Bayko

Bayko was Liverpool made plastic construction toy from the middle third of the last century.This advert is typical of those from the later 1950s,and just into the 1960s after Meccano took over. If you'd like to find out more about BAYKO and its 30 years of advertising on my website - enjoy!

Bakelite was the wonder material of the early 20th century, a type of proto-plastic which could be moulded into finely detailed shapes in an endless range of colours. But, it had one disadvantage - it was brittle.

Nevertheless, Charles Plimpton of Liverpool designed a successful building toy product based on this material, and he called it "Bayko".

Smaller Bayko pieces were usually unaffected by breakages, but larger parts, including bases and the three sizes of one-piece roofs, were vulnerable to being cracked or broken by the occasional knock, or being dropped.

To commence building, thin metal rods were inserted into holes in the bases, and small white or red brick panels plus windows/doors were then slid down between these rods to form each wall. Once the walls had been filled in to the full height of the rods, a one-piece roof was perched on top to complete a satisfyingly realistic house, bungalow, village hall or even a railway station.

Bayko was available from the 1930s until the early 1960s; in its last few years being made by Meccano Ltd.

Bayko would not be allowed on sale today, owing to swallowing hazards posed by the small parts and puncture injuries from the thin rods.

I still have my Bayko sets. They were so realistic of proper buildings You could even get little flowers and shrubs to press into the baseboard holes.
A truly fantastic and hard wearing toy

I remember having a Bayko set but it was in the 1960's
and I loved it