Since May 21 2002 You are visitor Number 

Updates to this page:

New design and revised content August 07 2007. Text changes July 16 2008

Re-design of 100 years of toys of quality with higher resolution pictures March 06 2008

THE POST WAR YEARS

Production of Meccano and Dinky Toys, resumed in late 1945 not long after the end of the war. Products however were much the same as had been produced prior to the war and some probably were old stock, but the ranges were smaller and in very limited supply for the home market. The range of Meccano parts was greatly reduced too from those of the pre-war days, many of the more specialist parts such as the digger bucket, and train parts were dropped. The colour of parts was changed from the pre war gold and blue to the familiar mid red and green. Although parts in these colours had been in some export sets in the 1930s and until production stopped in 1942. The picture below left is a Dinky Toy Covered Wagon from the late 1940s very similar to that of the pre-war years. It was not until 1947/48 that a full range Hornby trains, Dinky builder and Hornby Dublo were available. The advertisement on the right, featuring the good old traction engine is from the April 1947. In the Meccano Magazine ads. of this time mention was often made about shortage of products and reminders to take good care of your Meccano products. As late as 1949 shortages were still mentioned in Meccano Magazine ads. Not long after this production started gearing up but the Korean War 1950-1953 again brought about shortages of materials, this meant production and quality had to be cut back, many former brass parts were made in steel with an anodised black finish.

In 1954 new parts and completely new instruction manuals were announced, until then many of the models were based on those originally published in 1937 these had a rather antiquated appearance for boys born after the war. A bigger change came about in 1962 with new packaging for Meccano sets and completely new manuals using exploded diagrams, instead of photographs with lengthy text. Several new parts were introduced at this time including narrow strips and plastic flexible plates. Narrow strips had been first shown in 1920s see 1929 Level Luffing Crane but were not put into production for nearly 40 years.

In 1964 there was a dramatic change in the colours, parts became black,yellow and aluminum this followed the take over of the Meccano company by Lines Bros. the makers of Triang Toys. The aluminum finish was not very durable and in 1967 the parts in this finish were zinc plated parts, in this finish continued until 1970.

This post war period cannot be left without one of the most enduring images ever produced by Meccano and recognisable to any "Meccano Boy" brought up in the 1950s. The illustration is of a block setting crane and is by W.H.Pinyon an illustrator who's work was commissioned by the Meccano company for their cover designs and advertising over many years. The illustration was used on manuals from 1948 - 1955. Although similar in many ways to a Super Model plan, the Giant Bock-setting Crane, produced in the inter-war years it has different proportions, the rear boom of the crane for one thing is shorter. This may be artistic licence enabling the composition to be correct. W.H. Pinyon sometimes took things a bit too far a 1950s Hornby Dublo advertisement shows pipe smoking Dad with five fingers in addition to his thumb! Before you ask no instructions were ever published for the illustrated model by Meccano Ltd.

 1970s 1980s

In 1970 the colours were again changed this time to blue, yellow and zinc the set contents although remained the same the 1962 sets. The early 1970s also saw the introduction of Meccano Highway and Army Multikits, these were sets with standard parts finished in special colours. The sets came with a ready made metal cab, wide plastic wheels and enabled a range of service vehicles to be built. An attractive crane set with all yellow parts was also introduced around this time with a new small 6-12 volt motor.

Another major change came in 1978 when the old set range, 0 - 10 that went back to the 1930s, was abandoned. In its place a series of five sets 1- 5 were introduced in new dark blue and deep yellow colours. Two extension sets were also available "S" and "L" . In a break with tradition the sets had a range of parts totally unrelated to all the previous series of sets. Many of the parts included had only ever been in the much larger sets one notable omission from all the sets was part 52 the 5x11 hole base plate that had featured in every set from the earliest days. One welcome addition were wider wheels with a stylish mag alloy look. It had taken Meccano a long time to recognise the wheels in the sets looked like those found on vehicles from the 1920s. The 9 and 10 set were still available in the new colours with the old range of parts. The number 9 set was in fact a repackaging of what had been until 1970 the 8 set. The new range of sets were an attempt to bring Meccano up to date with a contemporary presentation and new modern models, some old favourites were included though such as the Meccanograph. Unfortunately by then the writing was on the wall, out of date production methods, bad management, poor labour relations, restrictive union practices and years of falling sales finally brought production of Meccano at the famous Binns Road factory to an end. On Friday, 30 November 1979 the company then owned by Airfix industries, makers of Airfix plastic kits, ceased trading.

