They say history repeats itself, and in Radio Flyer’s long life as a company, that has certainly proven to be true. In fact, many parallels have emerged between the era when Antonio Pasin started Radio Flyer and our own whirling modern era. In 1917, America was in the throes of a war and on the brink of some of the most progressive and disruptive political and social periods in its history. Today, there is a similarly heightened pace of innovation and disruption of old ways, and the world of only a decade or two ago seems so different.
In 2017, Radio Flyer celebrated its hundredth birthday. On September 28, five hundred people gathered at Radio Flyer’s newly renovated headquarters to celebrate one hundred years of innovation and memories. The company rolled out the World’s Largest Wagon on Michigan Avenue and the mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, delivered a keynote address. The memory-making event was covered by local and national news, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the AP.
For the past hundred years, Radio Flyer’s products have served to spark imagination and to make memories. The original little red wagon has linked generations of families—not only the Pasins, but also the millions of customers who have loved and lived with their Radio Flyers. A century after Antonio Pasin came to America and started tinkering in his garage, his ideas, offerings, and inspiration are still as relevant as ever.
The story of Radio Flyer reflects the melting pot that is America, and illuminates the benefits of welcoming foreigners to our shores. At the time Antonio came to Ellis Island, one-third of Italy’s people had left their country in search of better living conditions.
Innovations contributed by immigrants continue to be the backbone of American industry today. Two out of every five Fortune 500 companies, including many of our most “American” companies—Apple, General Electric, and McDonald’s—were founded by immigrants or their children. According to the Kauffman Foundation, almost half of the technology companies started in Silicon Valley had a foreign-born founder. It is not just Silicon Valley: One-quarter of high-tech startups have an immigrant founder (even though foreign-born individuals make up only an eighth of the U.S. population). International workers are named on about a quarter of U.S. patents and historically receive up to a third of Nobel Prizes.
Radio Flyer commemorates its hundredth anniversary with its very own birthday celebration for all of its close family and friends. The party was complete with a live jazz band and dance group, a feature film that showcased Radio Flyer through the century, and a very large birthday cake.
For the past hundred years, Radio Flyer has benefited from the promise, and delivery, of the American Dream. The next hundred years, like the past, will bring many changes—advances and issues we cannot even imagine.
But imagination is everything. And it is boundless. It is not limited to an anointed few, but open to anyone brave enough to see things as they want them to be. It is in the hands of every Flyer who sees their wagon as a race car, their trike as a chariot, and their scooter as a spaceship. Radio Flyer is a vehicle of creativity. From yesterday, to today, to tomorrow, it can take you anywhere you want to go.