American Flyer is a name rooted in the history of model trains that began in Chicago
in 1905 with toymaker William Hafner and his friend William Coleman. The American
Flyer name was adopted in 1908. Early trains were wind-up or clockwork models with
some large scale models being produced prior to the Great Depression. In 1918 the
company introduced its first electric train, an O-gauge model that was simply a 
windup model with an electric motor in place of the clockwork motor. 

A.C. Gilbert, of Erector Set fame, took over the company in 1938. Today, American
Flyer model trains still run on layouts and under Christmas trees across the U.S.

 
American Flyer S-gauge model from the early 1950s

Allied Radio began in 1928 as a mail-order and parts distribution arm 
of Columbia Radio Corporation, selling radio sets, tubes, electronic   
components, CB radios and other miscellaneous radio communications  
equipment and electronic kits. In 1970 the retailer changed ownership 
when Radio Shack’s parent Company, Tandy Corporation, bought both 
Allied Radio & Allied Electronics. By 1973, due to legal action, the Tandy
stores were renamed Radio Shack.

 

Harvey Samuel Firestone (December 20, 1868 – February 7, 1938)

Businessman Harvey Firestone was the founder of the Firestone Tire
and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile
tires. His company supplied the tires for all Ford automobiles. At the
time, he was one of three leaders of American industry, alongside
Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. They often worked and vacationed
together.

After graduating from Columbiana High School, Firestone worked for
the Columbus Buggy Company in Columbus, Ohio before starting his
own company in 1890, making rubber tires for carriages.

Harvey Firestone with early car and truck tires at his Akron, 
Ohio Plant

In 1914, American chemist John J. Porter produced the first line of chemistry sets, “Chemcraft.” It was such a hit that a few years later, science fanatic A.C. Gilbert, maker of Erector Sets and, later, American Flyer model trains, put out his own chemistry sets.