BAYKO General Documentation

There are a couple of points of interest here…

Firstly, the note itself, which is dated January 3rd, 1940, and is very much less flamboyant than the mid 1940s equivalent [below, right]. The Delivery Note is completed throughout in pencil, which many organisations frowned upon, indeed they still do, because of the potential for the fraudulent use of a rubber.

Secondly, the contents of the note, which refer to the delivery of a “Box of wires etc for No 3 set, no charge, to replace one returned faulty”. Given the date, it looks like the “faulty………box of wires” was part of a Christmas present.

The Delivery Note came with a 'New Series' set #3, which also included the “box of wires” shown [above, right]. Whether this comparatively down market box was the same as whatever was originally included in the set, or was merely a postal convenience, I'm afraid we can only guess. However, having seen other such boxes which were red, the latter is possible, though wartime austerity may already have kicked in, and I have seen similar boxes in later sets - so - “you pays your money and you takes your choice.”

I think these 3 documents, all relating to the same order in October, 1945, are of interest, they seem to be typical of their time…

…perhaps the most significant factor is the “on the receipt of the above sum” approach - how times have changed!

Perhaps not surprisingly, the letter is the only one which carries a strong BAYKO branding.

The wartime 'make do and mend' spirit continues in the use of pre-war Invoice stationary which still bears the legend “BAYKO” Light Constructional Sets, very much a slogan of the mid 1930s.

The hand written Delivery Note is very much in contrast to today's computerised documentation.

Two interesting pieces of trivia

The reply letter [above, left] is dated Saturday, October 13th, 1945. It was normal to work Saturday mornings at the time.

The Delivery Note [above, right] wasn't filled out until October 17th, 1945 - the following Wednesday!

Do you think that's a good response time?

Also of interest - the Straight Steps are clearly shown as Red.

This delivery note is, apart from the paler colour, identical to the one above.

The delivery notes were both torn from a pad thanks to the perforations along the left hand edge.

The contents of both these delivery notes are interesting…

…both make reference to Pinnacles (Roofs and Platforms), Domes and Turrets…

…the earlier note states that the red Pinnacle Roofs and Domes were out of stock, but here they were clearly back in free supply.

This makes it slightly uncertain as to when these parts became fully available after the war, but the Turrets were dispatched with both orders.

Things have move on a little in the ten years, or so, since the above transaction, not least in its colour…

…though this particular document is clearly aimed directly at the retailer…

…it is possible that the above style of Delivery Note was still used for spare parts.

This is a preprinted Delivery Note, which doubtless simplified the paperwork…

…certainly reading it anyway…

…though I miss the hand-written effect.

The Delivery Note has provision for literature and display items as well as the standard range of BAYKO sets.

It's nice to see a little more BAYKO branding in the header.

The Delivery Note is dated January, 1957.

This is shown courtesy of Robin Throp.

No contents this time…

…but a glimpse of the day-to-day correspondence Plimpton indulged in.

It's not immediately obvious, but if you click on the envelope image, the larger image makes it easier to see…

…the corporate BAYKO franking.

This is shown courtesy of Chris Reeve.

The dating comes from the 195? on the document and the fact that BAYKO sets #3X and #4 had yet to emerge.

There is a later version of this document [below] which was amended to recognise the move to the Tabley Street address…

Presumably the use of this document would simplify [shorten] any audit trails, by separating off no charge items - that's the only logic I can think of.

In the case of this modest order, the only recorded item is a BAYKO manual or "booklet".

One thing confuses me. The dotted lines and the printed scripts are not perfectly synchronised…

…at the top the words are cut by the line…

…at the bottom, the script is above the line..

This strongly suggests that they were printed at different times, which seems inefficient if not actually illogical.

There is another of these included with the mini-collection below - it had to work harder than this one!!!

The last few entries in the right hand column are of interest as they are aimed at their retailers, rather than customers : -

As well as the, perhaps predictable, "Brochure" & "Booklets", there are further entries for "Showcard", "Spare Parts Showcard", "Price Cards" and "Price Lists", there is a final item which is of interest.

The last line references "No.     Model on Loan"…

These papers, dated April 15th, 1950 [I was 10 days old!] relate to posting the 2 documents shown below.

The top 2 images show the envelop, with BAYKO franking and business label, and 'with compliments slip' which was included along with…

…the “no charge delivery note” [left].

Click anywhere on the image to better see the four key points : -

Rods up to 12-Brick are available.

The Bay Window Cover is, uniquely as far as I'm aware, called the “Bay Window Roof”.

Colours are ignored for Domes, Pinnacle Platforms and Roofs, Corner Bricks, and, oddly, Side Bricks.

There are also references to “Showcard”, “Spare Part Showcard” and “No. … Model on Loan”.

This invoice, which is actually for an unspecified quantity of BAYKO spare parts, is interesting for the simple fact that it is dated December 2nd, 1959…

…a couple of months after MECCANO's takeover…

…and yet the Plimpton Engineering Company Limited [BAYKO's original manufacturer] paperwork [including address and contact details] is still being used.

The paper used for this invoice is so thin it is sufficiently transparent to read any document you put underneath it!

If you are wondering, the logo located at the top right hand corner of the invoice is that of the trade association, the British Toy Manufacturers Association Ltd., Plimpton having been a member for at least a decade.

If you click anywhere on the invoice image opposite you will see a slightly larger image.

This Plimpton Invoice [left] is dated December 18th, 1959 - somebody certainly left it a bit late before Christmas!

