Petey Menardi had only one item on his Christmas list in 1930; A Wide Gauge (2 ¼”) American Flyer Train. It had been on his Christmas List every year since he had first seen the big beautiful trains in the 1926 catalog. Petey had made a request for a train to Santa every year, both by letter and by visiting one of Santa’s helpers at the big department store downtown. Somehow the jolly old elf never seemed to bring a train for Petey. Instead he got underwear, socks and pajamas. There had been some other great items along the way, like the baseball glove and the Flexible Flyer sled. Santa must have mis-heard him that year. At least he got the Flyer part right. Then last year he had gotten his fishing pole.
This Christmas Petey decided to take matters into his own hands. He had been hatching a plan for 2 years. When no train appeared under the tree in 1928 he began saving to buy an American Flyer train with his own money. He had saved every penny that he could from his allowance and odd jobs. He delivered papers, mowed lawns and cut grass. He even saved most of the money that he got for his birthdays with the goal of owning one of the gleaming beauties in the catalog. Now he had enough. He probably could have had the money sooner if he hadn’t been tempted time and again to stop at the soda fountain in Henricksen’s Drug Store for one of their fabulous root beer floats.
Petey knew that Saxon’s Paint and Hardware carried trains during the Christmas season and he planned to make his purchase there. Saxon’s had catalogs from several toy companies available long before the actual merchandise arrived. He had gotten his copy of the American Flyer catalog there every year. Sometime in September Petey began making daily trips to Saxon’s to inquire if the catalogs had arrived yet. It required walking several blocks out of his way on his journey home from school, but his excitement made the walk go by quickly. Each day he would glance at the big plate glass display windows, open the door to the paint and hardware store and hear the jingle of the bell above the door. One of the clerks would look up from where they were working and call out to him “Nothing yet Petey.” He would walk back out of the door and head for the milk and cookies or fresh bread with butter that his mother had waiting for him as a snack. As he walked along he would say to himself “Golly, its got to be there tomorrow.”
Day after day Petey walked through the door to the jingle of the bell and day after day he heard the same greeting “Nothing yet Petey.” Then one day as Petey pushed open the door he stood face to face with Mr. Saxon himself. With a big smile on his face he greeted Petey with two words “Its here.” He handed Petey the 1930 American Flyer Catalog.
Petey stood staring at the cover for what seemed like an hour. Then he remembered his manners and looked up at Mr. Saxon and with a gasp said “Thank You, oh Thank You so much.” He turned and rushed out the door. He could hear Mr. Saxon’s deep hearty laugh as he made a run for home with his precious catalog in his hand.
When he got to his house he bolted up the stairs to the back porch and through the kitchen door. His mother was there in the kitchen and he panted out to her “Its here mom, its here!” Then he flew up the stairs to his bedroom. His mother smiled and set his glass of milk back into the ice box. She knew it would be a while, but eventually he would be back for his snack. It was the same every year when the American Flyer catalog arrived.
In his room Petey poured over the catalog, devouring each color drawing, savoring the descriptions and then imagining each item on the parlor floor. Maybe he could keep them there even after the Christmas tree had been taken down.
It took Petey several days to make his decision. After studying the illustrations, reading the copy again and again, and counting his money several times he made his decision. It would be THE STATESMAN, Train Set #1473 with the #4654 locomotive.
