1.
Lines Bros
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Lines Bros Ltd was a British toy manufacturer of the 20th century, operating under the Tri-ang Toys brand name. Lines Bros Ltd, at its peak in 1947, was claimed by the company to be the largest toy maker in the world, under the Tri-ang Toys brand name, Lines Bros Ltd also made childrens bicycles, such as the Unity Dragster TT. The brothers George and Joseph Lines made wooden toys in the Victorian era, George was a trained carpenter, while Joseph was more business focussed. Joseph had four sons, three of whom formed Lines Bros Ltd soon after First World War and they were William, Walter and Arthur Lines. Three Lines making a triangle - hence Tri-ang, arthurs son, Richard Lines, was largely responsible for the Tri-ang Railways system. At the start of the Second World War, production of toys was deemed non-essential by the British Government. As a result, production facilities were converted to weapons manufacture, manufacture of toys resumed shortly after the war ended. At their peak they had 40 companies world-wide, including the famous Hornby, Meccano and Dinky brands, Ltd called in the Official Receiver. The Group was broken up and sold off, Rovex Tri-ang Ltd was Pocket Money Toys Ltd and then sold as Rovex Ltd, complete with its factories at Westwood and Canterbury, to Dunbee-Combex-Marx Ltd. G & R Wrenn, a toy railway company, bought itself free as Wrenn Railways. The remains of the Tri-ang brand was sold off, as a result, the Tri-ang Hornby system took the name Hornby Railways from January 1972, with the Dinky and Meccano businesses being acquired by Airfix. The company kept producing toys made of such as dollhouses, toy forts. Lines Bros had its own system, the Rovex system. In 1964, Meccano Ltd, which manufactured the Hornby Dublo range, Lines Bros. purchased the company, and in 1965 the combined model railway was marketed as Tri-ang-Hornby although the vast majority of the system was all Tri-ang 2 rail. In 1966 a controlling interest was acquired in a smaller rival, Wrenn were then sold all the redundant,3 rail, Hornby Dublo tooling. When, in 1971, the Lines Bros. empire was broken up, Rovex - Tri-ang was purchased by Dunbee, Combex, Marx, because of this DCM were forced to re-brand the model railway as Hornby Railways. Railway systems, Tri-ang Minic Narrow Gauge railways in 10 1⁄4 gauge, Railways systems in 00 and TT gauges. The British range of Tri-ang large scale pressed steel vehicles were produced from the early 1930s through until the mid-1970s
2.
Victorian era
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The Victorian era was the period of Queen Victorias reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities. Some scholars date the beginning of the period in terms of sensibilities, the era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian period. The later half of the Victorian age roughly coincided with the first part of the Belle Époque era of continental Europe, culturally there was a transition away from the rationalism of the Georgian period and toward romanticism and mysticism with regard to religion, social values, and arts. The end of the saw the Boer War. Domestically, the agenda was increasingly liberal with a number of shifts in the direction of political reform, industrial reform. Two especially important figures in period of British history are the prime ministers Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone. Disraeli, favoured by the queen, was a gregarious Conservative and his rival Gladstone, a Liberal distrusted by the Queen, served more terms and oversaw much of the overall legislative development of the era. The population of England and Wales almost doubled from 16.8 million in 1851 to 30.5 million in 1901, Scotlands population also rose rapidly, from 2.8 million in 1851 to 4.4 million in 1901. However, Irelands population decreased sharply, from 8.2 million in 1841 to less than 4.5 million in 1901, mostly due to the Great Famine. Between 1837 and 1901 about 15 million emigrants departed the UK permanently, in search of a life in the United States, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia. During the early part of the era, politics in the House of Commons involved battles between the two parties, the Whigs/Liberals and the Conservatives. These parties were led by such prominent statesmen as Lord Melbourne, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Derby, Lord Palmerston, Gladstone, Disraeli, Victoria became queen in 1837 at age 18. Her long reign until 1901 was mainly a time of peace, Britain reached the zenith of its economic, political, diplomatic and cultural power. The era saw the expansion of the second British Empire, Historians have characterised the mid-Victorian era as Britains Golden Years. There was prosperity, as the income per person grew by half. There was peace abroad, and social peace at home, opposition to the new order melted away, says Porter. The Chartist movement peaked as a movement among the working class in 1848, its leaders moved to other pursuits, such as trade unions
3.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
4.
