PHOTO: Kaufmann-Fabry. Cop_17_0001_00015_001, Century of Progress records, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago Library.

To prevent sales of his famed Radio Flyer wagons from stalling during the Great Depression, Antonio Pasin gambled on a $30,000 exhibit at the 1933-34 Century of Progress Exposition and hired Alfonso Iannelli, who had studied under the sculptor of Mount Rushmore, to design an attention-getting display. Iannelli's 45-foot-tall, wood-and-plaster model of a boy crouching in a Radio Flyer wagon drew vast crowds, 120,000 of whom spent a quarter to take home miniature versions of the wagon. The immensely successful exhibit kept Radio Flyer rolling along as one of the century's most recognizable brands.