After the closure of Binns Road there was quite a scramble at major toy stores such as Hamleys of Regent Street, London, to buy the remaining stocks of spare parts. The situation was not helped by the very small amount of stores still bothering with stocking spare parts. Twenty five years before every major town or city would have had at least one Meccano dealer with a cabinet full of tempting spare parts. Parts had became almost impossible to get and It looked as though it was the end of an era. Toy and model shops were searched for sets and spare parts for my sons (plus a few for me). All was not lost for the enthusiast and through the efforts of Geoff Wright of MW Models in Henley-on-Thames new and used parts were obtainable although often in short supply. However things slowly improved, French Meccano had continued in production in Calais owned by an American Company and had not suffered the fate of the Liverpool factory. In 1985 the Calais factory was taken over by a French Meccano enthusiast and accountant Marc Rebibo . Under his ownership they produced the 1 - 10 set range and the 1A - 9A Accessory sets, as "Enthusiasts Sets" these sets had the same content and packaging as had been produced at Binns Road in the early 1970s and were welcomed by enthusiasts. This also ensured a ready supply of spare parts.

The Illustration of the boy with the large sets is taken from an early 1970s promotional leaflet and shows the No.9 and No.10 sets the largest available at that time. Described in the leaflet as, " 9 and 10 the big sets for the boy who has everything! " Although in reality these sets were aimed more at the growing adult market.

THE PRESENT DAY

The most frequent question I get asked when I exhibit models is "Can you still buy metal Meccano?" Well the short answer is yes. Production of Meccano continues today in Calais, France under the sole ownership of Meccano SN. Nikko a Japanese based company at one time had a part share of the company . Things have changed though, with an ever increasing amount of plastic parts. The sets are now often themed to build a small range of models from the instructions supplied. The set on left will build three types of radio control car and was introduced in 2006. Other sets though such as Multi Models enable a wider range of models to be constructed. Sets once again have the appeal they once held for past generations.

In the years following the closure of Binns Road many new and useful metal and plastic parts have been introduced by Meccano.  There is also a growing range of replica parts plus many other parts that were never made by Meccano. All the new parts remain compatible with the very earliest sets and all still use the same half inch hole spacing and 5/32" BSW threads. 

The continuation of production in France has ensured that Frank Hornby's original invention first patented in 1901 is now in to its second century. Much of the recent output of Meccano itself now comes from China. The name "Meccano" is today one of the most well known toy brands in the world. Sets can be bought at stores throughout the world unfortunately only a few specialist dealers sell separate parts. Marks and Spencer the British High Street retailer often have exclusive Meccano kits, models of the Concorde and Spitfire were recent sucesses.

Frank Hornby the inventor of Meccano, would I am sure have embraced the idea of the Internet and the web to promote the Meccano hobby and of course his products. The web and internet bringing together as it does the world-wide community of Meccano constructors and collectors much as had The Meccano Guild. I am a member of The International Society of Meccanomen (ISM) member 0681 and of the "Spanner" Internet mailing list and Through these organisations I have found many new friends around the world and received much helpful advice and occasionally given some. I would be pleased to hear from you too.

  THE MECCANO MAGAZINE

One of the great achievements of Frank Hornby was a monthly publication  "The Meccano Magazine" produced between 1916 and 1972. The front cover shown is from December 1934. The canal lift looks like it was built with  Meccano and no doubt inspired many a model builder as did so many topics in the magazine. Although originally conceived as a promotional tool to increase the sales of Meccano by the 1920s it had expanded to cover other interests. Articles featured Meccano construction, Hornby trains, and other products of the company plus many other topics of interest to boys and adults of the time, such as aviation, railways, shipping, engineering,stamp collecting and photography.

Many of the articles would be linked to new products from the company for instance, the latest De Havilland airliner would be featured with a mention that it was also the latest Dinky Toy. An illustration of the Frobisher class Dinky Toy is on the right . Commonwealth countries (then the Empire) always featured strongly in articles, these countries were prime destinations for exports from the Meccano Company. There were regular competitions for Meccano model building announced in the magazine with big cash prizes. The copyright to these entries became the property of the Meccano company and were often used in later instruction manuals or published in the magazine. Quite often competitions would be linked to an engineering company's own products such as cranes, diggers or loaders. This clearly made the link between "Engineering in Miniature" and the real world of engineering the former phrase was used for many years in Meccano advertising. At its peak of circulation in the1930s magazine was selling 75,000 copies per month.

During the second world war the magazine was reduced greatly in both content, quality and size, from approximately A4 to a much smaller 210 mm x 140 mm after the second world war it remained at that size although with more content than during the war years. However it was not until late 1952 that real improvements were made with more pages, it was also printed on a much better quality, semi gloss paper. Circulation picked up but never reached again the peak years of the 1930s. In 1961 the format size was increased but by then its sales were in a rapid decline and so was the Meccano content. Sadly so too were the sales of Meccano sets. The magazine's heydays were undoubtedly the years between the late 1920s and 1939.This was also the era of the greatest success for the Meccano company and its wide range of products. The magazines are today are an excellent source of historic information and an invaluable aid to collectors of toys from those years.