Antique Toy and Model Steam Engines

At the end of the 19th century, toy manufactures such as Ernest Plank in Germany produced stationary model and toy engines for children and adults enthralled by the machinery of the Industrial Revolution. No doubt these Victorian Era consumers, shopping in stores such as the Model Dockyard in London, would have been less eager to purchase, build, and display these machines in their homes if they were forced to work alongside the noisy beasts all day long. But for bourgeois consumers, these model engines, be they in kit form or as finished pieces, offered an educational and refined way to bring an iconic artifact of the Industrial Revolution right into one's home. And like the machines on the floors of factories, these inexpensive model and toy engines (some could be had for less than a quarter) were dangerous, fueled by the flames of spirit lamps to produce dry heat or steam. Plank may have built the first stationary model engine for the hobby market. Other German companies followed, such as toy maker Bing and model-train manufacturer Märklin. By 1902, an Australian-born author named Paul N. Hasluck, who died in England, could begin The Model Engineer's Handybook with this declaration: "Model engines, in every stage of manufacture, from the rough castings direct from the foundry to the complete, highly finished working model, may now be purchased in nearly every town of importance throughout Great Britain. Though this trade is but of recent growth, its continual extension proves that model engines are objects of interest to a large number of the rising generation ... ." From Plank alone, this rising generation could purchase handsome beam engines, whose arms moved up and down as a large flywheel rotated in a circle. Plank also made vertical turbine engines, hot-air engines, and a line of Vulkan engines. To make the devices even more captivating, belt-driven accessories such as lathes, printing presses, and even distilleries could be attached the the main engines, to further mimic the appearance of a factory floor. Many of these accessories included metal figures, from butchers to knife-grinders to blacksmiths. As it did with many enterprises, World War I disrupted this flow of model engines to Great Britain, which may have been one reason why a model-engine industry quickly evolved in the U. K. between the wars. That's when companies such as Mersey Model Co. Ltd., Mamod, and J & L Randall sprung up, although they received stiff competition from the Germans, Märklin, Bing, and Wilesco foremost among them. U.S manufactures also got in on the engine craze, with Jensen Steam Engines of Jeannette, Pennsylvania, being the best known. Its Old Number 1 engine from 1923 featured a boiler that was 20 inches long, and the entire contraption weighed 170 pounds, which made it more of a working model than a toy. Today, Jensen's vintage and antique steam engines from the 1930s are highly sought by collectors.