MECCANO

Meccano is the only French manufacturer of world-famous toys to produce part of its range in France. Constantly innovating, the brand imagines new assembly systems, new materials and integrates new technologies into its toys.

History. The very first Meccano was invented in 1898 by Frank Hornby. The father of two boys, he imagined for them this system of parts, screws and nuts, enabling them to build a crane like the ones that so fascinated them, loading and unloading ships in the port of Liverpool. Frank Hornby perfected his system and marketed it under the brand name "Mechanics Made Easy" in 1901. The Meccano name was registered in 1907.

The first Meccano factory opened in Liverpool that same year; it was soon replaced to meet increased production demand. Meccano's worldwide success led to the opening of two new factories, in Berlin in 1912 and Belleville (France) in 1920. The Belleville plant was soon replaced by the Bobigny plant, which by 1951 was capable of producing over 500,000 Meccano sets per day! In 1959, a new factory was built in Calais, which is still the main production site for Meccano products.
In 1979, the Liverpool factory closed. The French subsidiary took up the torch and continued the Meccano story.
In 2000, Meccano acquired the Erector brand, which had been present in the United States since 1913, thus unifying its presence on all continents. Meccano is still sold under the Erector brand in the United States.

The products. The brand has developed a wide range of building sets: airplanes, racing cars, off-road cars... It has also created a range of robotic products called "Spykee", robots to be built and controlled from a computer via wifi. Meccano has also launched a range of licensed games such as The Lapins Crétins, Sonic and Gears of War.

Employment. Around twenty employees.