Toy Steam Engine
date: label: date made
content: late 19th century
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This toy steam engine consists of a vertical boiler and horizontal slide valve engine. The museum’s catalogue records indicate that the toy was manufactured in the late 19th century, possibly by the J.E. Stevens Manufacturing Company based in Cromwell, CT. A handwritten pencil inscription reading 'J+E Stevens 1880' supports this.
label: Description (Brief)
content: 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.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Connecticut, Cromwell
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
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content: Family & Social Life
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content: Engineering, Building, and Architecture
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content: Engineering Steam Toys and Models
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Maass, Eleanor A.. Greville Bathe's "Theatre of Machines": The Evolution of a Scholar and His Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Bequest of the Estate of Greville I. Bathe
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MC.328981
label: catalog number
content: 328981
label: accession number
content: 278175
objectType: label: Object Name
content: toy, steam engine and boiler
label: Object Name
content: steam engine and boiler, toy
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (boiler material)
label: Physical Description
content: cast iron (bed material)
label: Measurements
content: overall - from catalog card: 7 1/2 in x 11 in x 5 in; 19.05 cm x 27.94 cm x 12.7 cm
label: Measurements
content: boiler - from catalog card: 4 in; x 10.16 cm
label: Measurements
content: flywheel - from catalog card: 3 in; x 7.62 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 3/8 in x 5 1/4 in x 10 3/4 in; 18.7325 cm x 13.335 cm x 27.305 cm