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Meccano
- a short history
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"Meccanics Made Easy", the forerunner
of Meccano, was patented in 1901 by Frank Hornby of Liverpool, England.
He teamed up with a Mr. Elliott, who provided much of the required venture
capital, and started producing sets.
The early years of the 1900s
These early sets contained about 15 different pieces and were made of
tinplate. The basic concept of using perforated strips and plates that
were fastened together with nuts and bolts was very novel and the company
steadily grew.
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Over the next few years, a number of
different sized sets were introduced and new pieces were introduced,
for example brass gears. During this era, many new model competitions
were sponsored by the company.
The prize money was quite substantial for the time and a lot of interest
was generated. Some of the prize winning early models included Ferris
Wheels, Looms (that wove cloth), the Meccanograph and a Motor Car
Chassis. In later years, the YMCA in Edmonton held Meccano model competitions. |
A new factory begins in 1914
In 1907, a new factory was established on Duke Street.
The company invested in new equipment and had several employees. A few years
later they moved again to larger quarters on West Derby Road. In 1908, Frank
Hornby bought out his partner and changed the name of his building sets
and company name to "Meccano".
Meccano in this era was mostly nickel plate
and brass. The company exported too many countries, e.g. Canada, Australia,
New Zealand, India and other parts of the British Commonwealth.
Meccano designs and World War II
In 1934, the colours were changed again, at least
in Great Britain. Strips were now finished in gold paint and flat plates
were finished in dark blue with gold cross-hatching. Sets with this finish
were not normally exported however; the red & green sets were still
produced for the export market (e.g. Canada).
Frank Hornby was elected M.P. in 1931. In 1936, Frank Hornby died, a very
rich man - his company was taken over by his relatives. Meccano production
was halted during the 2nd World War. The Meccano factory was used to produce
war related materials.
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There
was a further slowdown during the Korean War as metal was in short
supply.
After the war, production slowly resumed, bit by bit. All new sets
were once again produced in red, green & brass - the blue-gold
colours were discontinued. In 1964, another colour change took place.
The pieces were changed to silver, yellow and black. |
Specialty sets in the 1970s
Only 6 years later in 1970, black was replaced by blue and all of the sets
were downgraded in size (e.g. they started calling a #4 set as a "#5
set").
Some specialty sets were produced over the years as well. For example there
were Aeroplane Constructor sets, Motor Car Constructor sets, Electrical
sets, Army sets, Combat sets, Highway Vehicle sets, Crane sets and the "Meccanoids".
Meccano Ltd. also produced other toys, e.g. Hornby Trains.
For
the past 40 years, the set contents were relatively unchanged. In
1978, a drastic change in set contents was made and another colour
change was made, this time to dark blue, yellow and brass.
However, the company's fortunes had taken a beating over the last
few years. In November 1979, Meccano Ltd. went suddenly into receivership.
This was a shock to everyone, including the employees. |
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They staged a sit-in strike in a last ditch effort to keep the company going.
However in the end they gave up and the Binn's Road factory was emptied
and demolished in 1980.
New beginnings from the 1980s
Meccano is still available however. Their original French subsidiary, now
an independently owned company, still produces Meccano from a factory in
France. Around 1990, Meccano France purchased the rights to the "Erector"
trademark in the U.S.A.
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It started selling Meccano sets marked "Erector Meccano"
in the U.S.A... Exacto Ltd. of Buenos Aires, Argentina still produces
Meccano.
Meccano (TM) is a metal construction system patented by Liverpool
entrepreneur Frank Hornby in 1901.
In its heyday it was a tremendous success, becoming a household name,
and spawning a large number of derivatives, including Gilbert Erector
in the USA and Marklin in Germany.
The Erector brand has now been reconnected to Meccano and today's
Erector sets are the same as those sold by Meccano SA in Europe.
The system uses perforated strips, plates, girders, gears and pulleys
of steel and brass which are bolted together to make models which
can be disassembled and used over and over again. There are hundreds
of different parts. |
Frank Hornby's success story
Originally intended as an educational toy to stimulate the brains of Edwardian
children, Meccano launched Hornby on a career which was to take him all
the way to Parliament as one of Liverpool's most famous sons.
Meanwhile,
it rapidly became apparent that the pipe-smoking father on the covers
of Meccano instruction booklets was just as enthralled by the "toy"
as the well-scrubbed schoolboys he was buying it for.
By the 1920s instructions for "supermodels" were being designed
and published some of which remain milestones of complexity for the
adult modeller.
By the 1960s rival plastic construction toys - cheaper, and with a
wider and younger appeal - were carving huge chunks out of Meccano's
market, while Meccano itself proved slow to adapt to the new challenge.
In 1979 Meccano's factory at Binns Road in Liverpool closed its doors
for the last time, and the company was bought by a French corporation
to be relaunched as Meccano SA, based in Calais. |
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21st Centuary Meccano
Today Meccano struggles in a marketplace dominated by TV tie-ins, cheap
dolls and the ubiquitous plastic building brick. But its devotees are a
tenacious bunch, and there is still a potent magic about the inexorable
turning of those shining brass gears which is guaranteed to draw crowds
wherever good models are displayed. |
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