Memories From The Past Of My "Radio Flyer" Wagon Story

It was an ordinary day.  Came across a story in the magazine "Good Old Days" that was titled "Wagons for Easter."  It brought back memories from the 1950s when I was a child who wanted a Radio Flyer wagon for Easter.  I knew Santa wasn't going to appear during Easter, but perhaps the Easter Bunny might be able to bring me a wagon instead of candy.  Well, I must have pleaded well, since I got my Radio Flyer for Easter in 1950.  I'm not sure any more as to whom might have bought the wagon for me, since I had to go to my Nannan's house to pick up my long-awaited wagon.  My guess is that my Aunt Doris, who lived with her mother, my Nannan, on North Pine Street, in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania was the one who bought it for me, but it really didn't matter since I loved that bright red wagon.  I can remember hooking it to the back of my large tricycle so I could take my dog for rides up and down the 900 block of North Queen Street in Lancaster, PA.  When I got a two-wheeled bike from my Aunt Doris the following Christmas, I hooked the wagon to the back of my bike so I could ride up an alleyway about a block from my house to the nearest Acme Supermarket to pick up boxes of excess lettuce leaves that they would save for me.  That Radio Flyer was easy to hook to my bike and served me well for many years.  I can still remember towing my brother around the neighborhood in the Radio Flyer as well as loading it with toys when I would head to a neighbors' house to play with our red bricks and toy cars.  I later found that I owed my gratitude to a guy named Antonio Pasin, who was born in Venice, Italy in 1897.  He came to America at age 16 and ended up in Chicago, where he invested his savings in woodworking tools and made his first wagon in 1917.  He never had a wagon of his own when he was young, and he wanted to make a wagon that was affordable for every child.  In 1927, he took a risk and invested his savings in a small factory, calling his first wagon the Radio Flyer, because he was fascinated with both radio and flight.  The wagons were later named according to size and style.  The most popular color was red, but the wagons were also available in green and blue.  Don' know what I would have done without that Radio Flyer wagon!  Every time I see one in a neighborhood in Lancaster.....I think back to those days, many, many years ago, when I hooked my wagon to the back of my bike and headed to the Acme to get lettuce scraps to feed to my guinea pigs.  And....if it hadn't been for those guinea pigs and my raising them and saving the money from the sales, I wouldn't have been able to purchase my first car...a 1953 Henry J.  Now, that's another story that perhaps you already read in the past!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.