I had one in my 1941 Ford trunk when I bought it. It was a 600X16 black wall. It was flat. Never removed it in the three years I had the car. I never thought too much about it being a rear item!
From dim memory of various V8 club articles, Ford made its own tires for several years right before WWII, then the whole works was shipped to Russia as war aid. Anybody have actual history to check? Russia entered the war in 1941 and we went in right at the end of '41.
Interesting article on the Ford Rubber Plantation in So America: https://www.thehenryford.org/collec.../popular-topics/brazilian-rubber-plantations/
Around 1956 my dad bought a '40 DeLuxe coupe from the neighbor across the mile, who had 2 of them he used to irrigate ('40 coupes with no trunk lid hold a lot of canvas dams & shovels). I remember helping put the lid back on, & seeing a Ford tire in there.
I have the original Ford spare tire and wheel for my '40 Standard Tudor. Dad bought this car in early 1965 with 42,000 original miles on it. Since that time it has never gone flat and was up when he got it. I believe it still has factory Ford air! No way to prove that probably but I believe it. Betcha it is pretty stale stinky air! It is weather checked in the tread but knee deep in tread. Don't think it was hardly ever used.