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Ted loved weekends. There was nothing more fun than puttering around the garage for an afternoon. What should he work on first, he wondered as he opened up his toolbox. Should he refurbish the old barbecue grill that he picked up at a junkyard last year, or fix Susie’s old bicycle?

His son’s voice shattered the silence, putting such monumental decisions on hold.

“Hey, dad, do you have a spare tire,” the boy shouted from just outside the door.

Instinctively Ted looked down at his stomach. It stuck out over his belt buckle by an inch. “I wouldn’t exactly call it a spare tire,” he muttered to himself.

Then his son skidded into the garage, went right past him, heading for the trunk of the car. “Is the tire in here,” he asked. “Can we get it out?”

“Oh,” Ted said, relieved. “You’re talking about that kind of tire.”

“Sure.” The boy looked up at his father, confused. “What did you think I meant?”

“Nothing.” Ted wasn’t about to share his concerns about his expanding midsection to his son. He chose instead to focus on the question at hand. “The spare tire is in the bottom of the trunk. Why do you want it?”

“For Show and Tell.”

“What?”

“Tomorrow is Show and Tell day. The teacher chooses a different industry or facet of American life to discuss. We’re supposed to bring a relevant item to school and talk about it to the class. The topic this time is transportation.”

“Okay,” Ted said, “but why a tire? You’ve made some fantastic model airplanes. I bet your class would like to see one of them.”

“That’s too obvious. I want to do something different.”

“Like what?”

“Remember when I asked you about that flying car?”

“Sure. You found a brochure about the future that mother kept in a shoebox in the attic.”

“Well, there were a whole bunch of interesting pamphlets in that box, including this one.”

Junior handed his father a booklet from Firestone Tire company. It claimed that Firestone Builds Today the Tire of Tomorrow!

“I remember this,” Ted tapped his forefinger across the cover. “We visited the display at the New York World’s Fair and picked up this pamphlet of the fantastic Firestone exhibit during our tour.”

“The colorful singing fountains were spectacular.”

“This brochure has lots of pictures showing how Firestone makes their tires.”

“A fascinating process,” Ted said.

“Carried out in such big factories.”

“Fantastic Firestone certainly lives up to its name. I’m sure all the kids will hang onto your every word during your presentation.”

“And enjoy examining our tire.” Junior reached for the trunk of the Chevy. “I hope we have one of these models.”

“Yes, our car is outfitted with Fantastic Firestone tires,” Ted said, “but these heavy-duty beauties fit bigger machines.”

“They are used in construction and major projects,” Ted continued. “Firestone tires also come in handy on the farm.”

“And on the race track.”

“Off the track, the company backs up their products with friendly and efficient service.”

“Can I have the spare tire to show at school,” Junior asked.

“It’s awfully big and heavy,” Ted countered. “How about one of these other Firestone items?”

“We have a spare battery and a set of spark plugs on the work bench over there,” Ted pointed toward the back of the garage.

“I bet we don’t own this comfy air mattress.”

“Nope,” Ted confirmed. “Or any of these cushions either.”

“I still have my heart set on a tire,” Junior said. “Can’t I bring the spare to school? Please?”

“I don’t know—” Ted didn’t look forward to hauling the spare out of the trunk. There must be an alternative solution. He sent his eyes on a search mission around the garage, then found the perfect answer. “This baby buggy is equipped with Firestone tires and they’re much smaller than the full-size version. You can easily carry one to school.”

Really? Junior lit up. “You’ll take it off the buggy for me?”

“My pleasure.” The project for the afternoon now defined, Ted removed the wrench from his toolbox. “Let’s work on this together!”

“Neat!”

As father and son began to extract the wheel of technological might from the buggy, we got to learn about its fabulous past, all thanks to GVS, Glorious Vintage Stuff!