(Mental Floss) -- We remember Henry Ford as the automotive magnate who perfected assembly line technology, but he also dabbled in ambitious social programs, including one in which he hired ex-convicts straight out of Sing Sing to staff his factories. Henry Ford, pictured in 1942, unsuccessfully attempted to increase the rubber supply with a plantation in Brazil. Although many of these efforts were successful, Ford's ill-fated foray into the Brazilian jungle was a notable and fascinating exception. The plan If you're going to make millions of cars, you're going to need an awful lot of rubber. In 1927, Ford came up with a novel plan: He'd solve his rubber problem and test out his lofty theories about social planning. If everything went well, he could craft both a utopia full of healthy, productive workers and a direct pipeline of coveted rubber to Detroit.
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The auto magnate set up a plantation in the Amazon rain forest to produce rubber
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He didn't research the land and found out to late it wasn't suitable for growing rubber
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Brazilian workers rioted against U.S.-style mess hall, ban on alcohol
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Ford ultimately sold the plantation at a $20 million loss
Ford's influence extended all the way down to the residents' diets, and while the indigenous workers weren't crazy about having to eat @placeholder foods, they were livid about having to eat in a cafeteria setting rather than enjoying the homestyle meals to which they were accustomed.