TAMPA, Fla. - Frederic J. Gaynor, whose childhood image adorned posters and magazine advertisements for Daisy air rifles in the 1940s, has died. He was 74.

Gaynor died from cancer at his home in Sarasota on March 29, his wife said.

Gaynor's image encapsulated an era when boys spent their summers running outside barefoot and dreamed of owning shiny bicycles, electric trains and, of course, a BB gun. That wish is perhaps best remembered by Peter Billingsley's portrayal of Ralphie in the popular 1983 film, "A Christmas Story."

But in 1947, it was 12-year-old Gaynor's red-cheeks and brown curls that captured young boys' fascination with guns and the outdoors.

Pictured against an open blue sky filled with white clouds, Gaynor was photographed smiling in a pair of rolled up blue jeans, his older brother's white shirt and a red short-sleeved sweater worn over top.

He wore his father's watch on his left hand, and smiled as he grasped the rifle.

At the end of the shoot, Gaynor was offered a Daisy BB gun, but his mother wouldn't let him keep it.

A painting of the photograph was first used in 1947 for a cover of the company's annual report, and later in advertisements that featured the company's American Boys Bill of Rights.

Today, his image can still be found at the Daisy museum, on posters, and playing cards.