Thursday Extra

[Majorman]

Wheatlands Museum, Warracknabeal, Victoria, Australia.
Meccano Museum

 

[MJ in the UK]

Hi Majorman when I was 9 years old my parents gave me a size 7 Meccano set for christmas and I got a lot of pleasure from it as I think this started me on my way to be mechaniclly minded. The following christmas I got a clockwork motor to drive my models I had made. MJ.

 

[Majorman]

Hi MJ,

You would not give children today those sort of kits, all those little nuts, bolts and washers. :0( I too had one when I was nine or ten complete with the little spanners and screw drivers. My boys had no interest, it was all Lego then, not really an introduction to real life.

 

[sms]

In the states we had Erector sets. Very similar and just as much fun. Still available. Are they the same company? Or related?

 

[4wdtom]

My father had a mix of Meccano parts and kits when he was a kid 90 years ago. He gave to me when I was a kid. Still have it. I added many parts as you could buy them from a company in the states at the time, think it was in New Jersey. Used to save up my allowance and other money I could come by and every once in a while place an order. Going on line you can find a lot about Meccano still. I don't know if it is still produced. I always thought the quality was just a bit better than Erector.

 

[Russ from MN]

I had an erector set, complete with the electric motor, it maybe contributed to me becoming a millwright! It was sometimes a problem finding batteries, but the telephone lineman gave me some old telephone batteries. We had a crank phone until 69.

 

[Majorman]

Frank Hornby started Meccano in 1898, merged with Erector in the early 1900's and still can be bought today. The company is now owned by a Canadian company, Spin Masters. Frank Hornby was also involved in model train set manufacture, both clockwork and electric.

This post was edited by Majorman on 12/08/2022 at 07:06 am.

 

[DMartin9N-2N]

Good morning, Majorman and all: When I was about 12 yrs old, I got a construction set similar to Erector, but made by Boxar company, called Construct-O-Craft. I enjoyed it immensely, later gave it to my cousin. He later became an engineer for a large manufacturer of military machines. Much could be learned from those old toys!
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Dennis M. in W. Tenn.
.

 

[John in Mich]

I never had an erector set growing up. We had Tinker Toys. I have, over the years bought a couple erector sets at yard sales. They are now part of stuff that I should be getting rid of.
I also still have an army tank that was made out of wood because metal was critical for WW2.
After the war I received a Marx mechanical crawler tractor with a push blade and a trailer. The man that was on it is missing but the mechanism still works even after the number of times that I took it apart as a kid to see how it worked.
I don't spend any time looking at toys but I don't see kids playing with any either. If it is not remote or have a screen, it ain't no fun. Electronics appear to me to be the babysitter like TV was 30-60 years ago. Yup, I'm getting old and cynical.