That kind of versatility has certainly given the iconic, fire hy‐ drant red Radio Flyer some serious staying power. The company has been around a full century, with roots stretch‐ ing back to the early 1900s when the future founder of the company, Antonio Pasin, arrived in America. Antonio was born in 1898 to a family of cabinetmakers that lived in a small town outside of Venice. Like many at the time, he dreamed of greater opportunities.
Robert’s biggest challenge has been reinventing the company, which he’s done by focusing exclus‐ ively on children’s toys, expanding product development and moving manufacturing abroad. Located on Chicago’s Far West Side, Radio Flyer is the world’s leading wagon maker, manufacturing high-quality products for children since 1917. The makers of the original little red wagon, Radio Flyer is the only company to produce plastic, steel and wood wagons.
You start by choosing a base for your Radio Flyer Stroller Wagon. Every stroller wagon base will have a push handle, which is similar to a jogging stroller. These push handles can adjust for height, or fold all the way down for storing, and this is what makes your wagon a stroller instead of simply a decked-out wagon. Because steel was needed for the war effort, the Radio Flyer wagons of the World War II era were made of wood. The company redesigned the wheel bearings to be smooth and quiet during this period. They featured all metal bodies, colorful wheels, and plenty of imagination-sparking details.
The radio flyer wagon was the unlikely brainchild of Antonio Pasin, the son of a cabinetmaker, who was born in Venice, Italy in 1898. In 1913, when Pasin was just 16 years old, the family sold off their cabinetmaking tools and bought passage on a ship bound for the United States. When business was slow, Pasin built pianos, dug ditches, and washed celery to earn extra money. Radio Chief – This classic red wagon had extended sides or rails of blue and white, similar to the wooden Highway Chief of the 1940s. It allowed kids to carry lots of stuff but with a fun 1950s style. They play a unique role at hospitals across country by providing patients unable to walk a way to move throughout the hospital and helping hospital staff deliver toys and other items to patient rooms.
They prided themselves in the quality of the on-site stamped metal products and didn’t have the means to produce other items. At the time, they didn’t even have a product development team, according to Robert. The group had to find designers and manufacturers to create a product that could compete in an already competitive market.The first plastic Radio Flyer was too small and foundered. “Finally the fourth and fifth versions were the real winners,” Robert says.
The $1800 M880 is a mid-tail cargo bike, capable of hauling 300 pounds. It has five-level pedal assist, an LCD display with an odometer, a 500-watt rear hub frozen ride on toy motor, both a brake and an LED headlight, and a 48-volt, 720-watt-hour battery. It can reach 20 miles per hour, and cruise 30 to 50 miles on a charge .
While many of the items on Etsy are handmade, you’ll also find craft supplies, digital items, and more. Starlight Radio Flyer Hero Wagons provide a source of comfort and a sense of normalcy to sick kids during some of their most difficult times. The moment a child must be placed into a wheelchair can be scary and cause fear that something bad is going on – that is when our Hero Wagons come in.