Families fled en masse to the suburbs, where they boomed out babies who needed to be carted around their subdivisions or glide under their own power on the tricycles and scooters Radio Steel began to produce. “My niece a few years ago was diagnosed with brain cancer and she spent eight months in children’s hospital and she would sleep in the Radio Flyer wagon – she preferred to sleep in that,” Garone said. “It just made those moments when she knew she was going into more chemo, going from her bed to the treatment room… it transformed it and allowed her just to be a kid with something familiar and loved.” Starlight Radio Flyer Wagons distributed to hospitals across the country and played an integral part of a child’s pediatric care. 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.
In the next room, beyond the drill presses, is the Bone Yard, containing dead husks of doomed ideas; you are not allowed to see inside. Still, a peek reveals a large warehouse space lined with cinder block walls and many, many variations on toy wagons and toy cars and toy riding horses. Antonio’s wagons are still fine-tuned daily inside its prototype shop, which is found behind a large white door at the end of a long white hallway.
In any case, the company was performing admirably in the midst of the Great Depression, churning out 1,500 wagons per day on average through a Ford-like assembly line process. The Radio Flyers and several other brands were marketed towards both boys and girls—a rarity—and eventually adults, since the wagons could serve just as well for gardening and other yard work. A vintage classic red Radio Flyer with some rust and peeling paint recently sold for $75 on eBay. It had all parts and was functional, but it needed some cosmetic attention to restore it to its original beauty. We were lucky enough to score the ultimate folding wagon that is all grey canvas complete with a side that zips up and down so kids can easily climb inside. The wagon also sports a collapsible canopy, so on extra hot days, your kids will be nice and cool.
From 1942 to 1945, the company shut down its production of wagons and made five-gallon steel gas cans for the war effort. As men returned home at the end of World War II, housing was short and the 1944 G.I. Bill subsidized mortgages, allowing many to flock to the suburbs. The sale of wagons surged during the subsequent baby boom, and Radio Flyer branched out into gardening wheelbarrows to meet changing demands.
Take your little ones on a mini adventure with a spacious and comfy wagon. With a variety of wagons available, pick the one that’s right for your little ones and also perfect for you. From beach wagons to all-terrain wagons that can be taken anywhere with ease. Folding wagons are great for travel within the city as they can be folded to fit in the back of your car.
The company also makes bicycles and tricycles for kids, scooters, ride-on toys shaped like planes and creatures, and tiny little models of the Radio Flyer® Wagon for putting plants in, or just playing around with on a desk top. 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. Radio Flyer is one of the oldest remaining national toy companies still owned and operated by the founding family. It is made of plastic, which ensures strength and durability.
The Radio Flyer team interviewed hospital staff and conducted in-field observations before putting pen to paper on a design. From there, the team sketched, prototyped and tested custom versions of the iconic wagon that could best meet the needs of patients and hospital staff. After several months of design and production, the Hero Wagon was born. This wagon includes Radio Flyer’s patented one-hand folding design making it easy to store– frozen ride on toy ideal for hospitals’ tight hallways and restricted storage space. Today, the Radio Flyer® Wagon company continues to produce its iconic #18 Classic Red Wagon, which it has now made for more than seventy years. These include other styles of wagon, such as the All-Terrain Wagons, in both wood and steel, wagons made entirely of plastic, wagons with canopies built in to protect from the sun, and the streamlined #93B Ranger Wagon.
The June 24, 2013 episode of Let’s Make a Deal parodied this wagon as a Zonk being offered under the name “Zonk Flyer”. In 2016, Radio Flyer introduced a new partnership product, the Tesla Model S for Kids. The first and only battery powered ride-on for kids with Lithium Ion Technology.