Nostalgia can be a powerful thing! We sometimes feel it for times we never even experienced. Thanks to Pop's Restorations, a local neighborhood is going to be whimsically reminded of the beginning of the 20th Century. 

It makes me think of baseball games, soda fountains, and trolleys!

Restorer and all-around handyman Larry Webb created the wagon himself and turned to local vendors (like us) for the parts he couldn't manufacture himself. The entire thing is completely sourced and made right here in Franklin, TN! The wagon is named "Wagon 22" after the Laguna Hills Fire Station where Larry served as both an engineer and captain. The look of the wagon is inspired by those of Dunbar & Company—a manufacturer based out of Chicago that created equipment for the peanut and popcorn industry in the early 1900's. Dunbar & Company's wagons ran on steam engines, but thankfully Wagon 22 runs on electricity.

Larry created the body of the cart out of maple wood which was then stained with a dark mahogany stain. He also designed the decorative metal top supports that were covered with a powder coat and bright yellow paint. He also hand fabricated the spring shocks keeping the heavy spoke wheels in line out of hickory. The stainless steel ice box on top of the cart is made in the traditional style with two doors on top that swing open to reveal Popsicles, soda, or whatever else you want to put in there. The stainless steel cooler has also been fitted with a drain to make it easy to clean up melted ice.

Don't let the bright, fun colors fool you; this is one sturdy piece of machinery!

The roof of the wagon is made out of luan plywood to keep the whole thing light and somewhat flexible. Fabric was then applied to the plywood using contact cement and paint rollers. While that was being put together, Larry painstakingly added gold pinstripes by hand using sign painting paint. He learned how to pinstripe by hand from his father who apprenticed under a famous sign painter from Kentucky named John Brown. 

Our part came in when he needed signs on the sides of the wagon and ice box! It's all cut vinyl lettering—none of it is digitally printed. We wrapped bright geranium red vinyl on ACP panels for the base of the signs. The next layer included letters and framing details in a high-performance black vinyl. We then cut machine gold vinyl in the same shapes as the letters and framing but slightly smaller, so it looks like gold leaf detailing that would have been very common in the beginning of the 20th Century. Ben, one of our part-time graphic designers, designed the layout of the signs and picked a great slab-serif font that really looks like it would fit right in during America's Gilded Age.

We love the way the machine gold vinyl turned out! It really does look like gold leaf. We usually use this vinyl for details on service vehicles like fire trucks.

Larry wanted to create the wagon because he felt like the kids in the community were always selling something in his neighborhood from Girl Scout Cookies to lemonade to coupon books. He wanted to create something that would draw attention to their wares (and draw customers in) to help the neighborhood's pint-sized sales force in their fundraising efforts. Anyone in the community is allowed to use it, and combined with the amount of community events we have around here in Franklin, it seems pretty likely that Wagon 22 will get its fair share of business!