The 1945 Collapse of Fordlandia (Episode 35)

This week, we're road tripping with Henry Ford's worst idea: a Brazilian rubber plantation the size of New Jersey, where he planned to clear the Amazonian rainforest, grow hundreds of thousands of rubber trees, and introduce the locals to American-style efficiency. Join us for the lowdown on Ford's obsession with efficiency, the ideal 1920s company town, soccer & square dancing, a riot over canned vegetables, and the incredible run of bad luck that plagued the project from its inception onward.  

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Sources for this episode include:  

"Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City" by G. Grandin, 2009

"Henry Ford's short trip in his first vehicle 125 years ago changed our lives forever" by P W Howard for the Detroit Free Press, 2021

"Ford Rubber Plantations in Brazil", digital collection, The Henry Ford.org

"Henry Ford’s Muscle Shoals", by T. O'Donnell for Urban Utopias, 2019

Henry Ford's biography, Ford.com