ShelSnapsAlot: My Wonderful Present

I received a wonderful present from my Mother-in-law and Father-in-law.

I have always wanted one of these runner sleds for my porch to decorate at Christmas time.

I bought the arrangement at Hobby Lobby and then I had some ribbon and I made the bow all by myself! Wowser! It actually turned out pretty good.

Thanks Mom and Dad for the sled!

Sleds originally were an important transportation tool that facilitated the movement of goods and people on frozen surfaces where wheels often did not work. Early petitions were made to the British to allow sliding on Beacon Hill. Later, sleds were used to transport heavy cannon in the early years of the Revolution to oust the British from Boston.

Like many work activities, sleds became used for recreational purposes.

The Flexible Flyer Sled, the iconic toy of films such as "A Christmas Story," was the brainchild of a Pennsylvania Quaker farm implements manufacturer named Samuel Leeds Allen. Allen worked with his father, John C. Allen, from a crafts barn on "Ivystone," his working farm. The inspiration for the sled came from his love of sledding and his experiences at Westtown Boarding School and Friends' Select School in the late 1850s. Sledding, or "coasting," was a popular winter pastime during the 1800s. S.L. Allen's children served as testers for each new sled design.

S.L. Allen had a practical reason to design sleds, in that he wanted to provide work for his employees at the manufacturing facility. Farm equipment was a seasonal business: it sold well when farmers were not actively involved in working their farms, during the winter months. The summer and fall months left Allen workers waiting for new projects. He did not want his employees to leave for occupations with a full-year employment.

Allen gave each sled design a unique name, including the sleds that failed to go into widespread production. During the mid-1880s, Allen designed three early sleds, the "Phantom," "Fleetwing" and the "Aeriel." The models, which held six to eight adults, never went into commercial production, but they established the design principles that would guide the creation of the Flexible Flyer.

The "Fairy Coaster" was manufactured in 1888, but not in significant numbers. This sled was offered in two different models, the deluxe and the basic, the difference between the two being the deluxe's fabric padded seat and the selling price of each. The deluxe model "Fairy Coaster" sold for a pricey $50 in 1888.

The "Flexible Flyer" was patented February 14, 1889. Its features included a pair of steel runners with a bendable spot halfway down the slide. The first sleds did not sell well against the competition from the "Swift Glider," "Storm King," "Safety" and the "Lightning Glider" sleds. Allen manufactured no sleds for the next few years. When the "Flyer" was manufactured again, sales figures increased greatly.

Allen felt that sled production during the summer months would provide a "bridge" product to keep his workers busy. His sales force disagreed and, during the first few years of production, they were difficult to sell because salesmen were marketing the sleds in the same manner, and to the same retail farm implement locations, as the company farm machinery. Allen changed that by marketing the sleds to the toy departments of Wanamaker's and R.H. Macy Company department stores. By 1915, nearly 2,000 sleds were sold in one day, with an expected total that year of 120,000.

Sledding experienced a decline in popularity, and in 1968, the Allen Company was sold to Leisure Group of Los Angeles, California, which continued to manufacture the sleds from Medina, Ohio. A group of investors, including some employees, purchased the sled manufacturing operations in 1973 and continued to make the sleds under the "Blazon Flexible Flyer" name. These sleds are still sold today.

http://www.sledworks.com/history/index.html