Sten
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The STEN was a family of British submachine guns chambered in 9×19mm and used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and the Korean War. They were notable for having a design and very low production cost making them effective insurgency weapons for resistance groups. STEN is an acronym, from the names of the chief designers. Shepherd and Harold Turpin, and EN for Enfield, over four million Stens in various versions were made in the 1940s. The Sten emerged while Britain was engaged in the Battle of Britain, the army was forced to replace weapons lost during the evacuation from Dunkirk while expanding at the same time. Prior to 1941 the British were purchasing all the Thompson submachine guns they could from the United States, the Americans entry into the war at the end of 1941 placed an even bigger demand on the facilities making Thompsons. In order to equip a sufficient fighting force to counter the Axis threat. Shepherd had been recalled to service after having retired and spending time at BSA. The Sten shared design features, such as its side-mounted magazine configuration, with the Royal Navys Lanchester submachine gun, in terms of manufacture, the Lanchester was entirely different, being made of high-quality materials with pre-war fit and finish, in stark contrast to the Stens austere execution. The Lanchester and Sten magazines were even interchangeable, the Sten used simple stamped metal components and minor welding, which required minimal machining and manufacturing. Much of the production could be performed by small workshops, with the firearms assembled at the Enfield site, over the period of manufacture the Sten design was further simplified, the most basic model, the Mark III, could be produced from five man-hours of work. Some of the cheapest versions were made from only 47 different parts and it was distinctive for its bare appearance, and its horizontal magazine. The Sten has been described as, highly unreliable, prone to jamming and it was unsuitable for guerrilla operations in open country because it encouraged waste of ammunition. But it was easy and cheap to produce – a gun was said to cost fifteen shillings – and was supplied to the Resistance in huge quantities, the Sten underwent various design improvements over the course of the war. Most changes to the process were more subtle, designed to give greater ease of manufacture. Build quality ranged from good to poor Sten guns of late 1942 and beyond were, in general, highly effective weapons. The Sten was replaced by the Sterling submachine gun from 1953 and was withdrawn from British service in the 1960s. The other Commonwealth nations made or adopted their own replacements, the Sten was a blowback-operated submachine gun firing from an open bolt with a fixed firing pin on the face of the bolt
5.
Submachine gun
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A submachine gun is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire pistol cartridges. The term submachine gun was coined by John T. Thompson, the submachine gun was developed during World War I. At its zenith during World War II, millions of SMGs were made, after the war, new SMG designs appeared frequently. However, by the 1980s, SMG usage decreased, today, submachine guns have been largely replaced by assault rifles, which have a greater effective range and are capable of penetrating the helmets and body armor used by modern infantrymen. Carbine-type automatic weapons firing pistol rounds were developed during the stages of World War I by Italy, Germany. Their improved firepower and portability offered an advantage in trench warfare, in 1915, the Italians introduced the Villar-Perosa aircraft machine gun. It fired pistol-caliber 9mm Glisenti ammunition, but was not a true submachine gun and this odd design was then modified into the Beretta OVP carbine-type submachine gun, which then evolved into the Beretta Model 1918 after the end of World War I. Both the Beretta OVP and the Model 1918 had a wooden stock, a 25-round top-fed box magazine. The Germans initially used heavier versions of the P08 pistol equipped with a larger-capacity snail-drum magazine, by 1918, Bergmann Waffenfabrik had developed the MP18, the first practical submachine gun. This weapon fired the 9×19mm Parabellum round and used the same 32-round snail-drum magazine as the Luger P-08, the MP18 was used in significant numbers by German stormtroopers employing infiltration tactics, achieving some notable successes in the final year of the war. However, these were not enough to prevent Germanys collapse in November 1918, after World War I, the MP18 would evolve into the MP28/II SMG, which incorporated a simple 32-round box magazine, a semi & full auto selector, and other minor improvements. The Thompson submachine gun had been in development at approximately the time as the Bergmann. However, the war ended before prototypes could be shipped to Europe, although it had missed its chance to be the first purpose-designed submachine gun to enter service, it became the basis for later weapons and had the longest active service life of the three. However, the FBI and other U. S. police forces themselves showed no reluctance to use, eventually, the submachine gun was gradually accepted by many military organizations, especially as World War II loomed, with many countries developing their own designs. The Italians were among the first to develop submachine guns during World War I, however, they were slow to produce them during World War II. The Beretta Model 1938 was not available in numbers until 1943. The 38 was made in a series of improved and simplified models all sharing the same basic layout. The Beretta has two triggers, the front for semi-auto and rear for full-auto, most models use standard wooden stocks, although some models were fitted with an MP 40-style under-folding stock and are commonly mistaken for the German SMG
6.
