Meccano (Shire Library) Paperback – June 19, 2012

Hobbyists who are interested in the famous toy maker, Meccano Limited of Liverpool, England, will be happy with this book. The book is affordable and is packed with excellent color pictures of Meccano sets and literature, some of which are now spectacularly rare and expensive. Included are pictures of the first sets from the 1901 to 1907 era, "Mechanics Made Easy", before the brand name "Meccano" was coined, as well as examples all the way to 1979, when production in Liverpool stopped.Ironically, "Erector" in the United States, which was started in 1912 after Meccano had been on the market for over a decade, finally stopped it's production in the 1960s or 70s (not sure of the exact date) but the name "Erector" has been bought by the Meccano company in France, which still makes construction sets. That French company used to be the French subsidiary of Meccano Limited and was the survivor after 1979, and is still producing sets and parts today. In the USA, "Erector" sets can be found in toy stores and, occasionally, at Walmart and Costco and other places, but if you look carefully they are made by "Meccano N.A." of France.Good book and recommended for anyone interested in the product and it's history. Erector set afficionados might find it interesting as well.

Considering the scarcity of current literature on Meccano, this is not a bad book for someone who wants to know the history of this incredibly successful "toy".A little less informative for the advanced hobbyist.The bibliography is incomplete and leaves out key publications such as "La fantastique Epopée de Meccano"On a Kindle Fire the illustrations are excellent and alone worth the price of the book.Roberto Pensotti

Good history of Meccano. Illustrations and pictures are good quality. Text is well written and edited. Recommend for anyone interested in Meccano.

This booklet (80 pages) covers the chronology of Meccano metal construction sets from 1901 to 1981. It is abundantly illustrated with ads from various periods, color photographs of various sets and assembled models. It allows the Meccano afficionado to follow the evolution of the company and relate it to the products it offered.

good book with a lot of hitorical information

Being a child of the 50s I was weaned on Mecanno and still take an interest in it. The quality of other Shire Library Books persuaded me to order this book. If you are not familiar with the series they tend to be books with a modern historical theme - such as "Cars of the 1960s", "The 1950s Home" or "Triang Toys" and tend not to be very long, say, about 100 pages with illustrations and cost around £5-£6. I admit to owning quite a few in the series.This Meccano book is chronologically organised tracing the development of Meccano by Frank Hornby in the early 20th Century right up until the 1970s/80s when it stopped being made at Binns Road and lost its foothold in the market. The book is well produced with informative text and some lovely photographs and drawings, many of which capture the atmosphere of a bygone era very well indeed. Even if you have a relatively superficial interest in this construction toy I think you'll enjoy this book. It does draw out some interesting thoughts - for example, unlike most other products Meccano actually seems to have decreased in complexity (although I appreciate some sets now have radio control etc). The number of parts in a set, and, therefore, the creativity and educational value that existed in sets during the 50s and 60s has declined significantly.In historical terms it also tells the familiar tale of a product conceived with typically British ingenuity (just like the Web, the PC, TV and so many other things) but which lost its way in the marketplace due to investment, managerial and other problems only to be reborn by other manufacturers across the world.Overall, a compact but well produced and informative book for anyone remotely interested in Meccano. Recommended.

This volume might be slim, but don't let that put you off. This superb tome is jam-packed full of facts, and is a great introduction to the world of Model Engineering - i.e., Meccano.Beautifully illustrated, the author illustrates the history of Meccano and its inventor, Frank Hornby. I found it impossible to put down, and you don't even have to be a Meccano fan to appreciate it.Definitely the best book I've bought this year.

I used to have Meccano when I was a child. I was started off with a set 0 and each birthday and Christmas I got the accessory sets to make it up to the next level. I also used to spend a lot of my pocket money on extra gears etc.

Super little book delighted with it for its size it's packed with everything you need to know about the history of meccano

I had a No 7A Meccano set as a schoolboy in my native Bombay some 50 years ago. Glancing through the pages brought back wonderful childhood memories. And it is very economically priced.