Bassett-Lowke Toy Steam Engine
Bassett-Lowke Toy Steam Engine
Usage conditions apply
- Description (Brief)
- This toy steam engine was manufactured by the Bassett-Lowke Company of Northampton, England during the early 20th century. The vertical slide valve engine consists of a firebox, vertical boiler, and chimney on a cast iron base.
- Live steam toys enjoyed a period of popularity from the 1880s until the 1930s. The miniature steam engines were marketed as both toys and instructive devices that mimicked full-scale steam-powered machines and allowed every boy and girl to be their own engineer. In toy steam engines, a heating source is introduced into the firebox below the boiler (early toys used lit wicks fueled by denatured alcohol, later toys used electricity) which heated the water to produce the steam pressure that ran the engine. A variety of accessories could be powered by the engine; attachments included windmills, pumps, grinders, and electric lights.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- toy, steam engine and boiler
- date made
- ca 1900
- Physical Description
- cast iron (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 19 in x 5 in; 48.26 cm x 12.7 cm
- overall: 18 3/4 in x 10 1/2 in x 7 1/4 in; 47.625 cm x 26.67 cm x 18.415 cm
- ID Number
- MC.328940
- catalog number
- 328940
- accession number
- 278175
- Credit Line
- Bequest of the Estate of Greville I. Bathe
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
- Engineering Steam Toys and Models
- Engineering, Building, and Architecture
- Family & Social Life
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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