Bayko was a British building model construction toy invented by Charles Plimpton, an early plastics engineer and entrepreneur in Liverpool. First marketed in Britain it was soon exported throughout the British Commonwealth and became a worldwide brand between 1934 and 1967. The name derived from Bakelite, one of the world's first commercial plastics that was originally used to manufacture many of the parts. Bayko was one of the world's earliest plastic toys to be marketed.
Bayko system
Bayko was primarily intended for the construction of model buildings. The rectangular Bakelite bases had a square grid of holes, spaced at 3/8 inch centres, into which thin metal rods, 75 thou [1.905 mm] in diameter, of various lengths, could be placed vertically. In order to make larger models, two or more bases could be joined together by means of metal links secured by screws through holes in the bases. Bakelite bricks, windows and other parts could then be slotted between pairs of rods in order to create the walls of the building. Other commonly used parts included floors (thin sheets of resin bonded paper with the same square pattern grid of holes as bases), and roofs of various types. There were also a large number of other more specialised parts. In the original sets bases were large, and coloured brown; walls were brown/maroon and cream; roofs were deep maroon; and windows were a very dark green, but by 1937 the 'true' colours of red or white walls, green windows and red roofs were established, though bases were still large and brown.
A period of radical change was heralded in 1938 with the introduction of the [now] much sought after 20s series, through which a number of new parts were introduced. Then, in 1939, the 'New Series' retooling programme added to the range of new parts and changed the bases to the more familiar, smaller version, initially in a mottled green. Post war the standard colours were red and white walls, red roofs, green windows and green bases, and, despite some experiments with 'rogue' colours in the years immediately after the war, these remained in play until 1959 when Meccano took over, changing the colours to orange red and cream bricks with yellow windows and grey bases.
Plimpton began the move to polystyrene parts, gradually, from the mid-1950s onwards, a change which Meccano subsequently took up with enthusiasm, it being so much cheaper to produce. Ironically perhaps, in the last days of Bayko, they began to reverse this change, of both materials and colour scheme, with the introduction of the so-called 'Flanged' or 'Minimalist' parts.
Bayko models had a higher standard of realism than their competitors, but the fragile Bakelite frequently broke.
History
Plimpton era
See Charles Plimpton for early Bayko history.
The Bayko system was invented and patented by Charles Plimpton in 1933, following a long period of convalescence in Ruthin in North Wales. Plimpton set up Plimpton Engineering in Liverpool, England, to manufacture the components, the majority of which were made from Bakelite, a new synthetic plastic developed in the early 1900s. The sets were called "Bayko Light Construction Sets" (the term "Bayko Light" coming from the name "Bakelite") and went on sale nationally towards the end of 1934. There had been, however, limited production, with sets literally packed on the kitchen table, 12 months earlier, presumably for a restricted, local market. The Bakelite material was sourced from Bakelite Limited, a Birmingham supplier, and for the first few years of its life, Bayko was marketed by both Plimpton Engineering and Bakelite Limited.
Initially five sets were produced, "Set 1" (the smallest, entry level) through to "Set 5" (the largest). The bricks were brown and cream, the bases brown, the windows dark green, and the roofs dark maroon. Plimpton began advertising Bayko in Meccano Ltd's Meccano Magazine in September 1935, unaware that 25 years later, Meccano itself would own and manufacture Bayko. Regular advertisements appeared in the magazine over those next 25 years.