By some estimates, Pasin’s sales team sold more than 120,000 miniature coaster wagons by the time the fair concluded in 1934. Many were red, like the one in our collection, but blue and green were also available, among others. Considering frozen ride on toy the volume of the souvenirs produced, many of these special 1933 mini Radio Flyers are still in circulation. But as evidenced by the condition of our artifact, time can take its toll on the rubber wheels and paint job.
These were meant for putting on a shelf more than playing with. Over the past 20 years, Radio Flyer has donated more than 15,000 fan-favorite wagons to Starlight, who distribute the wagons to children’s hospitals, helping bring a little light to patient transport. You get a wagon that carries kids and cargo and an easy-to-push stroller. Stroller radio flyer wagon wagons are easily identified at a glance because of the difference in handles. Where most wagons have a single bar handle attached to the front axle, the handle on stroller wagons is a broad push bar that is attached to the rear of the frame. Stroller wagons have highly agile steering because the front wheels are mounted on casters.
The helmet comes in classic bright red, with an easy-to-secure strap placed underneath of the chin. A young sixteen year-old from Italy by the name of Antonio Pasin immigrated from Venice to the United States. Coming from a family of cabinet makers, Pasin was naturally gifted in design and carpentry skills. After moving to America, he started his first company, Venetian Furniture Company, which was inspired by his childhood home of Venice.
Whether you’re looking for an upgrade or a new wagon for your littles, at Target you’re sure to find one to suit your needs and lifestyle. This Jeep-inspired wagon has adjustable handlebars and puncture-proof tires. Ideally, the wagon in Stroller Mode works for ages six months and older, while if in use with the car seat adapter, any age works. At the western edge of Chicago, across from an Old Country Buffet and within barking distance of a PetSmart, the prototype shop at Radio Flyer toils in anonymity. Or rather, as much anonymity as you can have when you work inside a large modernist glass rectangle washed in natural light, with a Godzilla-sized toy red wagon on your front lawn.
Its real rubber air tires are made for rolling on any type of terrain, and its extra long handle is made to fold underneath the body of the wagon for convenient storage when not in use. These wagons are a departure from the classic all-steel bodied wagons Radio Flyer made famous. Instead of steel bodies that sit up high, plastic wagon bodies sit down low. Instead of the flat floor you find on a metal wagon, you get molded-in seats, deep footwells and high seat backs for kids’ riding comfort. Three-in-one plastic wagons quickly and easily convert from two-passenger face-to-face seating to fold-down bench seating to cargo mode.
“As a company at the time, we weren’t talking to consumers as much as we should,” says Robert. “We weren’t asking moms what they wanted in products.” So the popularity of these plastic wagons caught them off guard. Even in the depths of the downturn, the company sold around 1,500 wagons a day. More important than the longevity of the souvenirs themselves, though, Pasin had indeed ensured the lasting popularity of his full-size product. The classic red Radio Flyer wagon became one of the great American toy brands of the 20th century, and perhaps even more impressively, the company behind it remained independently and family owned every step of the way.