Hornby Railways
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Hornby Railways is a British model railway brand. Its roots date back to 1901, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy, the first clockwork train was produced in 1920. In 1938, Hornby launched its first 00 gauge train, in 1964, Hornby and Meccano were bought by their competitor, Tri-Ang, and sold on when Tri-ang went into receivership. Hornby Railways became independent in the 1980s, Hornby was at first a tradename for the railway productions of Meccano Ltd and based in Liverpool, which released its first train, a clockwork 0 gauge model, in 1920. An electric train soon followed but was under-designed and the few that were made were sold out in France, in 1925, a much more successful electric model was introduced, operating on the high voltage of 110 volts AC power. Safety concerns saw low voltage 4V and then 6V motors introduced, followed by a reliable 20V AC system, however, clockwork remained the mainstay of the Hornby 0 gauge trains until 1937 and became the only power available in Liverpool-made 0 gauge trains from 1949. Competitors in the UK were Leeds Model Company and Bassett-Lowke, even though the export models were often painted in foreign liveries, Hornby trains looked very British. Hornby attempted to break into the American market by setting up a factory in 1927 in Elizabeth, New Jersey and these were colourful and attractive, but low-market and only clockwork. In late 1929, Meccano Ltd. sold its New Jersey factory to the A. C. Gilbert Company, the leftover inventory was sold in Canada and in the UK and some of the tooling was reused for products in other markets. Meccano introduced its OO scale trains in 1938 under the name Hornby Dublo, the locomotives were diecast metal, and the carriages and wagons were generally made of tinplate. This was a well planned range of electric and clockwork models. This led to the adoption of OO as a broadly accepted modelling standard in the UK, as for their O gauge locomotives, electric Hornby Dublo locomotives ran on a third rail electric system with the track built on a pressed tinplate base. Both OO and HO use the track gauge, but their scales are different. This has had the effect, remaining to this day, of making their gauge an apparent 4 ft 1 ½ in rather than the standard gauge of 4 ft 8 ½ in. The range expanded quickly, but was curtailed from 1940 due to World War II, production resumed after the war but did not reach full capacity until 1948. Clockwork models were not produced in 00 scale after the war, in 2008, a special commemorative model of LNER Class A44498 Sir Nigel Gresley was produced, in period packaging, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of this introduction. Like its counterparts Bassett-Lowke and Exley in the UK and Lionel and American Flyer in the US, Hornby thrived in the first half of the 1950s, the company was slow to recognise the threat posed by rival manufacturers and to realise the potential of plastic. In 1959, far too late, Hornby introduced two-rail track and moulded plastic rolling stock, in 1964, Lines Bros Ltd. the parent company of rival Tri-ang Railways, purchased Meccano Ltd. and merged Hornby and Tri-ang into Tri-ang Hornby
7.
