BAYKO and the MECCANO Trade Fairs

You know what it's like when you have a brilliant idea that doesn't work out remotely like you originally envisaged‽ Yes, I know, we all do! Well, this particular web page proved to be exactly such a situation - frustratingly! Let me explain. The main forum for British toy manufacturers [including BAYKO's first manufacturer, Plimpton Engineering] to flaunt their wares to the British [and, of course, potential export] toy retailers and wholesalers was within a subdivision of the British Industries Fair [B.I.F.]…

Brian Salter reminded me that MECCANO Limited had kept a showroom permanently open, in London, at the corner of Bernard Street and Russell Square, not far from London Central Y.M.C.A. where I lived, briefly, in 1967/8 [too late was the cry!]…

…Mr. MECCANO, in his infinite wisdom, decided, at least briefly, to plough a solitary furrow, and established his own [presumably MECCANO product range only] Trade Fairs, and that is what this page is intended to explore…

…and it's also where the problems alluded to [above] began to emerge.

I've already had several references to MECCANO Trade Fairs, elsewhere on this site for a while, but wanted to pull them together and be more comprehensive than that, so I headed for colleague sites on other MECCANO products, i.e. HORNBY, DINKY, and, of course, MECCANO itself…

…nada, nichts, niente, nihil, nothing, rien, zero, zilch!

Thus the problems began! So, off to plan B! I made contact with several of the U.K.'s regional MECCANO guilds and clubs, some of which hold promise, and I'm hopeful of gleaning some useful information via that channel. A couple of people pointed me towards N.Z. MECCANO as being the most likely online source - but not for me, at least initially, the N.Z. might as well have stood for Nada Zilch - when I first tried to access their site, it had crashed [it may have been down for routine maintenance, I don't know, but the effect was the same] hence my somewhat jaundiced and frustrated opening to this page!

I'm very happy to admit that I'm more than a bit out of order here - NZ MECCANO is a truly magnificent website, and indeed has since worked absolutely flawlessly, but the above bit really reflects the overwhelming feeling of frustration and helplessness which prevailed, in me, at that time!!!

All the references to MECCANO Trade Fairs elsewhere on this site cover a comparatively short period - the early 1960s - which, of course, coincides with MECCANO's [then] new ownership of BAYKO - though it also reflects an era of planned expansion of MECCANO's product range [into plastic, etc.] so may have been indicative of a short-lived flickering of optimism for the company, which TRI-ANG soon snuffed out!!!

Finally, proof that the 1964 MECCANO Trade Fair existed!!!

Just one small caveat I'm afraid. Although all the preparation work for the 1964 MECCANO Trade Fair was done during the period when BAYKO was still a recognised mainstream MECCANO product, the Fair itself took place shortly after the TRI-ANG takeover, and the decision to cease all future BAYKO advertising, so it's perfectly possible that the worlds first, and finest, plastic construction toy was exiled at the last minute.

So, let's backtrack for a moment. As I said, there are references to MECCANO Trade Fairs to be found, six to be precise, elsewhere on the site, there are images [above left and right] all of which mention BAYKO, so let's look at them, in chronological publishing order : -

So, to summarise these, the first MECCANO Trade Fair took place from February 19th, 1960 [to ?] at London's Grosvenor Hotel [adjacent to Victoria Station]. They certainly continued in 1962, and, again, in 1964, all at the same venue.

As an interesting [?] aside, as a manager with Kelloggs, over the years I attended a couple of award ceremony dinners in the Grosvenor Hotel - I wonder if that was the self same space in which the MECCANO Trade Fairs took place‽ My memory suggests that what I remember as a subterranean venue was the right sort of size.

One area for further investigation that I'm aware of is 'MECCANO Magazine' [though, tempered with the knowledge that it was targeted at children of all ages, not the broader toy trade] - and I have copies of them all throughout the main MECCANO BAYKO era - but I can't find the damned things!!! If anybody out there, clearly more administratively competent than your penitent webmaster, can help push past that particular frontier [Donald Trump wouldn't allow me to say wall!] then I'd be extremely grateful…

Well, I give up! I've now skimmed through the relevant copies of 'MECCANO Magazine' from the period [not all, I should add, just the ones I could find] and I could find no further reference to MECCANO Trade Fairs, beyond the ones already covered, indeed, there didn't seem to be a forum in which such articles would naturally fit.

That alone would be frustrating enough, but the March, 1960 edition of 'MECCANO Magazine' contains an advert for 'RAILWAY MODELLER', [right] promising, albeit in the model railway arena, precisely this service - if only!!!

Let's stand back from the frustration a minute - I apologise for all the escaping steam! What do we actually know?

As part of several [gratefully received] attempts to help me in my quest for MECCANO Trade Fair information, a number of people have recommended that I investigate two particular publications on MECCANO Limited's history : -

Much respected [rightly] as these publications are, neither extols the virtues of Trade Fairs in general to any great extent, let alone makes any reference at all to MECCANO Trade Fairs. I'm beginning to think that Sod [as in Sod's Law] was a manic optimist compared with me on this subject!!!

Well, that's it I'm afraid. I find it amazing that a company of MECCANO's standing would have been quite so clandestine in what you would automatically assume to have been a publicity-addicted environment…

…I'm also confused by the unawareness of these Trade Fairs in the wider MECCANO, HORNBY, DINKY and BAYKO communities!

If you've any more information on BAYKO at the MECCANO Trade Fairs, the Fairs themselves, or the prospectus(es) / catalogue(s) printed for any of or all of them, then I really would love to hear from you…