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. . . and if she and Dave can pull off buying a new Ranch Wagon and a matching Customline Victoria the same year, well then, more power to ’em.

Economy Twins: Members of the Peanuts gang introduce Tennessee Ernie Ford, who introduces Ford’s “economy twins,” the 1960 models Falcon and Fairlane 500.

Ernie exudes a certain down-home appeal to middleclass America, even while waggling his cee-gars at us, and the Peanuts affiliation helps cement the deal with the whole family. But Linus lipping a cigar—even a chocolate one—clearly would not fly in later, more culturally sensitive times as these.

A Wonderful New World of Fords builds upward from the previous piece, adds the big-dog Thunderbird to the set and takes a decidedly theatrical, upscale approach. Neither a Peanut nor an Ernie are to be found within this swirling, affluent, black-tied and ball-gowned soiree under the stars. In this fantasy sequence, the chorus and orchestration are all a bit too much, but three minutes is tolerable. Barely.

Public domain archival footage courtesy of the Internet Moving Images Archive, in association with Prelinger Archives.