BAYKO Wholesale Despatch Packaging

The purpose of this section is simple, and covers the way that BAYKO sets were sent out to the different export channels, certainly where businesses were supplied directly, by Plimpton, from the U.K.
Page 2 of the 1956 Bepin Behary Das & Grandson letter
It's also possible that they were also used for shops which were supplied via Import Agents…
It's probable that similar arrangements were made for major toy shops in the domestic market, though, of course, I can't prove that.
All the information here is taken from a January, 1956 letter sent to Bepin Behary Das & Grandson, in Kolkata [Calcutta], a wholesale business in India…
The letter lays out that “All Sets are packed in Verified Fibreboard Export Cartons ready for shipment in standard quantities…” all of which is easy to understand, if not actually guess at, but at least we now have chapter and verse.
An interesting detail - an April, 1950 Quotation document asks the retailer to return these cartons, with the offer of free carriage to do so…
The full Carton details of the letter, complete with added metric equivalents, are laid out in the table below, which is fairly self explanatory, so I'll leave you to read as you will : -

Plimpton Era Wholesale BAYKO Carton Dimensions

Set #
Quantity
Width
Length
Depth
Gross Weight
Nett Weight
0
24
15½ in
394 mm
13 in
330 mm
10 in
254 mm
34 lbs
15.4 kg
31 lbs
14.4 kg
1
8
18 in
457 mm
12 in
305 mm
10¾ in
273 mm
21 lbs
9.5 kg
18 lbs
8.2 kg
2
5
15¼ in
387 mm
14 in
356 mm
11 in
279 mm
20 lbs
9.1 kg
17 lbs
7.7 kg
3
3
15¾ in
400 mm
12 in
305 mm
11½ in
292 mm
20 lbs
9.1 kg
17 lbs
7.7 kg
4
3
18 in
457 mm
16 in
406 mm
16¾ in
425 mm
36 lbs
16.3 kg
32 lbs
14.5 kg
0X
24
19 in
483 mm
16 in
406 mm
14 in
356 mm
23 lbs
10.4 kg
20 lbs
9.1 kg
1X
12
18 in
457 mm
10¾ in
273 mm
13 in
330 mm
18 lbs
8.2 kg
15 lbs
6.8 kg
2X
8
18 in
457 mm
10¾ in
273 mm
13 in
330 mm
20 lbs
9.1 kg
17 lbs
7.7 kg
3X
6
19 in
483 mm
16 in
406 mm
14 in
356 mm
37 lbs
16.8 kg
33 lbs
15.0 kg
Mixed Converting Sets*
18 in
457 mm
16 in
406 mm
16¾ in
425 mm
38 lbs
17.2 kg
34 lbs
15.4 kg
Set #
Quantity
Width
Length
Depth
Gross Weight
Nett Weight
* The Mixed Converting Sets carton contains 8 x 0X, 6 x 1X, 4 x 2X, 2 x 3X.

I also had an Australian market “Wholesale Catalogue Price List” issued by Oswald-Sealy of Sydney which supports most of the above, with one contradiction an s one addition - shown in the small table immediately below.

The carton contents for set 0 is shown as 12, not 24.
There is a second conversion set option, probably a legacy from before the launch of set #3X and set #4. The carton held : -
12 x 0X, 6 x 1X, 6 x 2X.

Another way of looking at this shows that there were actually seven different carton sizes, doing eleven jobs, [including the “Cabinet of Spare Parts” and the “…Assorted Pack of All Converting Sets…”], so obviously some have more than one use! I have used red ink to highlight these, below. Purely for administration purposes, I've labelled the Cartons 'A' through 'G', in approximate ascending order of size, purely for my convenience, to structure the table.

 
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
Inches
15½x13x10
15¾x12x11½
15¼x14x11
18x10¾x13
18x12x10¾
18x16x16¾
19x16x14
mm
394x330x254
400x303x292
387x356x279
457x273x330
457x305x273
457x406x425
483x406x356
Contents
#0
#3
#2
#1X, #2X
#1
#4, Mixed Conversion Sets
#0X, #3X, Cabinet of Spare Parts

The Bepin Behary Das letter also contains the rider that - “No. 0 and No. 4 Standard Sets and No. 0X and No. 3X Converting Sets can be supplied in smaller quantities suitable for despatch by parcel post.”
Personally I think it perfectly reasonable to suggest that this approach was probably used throughout the life of the BAYKO, including the MECCANO era, but with different details - though, of course, I can't prove it!  However, if it's not true, how else would they have done it?
 
Just one small note of caution before the next entry. In the letter, the “Cabinet of Spare Parts” entry [below] actually appeared directly below the 3X entry [above], and both sets of figures shown are identical. I can't help but pose the question, “Is this a typo?” Given that the same carton size was also used for Set #0X, it is possible that the typo only affects the gross and Nett Weights.
The entry for the Cabinet of BAYKO Spare Parts is shown below : -

Contents
Width
Length
Depth
Gross Weight
Nett Weight
Cabinet of Spare Parts
19 in
483 mm
16 in
406 mm
14 in
356 mm
37 lbs
16.8 kg
33 lbs
15.0 kg
 
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