| MECCANO | |
 | |
| Founder | Frank Hornby |
| Founded | 1898 |
| Headquarters | Liverpool, UK |
| Industry | toys |
| Website | http://www.meccano.com |
History[]
Meccano was first invented in 1898 by Frank Hornby. The father of 2 young boys, he created for them a system of parts, nuts and bolts, allowing them to build cranes like the ones that fascinated them so much loading and unloading ships at the Port of Liverpool.
Frank Hornby developed his system and marketed it under the brand name "Mechanics Made Easy" ("The Mechanics Made Easy") in 1901. The name MECCANO was patented in 1907. The first MECCANO factory opened on Duke Street in Liverpool that same year, and was quickly replaced to meet rising production demands by a larger one on West Derby Road.
Faced with the global success of MECCANO, two new factories opened in Berlin in 1912 and Belleville (France) in 1920. The Belleville plant was quickly replaced by one in Bobigny, which, in 1951, could produce more than 500,000 boxes of Meccano a day!
In 1959 a new factory was built in Calais and is to this day the main production site for MECCANO products.
In 1965, Meccano Junior was born. Parts are made in plastic to allow children from 4 years old take part in the Meccano Magic.
In 1979, the Liverpool factory closed. It was then the French subsidiary's responsibility to carry the torch and continue the Meccano story.
In 2000 Meccano bought the Erector brand, which had been sold in the United States since 1913, and unified its presence on all continents. Even today, Meccano is sold under the Erector brand in the United States.
Products[]
Spykee is a remote-controlled toy robot. Unfortunately, its arms and camera head cannot be moved.
A new product, the Meccanoids promises to be much more advanced.