Albert B. Parfet was an English teacher in the Ford Motor Company Sociology Department and was granted a dealership by Henry Ford. W.A.F.D.(We Are Ford Dealers) also operated in the building for company and local purposes.
what can i see today?
The first dealership was located on Water Street but is no longer standing Address: 405 Water Street, Port Huron, MI 48060
The second dealership building is still standing today. Address: 1432 Military Street, Port Huron, MI 48060
the story
Albert B. Parfet had moved to Michigan from Colorado to attend the University Of Michigan and pursue a degree in business. After graduation he took a job with the Ford Motor Company in Highland Park which was home to Model "T" production and the assembly line. When Henry Ford had announced the $5.00 work day(more than double the normal wage of that day to work in a factory) thousands applied from all around the world. Parfet's job at the company was to teach English to the new workers and he did such a superb job that Henry Ford granted him a dealership. He was also a director of the Federal Commercial & Savings Bank...
The first dealership operated by Parfet was located at 405 Water Street. These ads are shown from the 1920 Port Huron Directory...
As business grew a new dealership was announced...
On December 9th, 1921 the dealership opened with an Open House as well as a charity dance the next evening to help crippled children...
The dealership would showcase the Ford line of trucks in the basement as well as a service department on the second floor thanks to a large elevator that was said to be capable of holding 100 people. Business took off and soon Parfet was on his way to becoming a prominent businessman in the community...
Parfet sponsored the first auto dealer association and also organized the first Port Huron Auto Show which was held in his building in March of 1922. More auto shows followed in subsequent years...
One of the unique features of the building was the radio station it contained. W.A.F.D. or "We Are Ford Dealers" would remain in Port Huron for just a few years but was used for different purposes. Henry Ford used it to talk directly to dealers on a weekly basis but businesses in Port Huron used it as well...
The Associated Press used it in 1925 to broadcast the World Series...
The station was relocated in Detroit around 1926 or 1927...
Henry Ford was a genius when it came to many things and he used the new technology of radio to his advantage. This photo was taken in Oregon some time before 1929 showing how radio and marketing were used to promote Ford vehicles and tractors...
Photo Courtesy of the Henry Ford Museum
Trying to stay afloat during the Great Depression, Parfet sold used cars and became the first in Port Huron to do so but eventually lost his building in January of 1933...
A new dealership would open just down the street next to Yokom's Garage. In 1907 George Yokom and George Troutt, who had worked at the Wayne Automobile Company in Detroit, attempted to start their own car company called Troutt-Yokom. Wayne and Northern(a plant was located in Port Huron in 1906) would later merge to become E.M.F...
Parfet had also opened a few gas stations in town with one at 10th Street and Water...
In 1946 Parfet went into business selling cars with his son-in-law Sanford Ladd until his retirement in 1953. The original Parfet building became many things after 1933 including a warehouse and Greyhound Bus Station.
