Carette Steam Engines And Their Accessories

Saturday, March 24, 2018
Sunny with Cloudy Periods
3 C  37.4 F

Carette Steam Engines 

and Their Accessories

Noel

Barrett

Please click here to visit these fine American auctioneers

One of the more interesting toys of the Early 20th century were the steam engines.  These machines were miniature reproductions of life-size steam engines miniatured for children to play with. However, these machines had to be supervised by parents as they were very hot when operated, and  ran on alcohol as a fuel.

Georges Carette was one of the best known manufacturers of these toys. Not only were there small steam engines, but there were accessories to have the engine run them.

The toy steam engine consisted of a fuel source, which heated up air to run a piston, that would turn a flywheel. Attached to the flywheel was a metal cord that ran up to a driving pulley wheel, which also had working driving pulleys. The last-mentioned pulleys would then attach to toy accessories that also had drive pulleys that ran theses accessories.

 Drive pulleys that you see below, could attach to small men characters that did assorted "jobs" that you will see later on. These pulleys could be single or in multiples as the sketches below illustrate.

Below are working models of assorted machine shop machines. 
These are without people. 

Below are working shop machines with people.

Each toy had a driving pulley wheel that would attach to the 

driving pulley wheel of the steam engine.

Below, the scan page illustrates many people operating different machines.

Each machine has its' own driving pulley wheel in front.

The page below illustrates even more complex and sophisticated machines.

 Here's an actual toy machine from the Pook & Pook / Noel Barrett auction.

There are 2 workers hammering a piece of iron. The driving pulley can be seen in front, 

attached beside the anvil.

One is chopping a block of wood, while the left person is a locksmith filing something. 

The models could be anywhere from 3"-5" tall (7.6 cm - 12.6 cm)

Below are 4 machinists working at the same time. You can clearly see the 4driving pulleys that are attached to the driving pulleys of the actual machines that the workers are at.

 The larger driving pulley to the extreme left and the largest is the master driving pulley,. That pulley would be attached to the steam engine.

Finally, a pair of riders on horses. You can see the large red driving pulley

at the left in the photo.

I'm sure that many of the steam engines found at auction might still be operable and could attach to the people working models that you saw above. Of course, you'd have to be very careful operating these machines, and you should be taking these machines outdoors for safety purposes. 
Once the driving pulleys of the steam engine and small toys were attached, you could see a miniature group of tradesmen plying their trades.

There are still today manufacturers of miniature steam engines. If you type in miniature steam engines or toy steam engines, you will come across the brand names of  the manufacturers - Wilesco, Mamod, and Jensen. 

Even today, these miniature models are still popular!

Thanks for visiting,
and as always
Have a great part 
of the day or evening.

Stacey Bindman
toysearcher@gmail.com

The Wonderful Ships of George Carette

Saturday, March 10, 2018
Overcast 
-2 C  28.4 F

The Wonderful Ships 

of Georges Carette

Please click here to visit Bertoia Auctions

 Georges Carette et Cie was founded in 1866 by Mr. Georges Carette. Initially, Mr. Carette was a supplier to Bing, another famous toy manufacturer.  Later, Mr. Carette began to produce toys independently. His big break came when he introduced a toy tram that was powered electricity, which was a fairly new "phenomena". Eventually, Mr. Carette and his partner (Paul Josephtal) contacted the British model railway manufacturer - Bassett-Lowke. The George Carette company was successful with their meeting, and began to produce locomotives and cars modelled after British models. The quality was so good, that the Carette toys became very sought after. By 1905, the company expanded from model railway locomotives and cars into other toys. These included toy cars, ship models with clockwork drive, aircraft, airships, and optical and technical toys. The Georges Carette toys today are very much in demand as collectibles.*

* Narrative selected from Wikipedia

Sleek gunboat shaped for speed, and features a

clean styled hull, large intimidating gun sits above 

deck towards the stern,  between stacks sits

another cannon atop a green pedestal

Professionally restored.

Length:   17.75"  45.2 cm

Nicely scaled model, clockwork driven

simulated wood upper deck planking

Missing masts

Length:  16 1/2"  42 cm

Early Carette fire boat,

hand-painted, clockwork action

Length:  12"  31 cm

Carette Live Steam Launch with Canopy

brass boiler, hand painted

Length:  13 1/2"  31.5 cm

Carette Four Stack Ocean Liner

Length:  20.5"   52 cm

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day or night.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

The Magnificent Steam Engine Systems of Georges Carette

Friday, November 1, 2013

The Magnificent Steam Engine Systems of 

Georges Carette

   I received an outstanding catalogue reproduction printed by New Cavendish Book.This company prints a cornucopia of outstanding books about collectibles, as well as other types of books. However, old and antique toys is my area. The book I received was printed in 1979, and arrived with a beautiful antique sepia-yellow tone to the pages, as well as the usual musty "old book" odour. I sometimes leave the aged pages "as is",but I cleaned them up today. I sent a note to New Cavendish Books for permission to use their pages,but I haven't heard back from them yet.  Hopefully, they'll allow me the use,and won't ask me to remove the post.

Please click here to visit the fine resource of New Cavendish Books

Steam engine toys of the late 19th and early 20th centuries are exceptional machines of a long ago era when toys were modelled after real machines. Before electricity, most machines were powered by water  or by steam. In the case of the toys,the fuel was usually by methylated spirits or  denatured alcohol. I'm sure parents were very protective and cautious about allowing their children to work with these toys.

As you will see, these exceptional machines were not  just toys, but learning tools. Each machine was modelled after their larger cousins that worked in real life. The machine would produce power through a  rotating wheel. That power would then be transferred via what I assume are rope or belts (e.g. rubber coated cotton rope or heavy duty thread) to other moving machines or small human figures in motion at their various crafts.  

These book in excellent condition actually are collectibles. Mine cost about $ 75.00 U.S. plus $ 28.50 shipping from Australia. It's not in mint condition, but I use these books as references.However, a book such as this in excellent condition will fetch a hefty price for someone who does collect books.

This particular model cost 360 at the time. I'm unsure of the monetary unit, but perhaps it's in shillings. Nevertheless, it is one of the most expensive models in the section on steam engines.Of course,there are plenty of choices in the lower price range.

I added this pages because It was pleasantly amusing. I assume for those who didn't have elecgtricity yet, they could run a fan off steam power!

These models are great because they explain how an electrical plant would operate.

The page above shows you the shafts and pulleys that would be attached by a belt to the steam engine.The more powerful the engine,the more power could be transferred. 

"Real" workable machines could be used with the steam engines. I assume a model ship builder would be able to craft his pieces on such machines. If you look at the sentence until the larger-font title, you'll read "Cheap class in japanned tin". I think that back then the word "cheap" had a different meaning than today.  As for the word "japanned", that's a method of applying many coats of carefully applied lacquer to  place a fine finish on the models.

Above is a collection of "working models (figures). Notice that each model had a wheel that would be attached to either a large group on spindles on a shaft or directly to the steam engine as one unit. Imagine a wealthy father who would buy a collection of models for his son or daughter (probably very rare for girls to work with these models). 

Imagine the noise of the steam engine,the pulleys,and the factory workers hammering and sawing! an

Here's another page of examples of model workers for the steam engine.

Model steam engines are still being made and produced for children and adults. I've written about some  of today's fine companies that manufacture these machines. I'm sure that today, like  other models and toys,the quality of production and the materials and ores form which they're made are of a better quality then back then. 

I'm sure however, that many of you would want to try out the 1914 model - I know I would! 

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

write to me anytime at:

toysearcher@gmail.com