Meccano
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Meccano is a model construction system created in Liverpool, United Kingdom, by Frank Hornby. The brand now maintains a facility in Calais, France. Meccano consists of metal strips, plates, angle girders, wheels, axles and gears. It enables the building of working models and mechanical devices, although Meccano has always been seen as an engaging education toy, today the brand focuses on promoting engineering and robotics through fun play to support STEM learning. The ideas for Meccano were first conceived by Hornby in 1898, the name was later changed to Meccano and manufactured by the British company, Meccano Ltd, between 1908 and 1980. It is now manufactured in France and China by Meccano S. N. of France, in the United States, a competitive toy with a similar play pattern was launched in 1913 under the Erector Set brand. Erector was purchased by the Meccano company in 2000 and continued to be sold under Erector Sets in the US through early 2015, after August 2015, the Erector brand was relaunched under the global brand name Meccano. In 1901 Frank Hornby, a clerk from Liverpool, England, the perforations were at a standard ½ inch spacing, the axles were 8-gauge, and the nuts and bolts used 5/32 inch BSW threads. The only tools required to assemble models were a screwdriver and spanners and it was more than just a toy, it was educational, teaching basic mechanical principles like levers and gearing. The parts for Hornbys new construction kit were supplied by outside manufacturers. As the construction kits gained in popularity they soon became known as Meccano, in September 1907, Hornby registered the Meccano trade mark, and in May 1908, he formed Meccano Ltd. To keep pace with demand, a new Meccano factory was built in Binns Road, Liverpool in 1914, Hornby also established Meccano factories in France, Spain and Argentina. The word Meccano was thought to have derived from the phrase Make. The first construction sets had parts that were rather crudely made, the first sets under the new Meccano name were numbered 1 to 6. In 1922 the No.7 Meccano Outfit was introduced, which was the largest set of its day, in 1926, to mark the 25th anniversary of his patent, Hornby introduced Meccano in Colours with the familiar red and green coloured Meccano pieces. Initially plates were a red and items like the braced girders were a pea-green. However, the following year strips and girders were painted dark green and this new colour scheme was only available in the United Kingdom until the end of the Second World War in 1945. The old red and green sets were produced for the export market and were re-introduced in the UK after the war
8.
Dinky Toys
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Dinky Toys are die-cast zamac miniature vehicles that were produced by Meccano Ltd. They were made in England from 1934 to 1979, at a factory in Binns Road in Liverpool, Dinky Toys were among the most popular diecast vehicles ever made predating other popular diecast marques, including Corgi, Matchbox, and Mattels Hot Wheels. Frank Hornby established Meccano Ltd. in 1908 to make metal construction sets, the company later moved into model railroading with their first O gauge clockwork trains appearing in 1920. In the early 1930s, Meccano had made many types of tin plate and other cars, like its Morgan and BSA three-wheelers. In 1933 Meccano Ltd issued a series of railway and trackside accessories to complement their O scale Hornby Trains model train sets, by December 1934 the Dinky name was also used for the Dinky Builder sets where coloured flat metal pieces could be hinged together to make buildings and vehicles. One story is that the Dinky name came from a nickname that a friend gave to Frank Hornbys daughter, another version is when one of Franks daughters-in-law first saw the models, she called them dinky, a Scottish word meaning neat or fine. In the mid-1930s, then, six vehicles were introduced, including a car, a sports coupe, a truck, a delivery van, a farm tractor. They were all cast in lead, soon after, the first Dinky model car available individually was numbered 23 – a sports car based on the MG Magic Midget. At this early time a series 24 were introduced and included a generic ambulance a grand sport open four-seater, a grand sport two-seater, a coupe, the 24 series was also made in France. Some smaller vehicles were produced alongside model track workers, passengers, station staff. All of these cars were inaccurate representations and had die-cast metal bodies, chassis. By August 1935 there were around 200 different products in the Dinky Toys range which included die-cast ships, aeroplanes, Dinky Toys model cars were available individually in trade packs of 6 cars per pack. Most models would not be available in individual boxes until 1952, the number of commercial vehicles expanded with the addition of Series 28 which included many delivery vans. In 1935, a new series 30 was introduced which featured accurate likenesses of specific vehicles for the first time and these included a generic ambulance, a Daimler saloon, a Vauxhall saloon, a Chrysler Airflow saloon, and a Rolls-Royce saloon. Smaller Matchbox-sized Austin 7 saloons and tourers were also made, about this same time, several models were also made and marketed in France. Liveries of well known companies began to decorate the commercial vehicles, Series 30 included, 30a Chrysler Airflow Saloon 30b Rolls-Royce 30c Daimler 30d Vauxhall 30e 30f Ambulance In 1938, a new Series 36 was introduced. Most of these models were made after World War II up to 1948. Production was halted during the war while the Binns Road factory in Liverpool produced many items for the War effort, chassis were cast with open holes in them, saving expense and metal
9.
