A Brief History of English Meccano 1901 - 1981
Introduction
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Meccano, that wonderful, and much imitated, universal mechanical construction system had its genesis in the closing years of the nineteenth century. Its originator was Frank Hornby, who obtained the first patents for his invention in 1901. In the same year the first elementary set went on sale, under the name "Mechanics Made Easy". The name "Meccano" made its appearance in 1908. Regular home and overseas model-building competitions were initiated by Hornby in 1915, the first issue of the Meccano Magazine appeared in 1916, and the world-wide Meccano Guild and Correspondence Club was founded in 1919. Hornby trains, electrical, chemistry and radio sets, Hornby speedboats, aeroplane and car constructor sets and Dinky toys had all made their appearance by the time Hornby died in 1936. With Meccano, he had seen his invention grow to become a highly sophisticated system capable of reproducing virtually every known mechanical device, and to include amongst its achievements an Empire-wide, if not quite a world-wide, brotherhood of Meccano boys. |
Having survived the First World War and the Great Depression relatively unscathed, the Second World War marked the beginning of a general steady decline in the fortunes of the company. Meccano manufacture had ceased completely from 1942 in favour of the war effort, and it was 1950 before full Meccano production was achieved again. But by this time new competitors were on the scene. Television, and then Lego, in particular, began to make significant inroads into Meccano's traditional markets. Progressively more difficult times, as evidenced by multiple changes of ownership, erratic publication of the Meccano Magazine and desperate sets modifications eventually culminated in the closure of the famous Binns Road factory in November 1979, thus sensibly ending the manufacture of English Meccano.
Frank Hornby himself published a history of Meccano in the Meccano Magazine in 1917, and again in 1932/33. Although providing a valuable insight into the history and all aspects of Meccano manufacture and marketing at the time, its almost total lack of chronological information is unfortunate.
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