Superficially this is just another version of the form above, however, I think there are a few points we can make : -

Firstly, a trivial one. I've deliberately left the image 'in the raw' [complete with hole!] to give an idea of the state in which things often emerge, and just how much Photoshop work is needed to make an image pristine!

Secondly, the two invoices are just 16 days apart, i.e. 14 working days, given that Saturday would have been a normal working [half?] day at the time. Also their reference numbers are 215 apart, suggesting Plimpton were processing, in the order of, 90 such orders a week.

I believe Plimpton supplied just over 3,000 toy shops, suggesting the average number of orders, per shop, per annum is 1.5 - and yes, I know, I did statistics as part of my degree, the error in that calculation probably swamps the answer, but, given that most well run shops wouldn't order quite so close to Christmas, twice a year seems a realistic figure.

This July 8th, 1959 invoice [left] is interesting for two reasons : -

Firstly, the invoice has a correction - right down the middle.

This was simply done by sticking a thin strip of paper over the pre-printed text and typing on it as necessary.

Secondly, there is the actual changes made - the prices of all the BAYKO sets which were ordered.

The two groups of prices are as follows : -

Set #	Pre-printed Price	Overprint Price
0	11/8	12/6
1	17/6	18/9
3	43/9	46/9
1X	8/9	10/3

n.b. set prices have risen by 7%, conversion sets by 17%!

The rises mirror those heralded in 'MECCANO Magazine' ['MM'] in February, 1959, which were rescinded in March, 1959! Prices then rose, by half this amount, in April, 1959 [source - a retailer information card] or July, 1959 [source - 'MM'].

The net effect of this was a slight drop in the retailer's margins.

Another point of interest is that the December, 1959 equivalent only has pre-printed prices for the Accessory Packs.

The dating comes from the data input on the document [right], which specifies, November 27th, 1959.

Presumably this document simplified [shortened] audit trails, by separating 'No Charge' items - that's the only logic I can think of.

There is a similar document [above], from c. 1952, which would have been in use up to 1955, when the company moved to Tabley Street, which [quoted in the top right hand corner of this version].

As this document is post Plimpton ownership, just, the previous refusal to supply direct to U.K. customers rule must have been dropped - though it is a small order.  There had always been more degrees of freedom for export customers.

The earlier misalignment between script and dotted lines has been resolved by removing the offending dotted lines!

Like its predecessor, the bottom of the right hand column of this version contains retailer specific items : -

"Illustrated Leaflet", "Window Poster", "Model Tickets" & "Price Tickets" have been added to the previous list, and which are, I believe, self explanatory.

In addition, "No.     Rods Box", "No.     Contents Box", "No.     Pattern"& "No.     Curved Pattern", the first pair are fairly self explanatory, but the second pair [the two "Pattern" items] are more obscure. If you can explain what these are, then I really would love to hear from you…

This is the sort of envelope that Plimpton included with their correspondence, where some sort of reply was required…

…they may also have been issued to BAYKO retailers for them to send in their orders between visits of the sales rep…

…either way, Plimpton weren't generous enough add a stamp!

Dating this envelope exactly isn't possible I'm afraid, but the BAYKO logo design suggests it is 1949 or later…

…and the address means it is no later than 1954.

This document [left] was typed as a stencil then reproduced for use by MECCANO's sales reps to make sure their retailers stationery stocks were up to date.

Pretty well dead centre, there is one reference to BAYKO on the document, in the form of #92020 “Bayko Folder (Not overprinted-retailing at 1d)” which were available for the princely sum of “2/6 per 100” [12½ pence].

I'm afraid I can't definitely identify the document concerned…

…however, I only know of one folded BAYKO related leaflet from the MECCANO era, so I assume that is the one referred to…

The last two entries reference to the “Toy Club Cards” which are covered elsewhere…

Slide your mouse over the image to highligth the two sections.

This is a very strange beast and difficult to understand, but I think the key is in the secondary heading : -

The document actually comprises a duplicated, typed sheet, listing all the BAYKO parts, their packet contents, the number of packets concerned, plus the “U.K. Retail Price inc. tax”. I'm guessing that an unnamed shop may have placed an order with an old document, based on the old tax rate, but was to be billed at the new tax rate, and this document is set out to itemise the new cost.

It also looks like it has been used, by the shopkeeper, as the checklist for the order when he or she was unpacking it.

Beyond that, I'm not sure there is much more to be said, except, perhaps, to point out that this is effectively a Retail Display Cabinet Contents list.

Click anywhere on the image to see a slightly larger version of the main contents.

There is a very similar typed document, with the same date, type face and paper, but supporting the Channel Islands market…

This document also dates from July, 1961, and is basically a twin to the one above, and should be viewed in that light.

In this case it's more of a notification of new prices, following the imposition of a 10% Purchase Tax Surcharge, than the working document above.

Most data concern DINKY TOYS with, right at the top, BAYKO sets, [left and centre] and SPEED BOATS[right].

The information is typed on plain paper, though what the original colour was is anybody's guess. I've never seen a piece of paper which has been 'foxed' quite so comprehensively, nevertheless, it has certainly contributed to the brittleness which has lead to small pieces flaking off from the document's edges - see the image [left]

Black ink on brown paper wouldn't be anybody's first choice, but it wouldn't be Mr MECCANO's first odd decision either.

Click anywhere on the image [left] to see a larger image of the BAYKO sets section.