It’s not easy nowadays to pick a gift that kids will love as much as their parents do. Low-tech toys that spark creativity and imaginative play are the answer. And nothing fits the bill like Radio Flyer’s iconic red wagon. But no one remains on top forever, and when Little Tykes and Step2 introduced plastic wagons in the early 1990s, Radio Flyer faltered.
When the United States entered World War II, many industries converted to making wartime products. Radio Steel halted its production of wagons frozen ride on toy to manufacture so-called blitz cans. These were five-gallon containers used for either fuel or water, mounted on tanks, trucks, and jeeps.
The braking system is also similar to that of a jogging stroller. Simply press it down with your foot to lock it in place, or flip it up with your toe and you’re on your way. Pay special attention to shipping prices, as these are large, heavy items that can be costly to ship. It’s also important to note wagons have value even for their parts. For example, the rails from a Radio Chief wagon sold for $26 on eBay. A wooden Radio Flyer, likely from the 1940s, sold for $150 recently, according to LiveAuctioneers.
Antonio Pasin started building wooden toy wagons in Chicago in 1917, selling them to area shops. He was working as a craftsman at the time, mostly selling phonograph cabinets, and built small wooden wagons to carry around his tools. After he received numerous requests from customers of phonograph cabinets to buy the wagons as well, he refocused his business on the wagons. His business grew until the Liberty Coaster Company, named in honour of the Statue of Liberty, was formed in 1923.
The Radio Flyer Ranger wagon has a full-sized seamless all-steel body with no-scratch edges and a seat back for comfortable rides. This wagon includes a child seat belt, and extra long handle for easy pulling and durable molded wheels. Radio Flyer has one of those incredible rags-to-riches stories attached. The Chicago-based company, known for its iconic little red wagons, was launched by a young Italian immigrant named Antonio Pasin, who came to Chicago practically penniless in 1914. A cabinetmaker who had trouble getting work in that field, Pasin dug ditches, washed vegetables, and took whatever work he could find, carrying his tools in a wooden wagon of his own design. After the war, the factory went back to making wagons and developed several new models in tune with the times.
In the 1990s, Radio Flyer worked to expand its product line and step up its marketing to maintain its market share. It used the Radio Flyer name on toy bicycles, such as the Totally Rad Flyer Bicycle. Its name received wide press in 1992 with the release of a movie called ‘Radio Flyer,’ the story of the imaginary journeys of two boys in their Radio Flyer wagon. Already by the year 1930, Radio Steel was the world’s largest producer of children’s coaster wagons, and it set the standard for what a wagon should look like.
The June 24, 2013 episode of Let’s Make a Deal parodied this wagon as a Zonk being offered under the name “Zonk Flyer”. Radio Flyer said that as part of its anniversary celebrations, it will donate 2,000 wagons to children’s hospitals across the country in partnership with Starlight Children’s Foundation. He wanted to know about their needs, wants and habits, how kids played, how parents transported their families. He hired market research firms and dispatched product designers to go out into the field — zoos, ballparks, playgrounds — and observe. From the reverence with which Pasin talks about Radio Flyer’s history, you get the sense that he sees himself as the steward of the little red wagon’s legacy. The Radio Flyer corporate headquarters sits on the Northwest edge of Chicago, about a half hour’s drive from downtown, as it has for the past century.