Now he just had to wait until the stock came in at Saxon’s. He went back to making daily visits to the hardware store, checking the window displays for the big gift and toy display that always appeared there during the Christmas season. Somewhere around Thanksgiving the display magically appeared. There traveling around an oval of track in the window was an American Flyer Wide Gauge train set. It wasn’t THE STATESMAN. It was a smaller set; THE NEW EAGLE, set #1472. It looked great. Petey decided to gather up his money and go down to the hardware store later in the week and inquire about buying THE STATESMAN. It was several days before Petey could get back to Saxon’s. Mom and Dad had errands for him to run and chores to do. Finally he emptied out his marble bag into a big glass jar, stuffed his savings into the leather drawstring bag and headed to the hardware store to claim his prize. He paused at Saxon’s big plate glass window and was a bit surprised to see that THE NEW EAGLE set was no longer there. He pushed open the door to the sound of the familiar jingle and spotted Mr. Saxon half way back in the store. He politely told Mr. Saxon that he wanted to buy The American Flyer Wide Gauge STATESMAN set. “You mean that train set that was in the front window?” Petey shook his head and showed him the illustration of THE STATESMAN set #1473 from the catalog. Mr. Saxon had a distressed look on his face. “Petey” he said with a calm voice, “We only order a few sets every year, and we didn’t order that one this year. And someone came in this morning and bought the set in the window for the mayor’s children.” At that moment a huge lump grew in Petey’s throat. The merchandise on the shelves began to blur into blotches of color. Mr. Saxon’s facial features seemed to flow together as tears began to fill Petey’s eyes. How could this be? Surely Saxon’s carried all of the items in the catalog. Didn’t they? Mr. Saxon looked at Petey intently. Suddenly his eyes narrowed and he snapped his fingers. “Petey all of those bigger trains are gone, but I think we had one left over from last year that was put in the storage room. I didn’t remember it until just now. Let me send Dutch up to the storage room to get it.” Petey stood in the aisle with small drawers of screws, nuts, bolts and washers on either side of him. He shifted back and forth on his feet nervously. It seemed like an eternity but finally he could see Dutch descending the big wooden staircase at the back of the store. He was carrying a large box in his arms. Petey’s heart began to race. Dutch carried the box over to Mr. Saxon and they had a brief conversation. Mr. Saxon took the box from Dutch and walked over to Petey. He had a smile on his face; “Petey its not set #1473, its set #1483. Will it do?” Petey recognized the set number. It was the same set as THE STATESMAN set but it had the better 4684 electric engine. There was no illustration of it in the catalog, but it had a remote control reverse unit, and it was more expensive. Petey stood looking at Mr. Saxon, “It would be fine sir, but the catalog says it costs more than I have saved.” Mr. Saxon wrinkled his brow. Then he winked his eye. “Well Petey, it is last year’s stock. If you want it, you can have it for a 25% discount. At that moment someone opened the front door and the bell jingled. To Petey it sounded like the ringing of the bells in the steeple of St. Marks just down the block. Mr. Saxon wrote up the sale himself. Petey carried his prize home and took it into the parlor where he began to unpack it. The cars looked different than the illustration in the catalog. They had green roofs and each car was emblazoned with the name STATESMAN in two places on each side. But most importantly, they were his. Petey's STATESMAN set Enjoying the World's Greatest Hobby Northwoods Flyer
Now he just had to wait until the stock came in at Saxon’s. He went back to making daily visits to the hardware store, checking the window displays for the big gift and toy display that always appeared there during the Christmas season. Somewhere around Thanksgiving the display magically appeared. There traveling around an oval of track in the window was an American Flyer Wide Gauge train set. It wasn’t THE STATESMAN.
It was a smaller set; THE NEW EAGLE, set #1472.
It looked great. Petey decided to gather up his money and go down to the hardware store later in the week and inquire about buying THE STATESMAN.
It was several days before Petey could get back to Saxon’s. Mom and Dad had errands for him to run and chores to do. Finally he emptied out his marble bag into a big glass jar, stuffed his savings into the leather drawstring bag and headed to the hardware store to claim his prize.
He paused at Saxon’s big plate glass window and was a bit surprised to see that THE NEW EAGLE set was no longer there. He pushed open the door to the sound of the familiar jingle and spotted Mr. Saxon half way back in the store. He politely told Mr. Saxon that he wanted to buy The American Flyer Wide Gauge STATESMAN set. “You mean that train set that was in the front window?” Petey shook his head and showed him the illustration of THE STATESMAN set #1473 from the catalog. Mr. Saxon had a distressed look on his face. “Petey” he said with a calm voice, “We only order a few sets every year, and we didn’t order that one this year. And someone came in this morning and bought the set in the window for the mayor’s children.”
