(already subscribe? log in).

Flexible Flyer, king of sleds, slides on

ON SECOND THOUGHT

THIS STORY APPEARED IN

December 25, 2011|By Kevin Paul Dupont

Is there anything more Americana, more Christmas, than the Flexible Flyer? Invented in 1889 by Samuel Leeds Allen, whose Philadelphia-based company was best known for farm equipment, the steerable sleds with the iconic eagle logo were sold by the millions in the years before and after both World Wars and long after the company was sold in the 1960s.

“The Christmas gift every live boy and girl wants,’’ boasted an early 1900s print advertisement. “Saves shoes, prevents colds, and saves doctor’s bills, because you don’t drag your feet in steering.’’

The steering function was what separated Allen’s model, originally designed for his daughter Elizabeth, from the rest of the sledding pack. Riders, be they seated or belly-down on the sled’s white ash slats, used feet or hands to manipulate the revolutionary front-end steering mechanism. The T-shaped sled was the sport’s better mousetrap, and though it was initially slow to sell as the 20th century approached, it soon became a coveted American standard, the S.L. Allen Co. selling 2,000 sleds a day by 1915.

When it came to winter sports, generations of American kids had but a snow-covered neighborhood hill or a patch of outdoor ice, perhaps a frozen pond or river, as their outdoor choices. They sledded or they skated, and that was about it. Skiing, much like golf, was typically not within the reach of the middle class. Snowboarding had yet to even reach product development inside Santa’s sporting goods store.

Contrary to what you might read online, the Flexible Flyer still lives, its manufacturing today under the direction of Paricon LLC in South Paris, Maine. There is an irony in that, because Paricon traces its roots to Paris Sleds, which for decades competed against the Flexible Flyer steel-runner sled with its made-in-Maine “Speedaway.’’

“Were we better? Of course we were!’’ kidded 76-year-old Hank Morton, whose great grandfather, Henry, founded the Paris Manufacturing Company in the middle of the 19th century, producing sleds that today are cherished collector’s items. “It was us against the mighty competition and, proudly, we held our own.’’

By early in the 1980s, though, things really began to go downhill for the few companies that made the much-loved sleds. The reason? Weather. Or lack of it.

“Two snowless winters, 1980 and 1981, just killed it,’’ offered Morton. “Sure, materials began to change, too, with the use of more plastics in sleds and what we call ‘snow toys.’ But it didn’t snow much at all throughout the US in those winters, and after that, retailers sort of forgot about us.’’