On September 24, 1960, every licensed driver in Flora, Illinois, received a brand new, white, 1961 Ford to drive for a week.
Ford delivered more than 1,000 white cars to Flora, selected because at the time it was near the center of the United States population. It was a marketing ploy, but the residents of Flora embraced it, and for that week Flora was known as Ford Town, U.S.A. The top photo shows a scene in Flora during Ford week.
At the end of the week, Flora residents had the option of purchasing their Fords for $1,800. Twelve did. The last surviving Ford Town U.S.A. car was driven by its Flora owner, a Mrs. Beard, for nineteen years, until September 1979.
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The photos on this page may have originally appeared in an issue of Time magazine. They are believed to be now in the public domain.