Meccano

Meccano is a model construction kit comprising metal strips, plates, wheels, gears, and nuts and bolts. It is also the name of the British company, Meccano Ltd, that made Meccano and other model toys and kits, and the name of the magazine, Meccano Magazine, that Meccano Ltd published monthly.

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History

In 1901 Frank Hornby, a clerk from Liverpool, England, invented and patented a new toy called "Mechanics Made Easy" that was based on the principles of mechanical engineering. It consisted of perforated metal strips, plates and girders, with wheels, pulleys, gears and axles for motion, and nuts and bolts to connect the pieces. The perforations were at a standard ? inch (12.7 mm) spacing and the nuts and bolts used 5/32 inch BSW threads. It was more than just a toy, it was educational, teaching basic mechanical principles like levers and gearing.

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Hornby established Meccano Ltd and factories in James and Duke Streets in Liverpool to begin manufacturing. As the construction kits gained in popularity they soon became known as Meccano and went on sale across the world. The Meccano trade mark was registered in September 1907, the word "Meccano" being derived from the phrase "Make and Know". http://www.mecworld.co.za/jmh/jmh/articles_files/what_is_meccano/whatismec.htm In 1914, production was moved to a new factory in Binns Road.

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By the 1930s, eleven Meccano sets were available, numbered 0 to 10, number 10 being the largest (and most expensive) set. Accessory sets were also available, numbered 0A to 9A, that converted a set to the next in the series (for example, accessory set 6A would convert a number 6 set to a number 7 set). Meccano Ltd also supplied individual Meccano parts to complement existing sets.

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The Meccano sets remained relatively unchanged until the mid-1950s when new parts were introduced. In 1978 a major change occurred when the 0 – 10 set range, with its red and green piece colour scheme, was replaced with a series of five sets in blue and yellow. The new sets were an attempt to "modernise" Meccano's presentation, but production of Meccano at Binns Road ceased in 1979.

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At one stage Meccano was manufactured throughout the world in England, France, Spain, Argentina and USA, but after the closure of the Binns Road plant, the French factory in Calais remained the only producer of Meccano. Meccano changed hands a few times before being bought by Nikko Toys in 2000, who currently manufacture Meccano in France and China.

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Purists, however, look down on modern French- and Chinese-made Meccano, for several reasons: the plates are thinner, or plastic; the bolts are hex-headed galvanised steel, rather than the original slot-headed brass ones; and new specialized pieces have been introduced (modern plastic gears, electric motors, battery boxes) which some consider as not "true" Meccano. But what has remained the same are the Imperial ? inch perforation spacing and the 5/32 inch nut and bolt threads.

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Capabilities

With a Meccano set there was a wide range of models that could be built. Here are the models for which instructions were given in the largest set of the late 1950s, the "Outfit 10":

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:"Railway Service Crane", "Sports Motor Car", "Coal Tipper", "Cargo Ship", "Double Decker Bus", "Lifting Shovel", "Blocksetting Crane", "Beam Bridge", "Dumper Truck", "Automatic Gantry Crane", "Automatic Snow Loader", "4-4-0 Passenger Locomotive"

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On top of these there were instruction leaflets available for:

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:"Combine Harvester", "The Eiffel Tower", "Showman?s Traction Engine", "Twin-Cylinder Motor Cycle Engine", "Trench Digger", "Bottom Dump Truck", "Road Surfacing Machine", "Mechanical Loading Shovel"

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Meccano is a very versatile constructional medium. Just about anything can be built with it, from simple trucks and bridges to complex cranes and gearboxes with working mechanisms. It can even be used to prototype new ideas and inventions. The capability of Meccano to produce models is limited only by the imagination and ingenuity of the modeller.

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Popularity

By the late 1920s Meccano had become an international household name. Meccano clubs started forming around the world and in 1930 Frank Hornby launched the Meccano Guild to amalgamate these clubs. In 1989, The International Society of Meccanomen was founded in England and boasts more than 400 members in 25 countries.

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Even today, over a hundred years since its inception, there are still thousands of Meccano enthusiasts world-wide, with hundreds of websites covering every conceivable aspect of Meccano history, model building instructions and nostalgia. Individuals and companies world-wide still manufacture replicas of various parts, some long out of production. There is an annual World Meccano Exhibition at Skegness in England every year around July. This is one of the few products in existence to have such a long-running success.

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Many people today look back at their childhood with fond memories of Meccano model building, and the careers many people chose was influenced by their experience and knowledge gained from "playing" with Meccano.

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