It’s impossible to know, but this is probably Henry Ford’s head.
虽然已经无法求证,但这可能是亨利·福特的脑袋。
And this? This is definitely Henry Ford washing up by a stream.
那这个呢?这绝对是在小溪边洗碗的亨利·福特。
Starting in 1915, these four men camped and road tripped together, regularly: Lemme show you.
从1915年开始,这四个人就经常一起露营,一起自驾游:不信我给你们看。
You’ve got John Burroughs — imagine somebody as famous as Bill Nye or Neil deGrasse Tyson, but for nature.
这四人分别是约翰·巴勒斯——想象一下一个像比尔·奈(演员)或奈尔·德葛拉司·泰森(天文学家)一样有名气的人,只不过要换成环保界。
There’s tire magnate Harvey Firestone, Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company, and Thomas Edison, America’s most famous inventor.
轮胎巨头哈维·费尔斯通,福特汽车创始人亨利·福特以及美国最著名的发明家托马斯·爱迪生。
This group’s adventures took two American classics and brought them to a whole new level: The road trip and the publicity stunt, too.
这群人的冒险可以说将美国两大经典——自驾游和炒作——上升到了全新的高度。
You could get lost in John Burroughs beard.
约翰·巴勒斯这把胡子要是有人掉进去,怕是爬都爬不出来了噢。
Burroughs is the least likely of this road trip group, but he’s kind of the linchpin.
巴勒斯原本最不可能加入这一团队,但他说得上是团队的关键人物——
He was conservation elite.
他是环保精英。
Here’s his beard and Teddy Roosevelt at Yellowstone in 1903.
这是1903年他和泰迪·罗斯福在黄石公园的合影。
He knew the environmental implications of industry.
他深知工业会对环境造成怎样的影响。
When the Model T came out in 1908, he called it a “demon on wheels.”
1908年T型车问世时,他还称其为“轮子上的恶魔”。
So Henry Ford sent him one.
亨利·福特送了他一辆。
They became friends.
两人就成了朋友。
This is John Burroughs inside his demon on wheels.
这是约翰·巴勒斯坐在他的“轮子上的恶魔”里的照片。
Ford had long known Edison as his mentor, and Firestone was a natural fourth from the tire connection.
福特一直视爱迪生为他的良师益友,费尔斯通自然而然就是出身轮胎行业的四号人选了。
The group started roadtripping together and they called themselves “The Vagabonds.”
四人开始一起自驾游,还自称为“流浪汉。”
Hijinks ensued.
狂欢也随之而来。
Yep. Henry Ford just climbed a tree.
没错。亨利·福特在爬树。
After driving over primitive roads, they communed with nature, following a typical routine:
走过一些人迹罕至的道路后,他们开始跟大自然对话了,按照惯常的方式:
Burroughs went for long walks, Firestone read, Edison napped,
巴勒斯散步,菲尔斯通看书,爱迪森打盹,
and Henry Ford, well, he chopped wood.
亨利·福特,他砍柴。
He really hated wood.
看来他真的很讨厌木头噢。
Along their routes, they met other inventors and business titans who occasionally tagged along.
一路上,他们还遇到了其他发明家和商业巨头,那些人偶尔也会跟他们蹭一段。
According to one essay by a fellow road-tripper, Thomas Edison also called Firestone and his son Harvey Jr. “dudes” for an entire trip.
一位同行的自驾游朋友的一篇文章提到,爱迪生一路上对菲尔斯通和他的儿子小哈维的称呼都是“哥们儿”。
Now the meaning at the time is a little bit different, because “dude” might have been a city person, or a well-dressed person.
这个词那会儿的意思还有点儿不太一样,因为“哥们儿”可能指城里人,也可能指穿着讲究的人。
But let’s not lose site of the fact that Thomas Edison was walking around calling Harvey Firestone “dude” when he wanted to get his attention.
不过,我们只消知道爱迪森想引起哈维·费尔斯通注意的时候竟然会叫他“哥们儿”就行了。
They took a lot of trips.
他们一起旅行了很多次。
This 1918 route was typical of their regular journeys, and the group of “great men” earned headlines everywhere they went.
他们1918年走的这条线堪称是他们常规路线的一个代表,而且,这群“大人物”无论走到哪里都会成为头条新闻。
On this trip, they traveled throughout Virginia, hit North Carolina, and zipped back up to Maryland.
那一次,他们穿越了弗吉尼亚,到了北卡罗来纳,才又很快返回马里兰州。
Their fun road trips were a phenomenon, like here, when Asheville, North Carolina papers covered their arrival, visit, and departure.
他们有趣的旅行十分轰动,比如在北卡罗莱纳州阿什维尔的时候,当地报纸全面报道了他们到达、游览及离开的情形。
It was called a “trip with friends.”
还称他们的旅行是“和朋友的旅行”。
But it wasn’t just a normal road trip.
但他们的旅行并非普通的自驾游。
Here’s a secret.
告诉你们一个秘密。
When the most powerful men in the country go on a road trip, they do it a little differently than everybody else.
