Red Trolleys?

[velvetgoldmine]

As a boy, reading US comics (DC/Marvel etc), I often saw illustrations showing American kids with a red trolley with a handle. I seem to recall I've seen them in Peanuts cartoons as well.

We had no such thing in the UK. Were they standard issue for all children in the States? Are they still made?

 

[mmack66]

This?

We call them wagons here in the states. I think they were more popular years ago, but a lot of kids have them.

 

[velvetgoldmine]

Yeah! That's it! I see that one's called the "Radio Flyer" - is that the main manufacturer of the trolley?

 

[RazorDingo]

The Radio Flyer has been a staple of American childhoods since the 1930s. (Please don't call them "trolleys" - us Norteamericanos think of a streetcar or a tram when we see that word.)

Radio Flyer wagons are still made out of stamped steel. However the company that makes them closed its Chicago-area manufacturing facility in 2003 and outsourced the work to China. I have also heard rumors that the company is considering a unit with cupholders, safety belts, and a slot for an mp3 player....

 

[velvetgoldmine]

I much prefer the look of the original wagon. That new design looks more like a pram!

 

[Roman414]

Absolutely. The red Radio Flyer was standard issue when I was growing up. Every boy I knew had one. A practical use was pulling it around picking up soda bottles to take to the store for the two cent deposit. Fun use...you could reverse the handle so you could sit in it and steer while you rolled down a hill. Some kids hitched their poor dog to it and had him pull him around the neighborhood. My dog would hop in mine and sit there until I pulled him around the neighborhood.

 

[velvetgoldmine]

Roman414 - Fantastic! Some really evocative images there!

 

[Bertilak]

I have also heard rumors that the company is considering a unit with cupholders, safety belts, and a slot for an mp3 player....

That's obscene. The little red wagon is supposed to be a kid's toy -- a place to let your imagination run free. The new one is a toy for adults into which they can stuff their little monster like an action figure and not strain their stunted imaginations.

Boo Hiss!

 

[strat1117]

Absolutely. The red Radio Flyer was standard issue when I was growing up. Every boy I knew had one. A practical use was pulling it around picking up soda bottles to take to the store for the two cent deposit. Fun use...you could reverse the handle so you could sit in it and steer while you rolled down a hill. Some kids hitched their poor dog to it and had him pull him around the neighborhood. My dog would hop in mine and sit there until I pulled him around the neighborhood.

I never had one. I wonder if that's why I'm now obsessed with razors and blades and related paraphernalia?

Rosebud?!?!? (No, I never had one of those either.)

 

[michael.scheller]

That's obscene. The little red wagon is supposed to be a kid's toy -- a place to let your imagination run free. The new one is a toy for adults into which they can stuff their little monster like an action figure and not strain their stunted imaginations.

Boo Hiss!

Of course, then we kids grew up and discovered ways to stuff our new toys in the back instead. My brother Jim ca. 1997 --
View attachment 51601

Can anyone name the location of this shot?