While he didn't invent the charcoal briquette (Ellsworth B. A. Zwoyer did, in 1897), he did found the Ford Charcoal company, which later became the Kingsford Company.
When E.G. Kingsford, a relative of Ford's, brokered the site selection for Ford's new charcoal manufacturing plant, Ford Charcoal was renamed to Kingsford, in his honor.
Creative thinking and frugality turned a waste disposal problem into a money making opportunity, leading to the founding of a company that today manufactures about 80% of the charcoal briquettes sold in the US, and recycling about 1 million tons of wood scraps, each year.
Thanks to Henry Ford being such a frugal guy, and a smart one at that, Americans have come to enjoy the ritual tradition of going outside on a beautiful summer day and cooking our food there, with a smoky barbeque, rather than in our kitchens and heating up the whole house.