Canterbury
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Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, a journey of pilgrims to Beckets shrine served as the frame for Geoffrey Chaucers 14th century classic The Canterbury Tales. Canterbury is a popular tourist destination, consistently one of the cities in the United Kingdom. The city has been occupied since Paleolithic times and served as the capital of the Celtic Cantiaci, modern additions include the Marlowe Theatre and the St Lawrence Ground, home of the Kent County Cricket Club. Canterbury remains, however, a city in terms of geographical size and population. In Sub-Roman Britain, it was known in Old Welsh as Cair Ceint, occupied by the Jutes, it became known in Old English as Cantwareburh, which developed into its present name. The Canterbury area has been inhabited since prehistoric times, lower Paleolithic axes, and Neolithic and Bronze Age pots have been found in the area. Canterbury was first recorded as the settlement of the Celtic tribe of the Cantiaci. In the 1st century AD, the Romans captured the settlement, the Romans rebuilt the city, with new streets in a grid pattern, a theatre, a temple, a forum, and public baths. In the late 3rd century, to defend against attack from barbarians, the Romans built an earth bank around the city and a wall with seven gates, which enclosed an area of 130 acres. Over the next 100 years, an Anglo-Saxon community formed within the city walls, as Jutish refugees arrived, in 597, Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine to convert its King Æthelberht to Christianity. After the conversion, Canterbury, being a Roman town, was chosen by Augustine as the centre for his see in Kent. Augustine thus became the first Archbishop of Canterbury, the towns new importance led to its revival, and trades developed in pottery, textiles, and leather. By 630, gold coins were being struck at the Canterbury mint, in 672, the Synod of Hertford gave the see of Canterbury authority over the entire English Church. In 842 and 851, Canterbury suffered great loss of life during Danish raids, in 978, Archbishop Dunstan refounded the abbey built by Augustine, and named it St Augustines Abbey. A second wave of Danish attacks began in 991, and in 1011 the cathedral was burnt, remembering the destruction caused by the Danes, the inhabitants of Canterbury did not resist William the Conquerors invasion in 1066. William immediately ordered a wooden motte-and-bailey castle to be built by the Roman city wall, in the early 12th century, the castle was rebuilt with stone. After the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket at the cathedral in 1170, Canterbury became one of the most notable towns in Europe and this pilgrimage provided the framework for Geoffrey Chaucers 14th-century collection of stories, The Canterbury Tales
10.
Hobby horse (toy)
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A hobby horse is a childs toy horse, particularly popular during the days before cars. Children played at riding a hobby horse made of a straight stick with a small horses head. The bottom end of the stick sometimes had a wheel or wheels attached. This toy was sometimes known as a cock horse or stick horse. Hobby horses feature in the worship of Rajasthani folk deity Baba Ramdevji and they also figured in the public rites of the Romanian Călușari. A hobby horse is not always a riding-stick like the childs toy and they vary in size from a costume for one person to large frameworks carried by nine people. From hobby horse came the expression to ride ones hobby-horse, meaning to follow a favourite pastime, and in turn, the term is also connected to the draisine, a forerunner of the bicycle, invented by Baron Karl von Drais. In 1818, a London coach-maker named Denis Johnson began producing an improved version, the artistic movement, Dada, is possibly named after a French childs word for hobby-horse. The word hobby is glossed by the OED as a small or middle-sized horse, an ambling or pacing horse, the word is attested in English from the 14th century, as Middle English hobyn. Old French had hobin or haubby, whence Modern French aubin, but the Old French term is apparently adopted from English rather than vice versa. OED connects it to the by-name Hobin, Hobby, a variant of Robin, another familiar form of the same Christian name, Dobbin has also become a generic name for a cart-horse. Samuel Johnson, Dictionary of the English Language,1755, glosses A strong, active horse, of a size, said to have been originally from Ireland. Hoblers or Hovellers were men who kept a light nag that they may give instant information of threatened invasion, in mediæval times their duties were to reconnoitre, to carry intelligence, to harass stragglers, to act as spies, to intercept convoys, and to pursue fugitives. Henry Spelman derived the word from hobby, hobblers were another description of cavalry more lightly armed, and taken from the class of men rated at 15 pounds and upwards. The Border horses, called hobblers or hobbies, were small and active, and trained to cross the most difficult and boggy country, - George MacDonald Fraser, The Steel Bonnets, The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. Hobby Horse Polo uses parts of the rules but has its own specialities. The Hobby Horse variant started 1998 as a fun sport in south western Germany, in the meantime it gained further interest in other German cities. Nowadays hobby horses are not only ridden by children, but also teenagers, Hobby horses have become a popular hobby in Northern Europe, especially in Finland
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