At that moment a huge lump grew in Petey’s throat. The merchandise on the shelves began to blur into blotches of color. Mr. Saxon’s facial features seemed to flow together as tears began to fill Petey’s eyes. How could this be? Surely Saxon’s carried all of the items in the catalog. Didn’t they?
Mr. Saxon looked at Petey intently. Suddenly his eyes narrowed and he snapped his fingers. “Petey all of those bigger trains are gone, but I think we had one left over from last year that was put in the storage room. I didn’t remember it until just now. Let me send Dutch up to the storage room to get it.”
Petey stood in the aisle with small drawers of screws, nuts, bolts and washers on either side of him. He shifted back and forth on his feet nervously. It seemed like an eternity but finally he could see Dutch descending the big wooden staircase at the back of the store. He was carrying a large box in his arms. Petey’s heart began to race. Dutch carried the box over to Mr. Saxon and they had a brief conversation. Mr. Saxon took the box from Dutch and walked over to Petey. He had a smile on his face; “Petey its not set #1473, its set #1483. Will it do?” Petey recognized the set number. It was the same set as THE STATESMAN set but it had the better 4684 electric engine. There was no illustration of it in the catalog, but it had a remote control reverse unit, and it was more expensive. Petey stood looking at Mr. Saxon, “It would be fine sir, but the catalog says it costs more than I have saved.” Mr. Saxon wrinkled his brow. Then he winked his eye. “Well Petey, it is last year’s stock. If you want it, you can have it for a 25% discount. At that moment someone opened the front door and the bell jingled. To Petey it sounded like the ringing of the bells in the steeple of St. Marks just down the block.
Mr. Saxon wrote up the sale himself. Petey carried his prize home and took it into the parlor where he began to unpack it. The cars looked different than the illustration in the catalog. They had green roofs and each car was emblazoned with the name STATESMAN in two places on each side. But most importantly, they were his.
Petey's STATESMAN set
The Northwoods Flyer Collection
of
American Flyer Trains
"The Toy For the Boy"
Great story. Are you Petey?
Earl
Tremendous story. Brought a tear to my eye.
Northwoods,
I know you are not Petey, but is the story true?
Oh, and that is a great looking Statesman set. The cars look like they are in terrific shape.
O.
Electric trains during the Christmas season and little boys. I remember 50 to 55 years ago checking out the Lionel Trains running on the Christmas layout in Seattle Sporting Goods.
Bill T.
Thanks for the story.
Ray
Bayville, NJ
Life is what happens to youWhile you're busy making other plans - John Lennon
A great story for sure. Thanks for sharing it.
J White
you missed your calling a story like that you could of gotten printed in one of the O gauge mags as I remember the other one about 3 years ago had kinda of a Christmas story involving a train and it wasn't any better than your story which I thought was great. To be honest when you came to the part the set was gone i thought you where going to end the story with him going home disappointed and it being under the Christmas tree Christmas morning.
great story
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Yea I had the same anticipation.
Thank you for all of the kind comments.
I am not Petey, although I feel honored to be the current custodian of his train. The story started out as a posting to the Pre War Flyer thread as a Christmas Wish List item and it just grew into what I posted here. The story is not the recounting of any one real event, but it is a weaving of events, places, and people from my life and some of the stories told in my family over the years. I'll be posting it to the Flyer thread as well so that that photos of the Statesman set are there.
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with the opportunity to add to your collection of memories and stories.
Enjoying the World's Greatest HobbyNorthwoods Flyer
Your story struck a serious chord within me. A couple of decades later than when this story occured, I was the little boy with the catalogues and the dreams. And it explains why my original trains still bring out the kid in me, much to my wife's dismay.
Jack
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
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