Slide

This Ektachrome slide shows a boy playing with his Big Wheel tricycle. Big Wheel owed its novelty and high performance to its design. On old steel tricycles, the rider perched on a seat above the drive wheel-and so pitched over on sharp turns. You could only go so fast on a trike. But the Big Wheel rode only a few inches off the pavement, allowing high-speed skid-outs on slanted or uneven surfaces. Molded plastic construction cushioned the jolts. So kids on Big Wheels went looking for bumps and corners. Even older children beyond the traditional tricycle-age thrilled at the g-forces. Kids strengthened their muscles and honed quicker reflexes by judging velocity and inertia, by calculating braking distances and turning radiuses. The Big Wheel also gave them mobility along with a measure of independence.