It  was 1917, and Antonio Pasin had what you might call a product line problem. The 19-year-old carpenter had emigrated from Italy three years earlier and set up a small woodworking shop to make phonograph cabinets. But phonograph cabinets were not what Pasin was selling.

To help him lug his heavy tools around, the fresh-faced Chicago carpenter had also constructed some heavy-duty wagons—those were what customers were asking to buy. Undeterred, Pasin reoriented his company, scuttling the phonograph cabinets and going into the wagon business.