Page 42 - REALLY What A time Book IX

REALLY SO WHAT
What A Time

MY FAMILY

He was steady, and with Pop enjoyed building things. He also
had a paper route, The Washington Evening Star which he
delivered around the apartments. That would give him
spending money for his hobbies. And did he have hobbies.

To deliver his news papers he had bought a newspaper wagon.
It wasn’t like a Radio Flyer with high sides, rather this wagon
was wooden, wider, and had wooden spoke wheels, ball
bearings, and steel rims. It was built to last, and was great
going down the sidewalks and roads. It would rip.
Among the things he built with Pop was the Loop-de-Loop
and train platform. There were other toys, but the neatest was
a soap box derby.

It was marvelous red white and blue, with a long snoot
tapering down to the front. The snoot was blue with a white
stripe down the middle. Unlike Joe’s paper wagon it had large
rubber disk wheels that protruded out in the front to give him
plenty of turning radius. Together they steamed the thin
plywood until it bent into the snoots shape. They screwed it
to the frame and let it dry.
There were two ways to steer it. Pop must have devised the
wheel steering, a rope was wrapped around the axle and then
around the steering column. It worked, but I never
understood why it never slipped. The other way to steer was a
backup. All you needed was long legs to reach the axle and
push. No steering wheel was needed then.

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