BAYKO in 'The History of British Toys'
By Deborah Jaffé

“…In 1902 Frank Hornby introduced Meccano to support the belief that children, especially boys, should understand basic mechanics and engineering. Then the plastics revolution brought Bayko, Mini bricks, Lego and K'nex.”

“Charles Plimpton developed his Bayko construction system in the 1930s at his factory in Liverpool. Bayko was different from other building sets in that it used Bakelite, a plastic that first appeared in the early twentieth century, and combined the engineering aspects of Meccano with the architectural principals of Lott's Bricks. Red and white bricks, stones, balustrades, pillars, arches, roof tiles, door and window frames, fences, crazy paving and bases were moulded out of Bakelite (which although regarded as revolutionary at the time was fraught with production problems - colours might vary and larger pieces could bend). Every piece had a vertical hole down each side through which a long metal rod was passed and inserted into the base. Other pieces were placed on top and gradually walls with windows and doors and then roofs were assembled to make buildings. Each design, sold in its own box with a picture of the finished product on the front, reflected the British architecture of the inter-war period - some were art deco and others inspired by the 1930s semi-detached houses with bay windows. Bayko was very popular and was exported widely. Once they had mastered the complexities of the system, getting the right length of rod, planning the design of their building and making sure they had the right component pieces, children could build whole towns out of Bayko. By the late 1950s Bakelite was gradually being replaced by the newer, cheaper and more suitable polystyrene. But there were now new rivals in the marketplace. Philip Ullmann at Mettoy designed an interlocking toy house. Each wall, floor and roof was made of separate panels slotted into grooved strips. Airfix was producing Betta Builda kits and the new Lego brick was entering the market. The Bayko company was sold to its successful neighbour Meccano in the early 1960s and advertised in Meccano Magazine. However, many of Plimpton's original designs were replaced by newer styles that included 1960s-style bungalows with dormer windows. Unfortunately, once the more versatile and easier-to-use Lego had established itself there was little place for even the revamped Bayko, and production ceased in the late 1960s.”

“A house made from a 1950s set of Bayko and the instruction manual (P. Carnegie).”