这个国家最有权势的人自驾游的方式和其他人是不一样的。
Honestly, this was glamping.
老实说,他们的自驾游称得上是豪华野营。
They brought along a film crew with big bulky cameras, they had chefs, and five-star service the entire time.
整个行程,都有一个带有大型摄像机的摄制组,厨师以及五星级的服务人员跟着他们。
This table? It spins.
这张桌子?是可以旋转的。
Besides delicious meals cooked in the open air, these trips served a purpose.
除了享受在户外烹制的美味佳肴,这些旅行也都是有目的的。
Newspapers reported on the Vagabonds as if they actually were vagabonds.
各大报纸把这群“流浪汉”说得跟真的流浪汉一样。
They said the trip showed “a fellowship with the common man and a governing concern for the little man’s interests and welfare.”
他们说,这次旅行彰显了“与普通人的友谊,以及对小人物利益和福祉的普遍关心”。
At the same time they were wrangling camera crews to film how normal they were, they were also managing their business interests.
与此同时,他们还为了让摄制组把他们拍得普通一点跟摄制组发生争吵,还要忙着管理他们的生意。
That early 1916 trip included a meetup with Edward N. Hurley, a businessman and the chair of the United States Shipping Board -
在1916年初的这次旅行中,他们不仅和企业家兼航运局——
an emergency Naval Agency established as the United States came closer to entering World War I.
这是美国即将加入一战之际成立的一个紧急海军机构——局长爱德华·N·赫尔利会了面。
In Pennsylvania, the power players conferred, as one observer described it, to “divide up the work ahead in manufacturing.”
在宾夕法尼亚州,据一位观察家描述,这群行业巨头还就“拆分制造业未来的工作”展开了商议。
World War One breaks out? Road trip!
一战爆发了怎么办?自驾!
Hurley came on future trips with the vagabonds as well.
后来,赫尔利也加入了这群“流浪汉”的自驾队伍。
Ford also gobbled up land to explore steam power and agricultural possibilities, and the group met with agriculturalists and botanists.
福特一路上还大举收购土地,试图探索蒸汽动力和农业的可能性,为此他们还与多位农业学家和植物学家进行了会面。
In 1918, while on the road, Ford had been drafted into a Senate campaign as well, which he narrowly lost.
1918年,就在他们自驾游期间,福特还获得了竞选参议员的提名,然最终以微弱的劣势落败了。
We’ll never know everything they talked about.
我们已经永远无从得知他们所说过的每一句话。
According to Burroughs, Ford shared his anti-semitic conspiracy theories over late night chats.
据巴勒斯说,福特会在深夜闲聊时分享他的反犹太阴谋论。
The vagabonds were camping, but they were also making deals and running a PR campaign,
一路上,这群“流浪汉”不仅露了营,也谈了生意,还搞了公关,
highlighting each of the men's professional interests and making them seem fun and accessible.
突出每个人的职业兴趣的同时也让他们看起来更为有趣、更接地气了。
This is Henry Ford’s toast.
这是亨利·福特在烤面包。
And that’s the thing they served up for the public.
他们后来把面包分给了其他人。
John Burroughs died in 1921.
约翰·巴勒斯于1921年离开了人世。
He was 83.
享年83岁。
After his death, the trips continued.
他离世后,其他人还继续着他们的旅行。
That new guy, chopping wood? It’s President Warren G. Harding.
这个新来的劈柴的哥们儿是?沃伦·G·哈丁总统。
Still, even by the standards of the vagabonds, the publicity and entourage grew too big.
然而,即使以大佬的标准来衡量,他们的宣传和随行人员的规模都变得过大了。
The road trips stopped in 1924.
于是,他们于1924年终止了旅行。
But the vagabonds had a lasting impact on the American notion of the road trip and how powerful people network, even when they’re taking naps.
但这群“流浪汉”对美国民众的自驾游观念,以及人们对结交人脉,哪怕是在睡觉的时候,的观念都产生了深远的影响。
So was it a publicity stunt or a real road trip with buddies?
那么,这到底是一次做秀,还是一次真正的和朋友的自驾游呢?
Maybe it was both.
也许兼而有之吧。
Or some third thing altogether.
又或者还有第三个方面。
This is a nearly hundred year-old campfire.
这对篝火已经有将近一百年的历史了。
John Burroughs wrote an essay about the trip and why he thought they took it.
约翰·巴勒斯还写了一篇有关这次旅行,以及他认为他们进行这次旅行的原因的文章。
Maybe it was even true: “We grow weary of our luxuries and conveniences.
也许,他说的是真的:“我们已经厌倦了奢侈和便利的生活。
We react against our complex civilization, and long to get back for a time to first principles.
我们想挣脱复杂的文明,渴望回到最初的原则上来。
We cheerfully endure wet, cold, smoke, mosquitoes, black flies, and sleepless nights, just to touch naked reality once more.”
潮湿、寒冷、烟雾、蚊子、黑蝇和不眠之夜,我们都能欣然忍受,只为再次触摸那赤裸裸的现实。”