Object Details
- Description (Brief)
- This toy steam engine was made by an unknown German company during the early 20th century. The toy consists of a horizontal boiler with chimney on a simulated brickwork firebox. The horizontal slide valve engine powers a flywheel with a centrifugal flyball governor. The boiler and engine are mounted on a cast iron plate.
- 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
- Credit Line
- Gift of Mr. August Mencken
- early 20th century
- ID Number
- MC.322908
- catalog number
- 322908
- accession number
- 220719
- Object Name
- toy, steam engine and boiler
- Physical Description
- tinplate (overall material)
- iron (castings material)
- nickel plated (fittings material)
- Measurements
- overall: 9 1/2 in x 15 in x 13 in; 24.13 cm x 38.1 cm x 33.02 cm
- smokestack: 11 1/2 in x 1 1/8 in; 29.21 cm x 2.8575 cm
- place made
- Germany
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
- Family & Social Life
- Engineering, Building, and Architecture
- Engineering Steam Toys and Models
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_847254
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a6-8eb5-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
