BAYKO in BELGIUM

Flemish : - The above document, dated February, 1950, is basically a straight copy of the domestic documentation of the same date, translated into Flemish, with prices in Belgian Francs and, of course, the address of the importer.

One query you might raise with this leaflet is why the number of sets is quoted in dozens? The explanation is that this document was aimed solely at Belgian BAYKO retailers.

It just shows how ignorant, not to say stupid, I can be, however, thanks to Adrian Brysse I now know that “Dozen” is the plural of “Doos”, which is the Flemish word for “Box”!!!

Obviously this is simple BAYKO Flier, aimed directly at the Belgian and Flemish customers!

Thanks to Robin Throp for these images.

French : - This is a direct translation of the Flemish [above] and domestic versions and, as such, requires little, if any further explanation, though it's nice to see the two languages together, forming a small set of sorts.

This document comes from the estate of the late Leo Jannsen.

The above document, dated February, 1950, is basically a straight copy of the domestic documentation of the same date, translated into Flemish, with prices in Belgian francs and, of course, the address of the importer.

This document is an excellent demonstration that export documents often replicated domestic ones - with the necessary translation.

The above document, dated November, 1950, is again a straight copy of the domestic documentation of the same date, translated into Flemish, with prices in Belgian francs plus the address of the importer.

It's nice to know that there were no price increases since the earlier, February versions.

Thanks to Robin Throp for these images.

The document shown below is the identical document, but this time the French language version, of the same date.

Click anywhere on any of these images to see a slightly larger version.

French : - The above document, date coded March, 1951, is again a straight copy of the domestic documentation of the same date, translated into French, with prices in Belgian francs and, again, the address of the importer.

Although this document is thirteen months older than the Flemish one directly above, the prices remain unchanged.

A further point of interest is that the price list of available sets includes set #4 - almost a year before it was launched in the U.K. - this is, to me, too far ahead for the cock-up theory, so must surely indicate that priority really was being given to the export drive! If you're not convinced, the equivalent domestic Flier, actually dated a month later, DOES NOT MENTION SET #4…

Flemish : - The above document, again date coded March, 1951, is also a straight copy of the domestic documentation of the same date, translated into Flemish, with prices in Belgian francs and, again, the address of the importer.

Not surprisingly, the prices are the same a for the French version [above].

Again, this flier includes set #4, almost a year before it was launched in the U.K., further, if not conclusive, proof that exports took priority over the domestic market.

This document comes from the estate of the late Leo Jannsen.

The above document, dated February, 1952, is, once again, a straight copy of the domestic documentation of the same date, translated into Flemish, with prices in Belgian francs and, of course, the address of the importer.

Sad to report that, since the two documents immediately above were printed, Belgian BAYKO prices had risen by 10%. To be fair, I'm not sure that this inflation was U.K. based, I suspect that exchange rates are behind it.

The above document, is dated April, 1952, but date coded two months earlier. It is the French language equivalent of the U.K. standard version, issued with the Belgian importer's details at the foot of side two.

As it was printed in “Angleterre” we can assume that Plimpton were responsible for the two type-setting errors which so incensed the original owner of this price list that he corrected them in pen!!!

What the poor little chap probably wouldn't have known, was that this document contains a far more fundamental error - the right hand parts list includes the French equivalent of left and right handed Side Bricks…

…and we can't even blame Johnny Foreigner!

Still, at least the he would have had the consolation that the set prices hadn't gone up since February [above].

The above Parts Price List is, almost, the direct Flemish equivalent of the French document [above]. I say almost, because there are five differences, of varying significance. The differences are : -

The date coding on this version is June, 1952.

It does not carry a separate, specific date identification.

The 'handed' Side Bricks issue has been corrected.

A column showing the colours of the parts has been added to the Supplementary Parts list [above right].

There is no importer detail at the bottom of the Supplementary Parts list [above right], just a retail outlet name.

At least the prices haven't changed in the intervening weeks!

Like its French [near] counterpart, this too was printed in England.

This document comes from the estate of the late Leo Jannsen.

The above French language document is dated July, 1956, and follows the established format.

As it too was printed in “Angleterre” we can assume that Plimpton were responsible for the two type-setting errors which are still in place - but no hand correction this time!

