Printed from www.nzmeccano.com
Primus Engineering
The earliest serious British made rival to Meccano in the field of toy construction sets was Primus.
It was manufactured by W. Butcher and Sons of Blackheath, London who had already established a considerable reputation as makers of fine photographic equipment.
The Primus system was first introduced in 1913 and consisted of metal parts, a lot of which were almost direct copies of equivalent Meccano parts, and wooden parts, which were quite distinct from anything Meccano produced.
Primus went out of production in around 1926.
A complete 1923 Primus Manual (the most comprehensive they ever produced) can be down loaded from this gallery.
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sandyjune96 (at 10:45pm, Sun 5th Jan, 20) |
I recently acquired an empty cabinet for Outfit number 6. Unfortunatelyits missing its lock. Do you know where I could maybe acquire some parts to fill it? |
Anonymous (at 2:51pm, Mon 17th Nov, 14) |
According to the (London) Science Museum Group, some of these cameras were made in Blackheath, as late as 1927. Click on individual camera names for such details. |
Anonymous (at 11:14pm, Sat 9th Aug, 14) |
Further research reveals that W.Butcher of Blackheath had no manufacturing facilities. They imported their cameras from Germany until the First World War. Then they merged with another camera company whose offices were in Camera House, but who had an actual factory in Walthamstow . That is not to say the these construction sets were made in Walthamstow. It looks as though they could have been made by anybody anywhere. |
Anonymous (at 10:56pm, Sat 9th Aug, 14) |
To answer a question I have already posed, an address is given, Camera House, London EC or EC4, with just once a street name (Farringdon Avenue). This is not in Blackheath, a still almost rural residential area just south of Greenwich, in SE3. EC4 is the area around St Pauls and Fleet Street, slightly more commercial in the north towards Farringdon Street (the Avenue no longer seems to exist). Neither area seems very likely for the factory. One wonders where the suggestion of Blackheath comes from. |
Paddywack (at 4:45pm, Wed 29th Aug, 12) |
I have found lots of old stuff which I believe is Primus Engineering.. I really don't want it or indeed to clean it up. I would be grateful if someone can tell me where I might exchange it for hard currency. |