary commemoration of its own - the 50th Anniversary of the dedication of the Edison Institute at the Museum.

The Henry Ford Museum traces its roots to 1914 when Ford began searching for items he recalled from his childhood. His collection of Americana grew and grew: "Before long, he was accumulating the objects of ordinary people, items connected with his heroes and from his own past, and examples of industrial progress." (Henry Ford Museum web site)

Thomas Alva Edison, and his team, created many world-changing inventions in his lab at Menlo Park, New Jersey. Edison outgrew his Menlo Park facilities, however, and moved his operation to new buildings in West Orange, NJ in 1887. After the move, the Menlo Park site was mostly abandoned and fell into disrepair. Henry Ford, ever the collector of American history, and a good friend of Edison, decided to commission the reconstruction of Edison's Menlo Park lab at Greenfield Village - as a component of his expanding museum complex in Dearborn, Michigan. The lab was reconstructed with as much original material as practical to help make it as authentic as possible.

Work on the lab began in Dearborn in 1928 and the site was dedicated on October 21, 1929 - the 50th anniversary of Edison's light bulb - the Edison Institute was born! It was not until 1933, however, that the site was opened to the public. It is the 50th Anniversary of the Institute's dedication date that is commemorated by the medal.

The medal's obverse design presents conjoined portraits of Henry Ford (front) and Thomas Edison. Above the portraits, at the rim, is the inscription "GOLDEN JUBILEE". Below the portraits, again at the rim, is the inscription "THE EDISON INSTITUTE".

The central design elements of the medal's reverse are found on a raised rectangular panel (with rounded corners). The elements include a depiction of the clock tower of Independence Hall (Ford built a replica of Independence Hall (along with Philadelphia's Old City Hall and Congress Hall) that serve as a facade to a large indoor museum).

Also seen on the reverse is a Ford 1896 Quadricycle automobile (the first car built by Henry Ford). The inscriptions "GREENFIELD VILLAGE" and "HENRY FORD MUSEUM" partially encircle the central design elements, with "DEARBORN / MICHIGAN" seen to the right of the clock tower. The anniversary dates "1929" and "1979" flank the central panel.

1896 Ford Quadricycle at Henry Ford Museum

(Image Credit: Henry Ford Museum.)

The high-relief bronze medal measures 70 mm in diameter (~2.75 inches); it weighs 175 grams (~2.65 ounces). I haven't found a sales notice for the medal as of yet, but imagine it might have been in the $17.50 range - the same as the Edison - Electric Light Anniversay medal I previously covered. The medal was struck by Medallic Art Company (MACO) for The Village Mint. (See Edison - Light Centennial medal post for more on The Village Mint.)

On the obverse, the medal is signed by its designer with a lowercase "gg". I believe this is the mark of Gladys Smith Gunzer (b. 1939; d. 2016), an artist-sculptor working at Medallic Art Company at the time of the medal's issue. Gunzer signed much of her work with "gg". Based on other medals known to have been designed/sculpted by her, she was clearly adept at medallic portraits. IMO, the Ford and Edison portraits on the obverse of the medal are very well done and life-like - the work of a talented medallic portrait artist. (Note: I have not been able to verify this bit of detective work, so I can't absolutely claim its veracity.)

A full discussion of the Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village and the Edison Institute is beyond my scope here. If you are interested in learning more, I would suggest checking out: The Henry Ford.

Henry Ford-Thomas Edison - Golden Jubille of The Edison Institute Medal



For more of my stories about commemorative coins and medals, see: Commems Collection.