The quoted set prices have gone down significantly - 8% - since the previous document in 1952 [above] so perhaps the currency fluctuations helped this time!

This document is shown courtesy of Andrew Lance of the Hornby Railways Collectors Association.

The flier [right] is the first French language document from the MECCANO era that I've come across - so far. It is a standard, 4-page Flier, mainly a straight translation of the U.K. domestic version. The four pages are created from a single sheet with a single vertical fold.

It is dated 1962 as can clearly be seen in the top left hand corner, which is confirmed by the date code on the back page, [not shown] which is for April, 1962.

On this document BAYKO shares its billing in the middle of the front page, to the right to be precise. Sliding your mouse over the image will highlight the modest BAYKO section.

If you click anywhere on the image you will see a larger image of the BAYKO section itself.

Together with the near contemporary catalogues, [below] this MECCANO general products price list supports the theory that, like Plimpton before them, MECCANO used the multi-language skills of Belgium to service the Belgian, Dutch, French and Luxembourg markets, and even possibly the German market as well - yes, not far off 1% of Belgians are German speaking as their first language and 22% as their second!

This MECCANO general products price list is something of a rarity, in my collection if nowhere else, and dates from 1963.

It bears the label “BELGIUM/FRENCH”, which suggests that the leaflet was printed in the U.K., almost certainly by MECCANO, in-house.

Common enough in their U.K. form, export general products price lists seem to be much less common, whether that's because comparatively few were printed, or because collectors of the other products have beaten me to it, I don't know.

Here, though the entry is modest, BAYKO is very much centre stage, being to the right of the centre of the front page of this four page leaflet - slide your mouse over the image [right] to see it highlighted.

At least we have further confirmation that BAYKO was on sale in both Belgium and France at the time.

If you left click anywhere on the image you will see an enlarged image of the BAYKO sets price list.

Together with the contemporary catalogues [above] this MECCANO general products price list supports the theory that, like Plimpton before them, MECCANO used the multi-language skills of Belgium to service the Belgian, Dutch, French and Luxembourg markets, and even possibly Germany.

There are two different Quality Assurance Slips here, one for a conversion set #2X, shown courtesy of Bill Foote, and one for a standard set #1, shown courtesy of Robin Throp. Both were, presumably, inserted by the Quality Inspector at the Plimpton factory, given that both were printed in England and identify the French and Flemish sides in English.

It is interesting to note that any problems were expected to be dealt with by the local importer.

Unfortunately both are undated, but the importer was certainly operating from the specified address in 1952.

As far as I've been able to ascertain, this quality inspection slip, with the possible inclusion of a local price list, was the only concession to the importing market…

…otherwise the product was identical.

These four images, from two documents, were discovered recently, in photocopy form, [so colour information is lost] as part of a 'set' of the same document as translated into four languages - Flemish and French, as shown here, together with German and Spanish.

Dating it is difficult as there is no printed information, or at least none that has been preserved, but the basic, unornamented layout suggests austerity, and is, therefore, likely to predate the similar documents below.

If you can help date these documents more accurately, then I'd love to hear from you…

As I said at the begriming of this entry, there are two other versions of this document format…

Yet again, it's unlike me to be sensitive, but, to avoid any conflict or misunderstandings, the two documents in this section, are shown in the order I acquired the images.

The French language sheet, below, is shown courtesy of Alan Taylor.

I don't know for certain the exact date of these 2 double sided sheets, but I can guess…

…given that they include parts for sets #0 to #3, with appropriate conversion sets, they probably date from between 1949 and early 1951. After that date, Belgian was quick off the mark with set #4 and documentation generally reflects that.

The above sheets were probably used separately for the respective markets, with both being included with sets for the Belgian market…

In both cases, the sheets state the language, in English, at the bottom right hand corner of the explanation sheet, with the local language equivalent of “Printed in England”, centrally, alongside it.

The Flemish sheet, above, is shown courtesy of Robin Throp.

It is perfectly possible that this document was targeted primarily at the French market, but it must surely also have been used in Belgium.

I don't know the date of this leaflet either, but I can guess…

…or at least narrow it down to being later than the sheets above, i.e. 1951 or later, but, obviously, before the 1959 MECCANO takeover. The reason I say 1951 is that the form mentions set #4 which was launched in Belgium a year before it was launched in the U.K.