It snowed last week. It really snowed. Some places had two feet. We had about 18 inches in our area, enough of the white stuff to kindle a warm flicker of Boomer memories of snow blanketed hills, red noses, hot chocolate and Flexible Flyers.
We lived on a steep street, Jennings Street, in Beckley, WV. Some would consider that a disadvantage. My boyhood friend, Freddy Arnold, and I thought it was heaven-sent. When the roads were clear, you could get an English bike up to 45 miles an hour by the time you reached the bottom of the street, though stopping at that point was something of a problem and making a sharp right hand turn at that speed was impossible. As a result, we often skidded across the Arnold’s front lawn and into the azalea bushes. But we stopped eventually and it was fun until the abrupt meeting with the shrubberies.
But come winter, when it snowed, we were like skiers on the slopes of Vail, thanks to our genuine Flexible Flyer sleds.
Sears and Montgomery Wards may have stocked and sold sleds, but the only Boomer-worthy sled was a Flexible Flyer. These downhill crafts were speed machines – well constructed and able to absorb crashes against curbs, apple trees in the orchard detour and icy banks. They were made of wood and steel and had runners that fairly floated on the top of the crusted snow. We used Ivory Soap on the bottoms of the runners to squeeze a little extra speed out of each downhill slalom.
The orchard beside the road was also steep and allowed us to set up something of an Alpine run, weaving in and out of the trees – mostly in and out, sometimes just directly into the trees. We were also able to build snow-packed ramps on the course, which added to the danger factor.
Our trusty Flexible Flyers were introduced in 1899 by a fellow named Samuel Leeds Allen, who either hated kids and wanted to see how many he could injure, or perhaps he was a kid at heart and knew that the coming generations would need better sledding equipment.
Allen began producing sleds in his farm equipment factory to keep his workers busy during the off-season, but his marketing efforts to the farm stores were not very successful. It was only when someone had the bright idea to put them in toy departments that the sleds really took off (pardon my pun). That year, in 2015, 120,00 sleds were sold. In one day, 2,000 Flexible Flyer Sleds left the building. The rest is history.
The name Flexible Flyer is forever engrained in Boomer lore. One of the greatest Christmas gifts ever devised, this unique combination of wood and steel is and continues to be a great American tradition.