Wilesco Toy Drill Press
date: label: date made
content: mid 20th century
name: label: maker
content: Wilesco
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This drill press was manufactured by Wilhelm Schröder GmbH & Company (Wilesco) of Lüdenscheid, Germany during the 20th century. The drill press is a Wilesco model M51. The press could be connected to the drive wheel of a toy steam engine for power and operate just like its full size counterpart.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Wilesco is the trade name of German toy company Wilhelm Schröder GmbH &amp; Co. KG, known for manufacturing live steam toys such as steamrollers, traction engines, and stationary steam engines.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Initially a producer of aluminum forks and spoons, the company expanded into miniature aluminum accessories for doll’s tea parties in the 1920s. This decision also helped the company weather the economic crisis of the late 1920s and early 1930s because these toys were also exported to the US.
label: Description (Brief)
content: In 1950, Wilesco started manufacturing miniature steam engines.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Germany: North Rhine-Westphalia, Lüdenscheid
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
label: See more items in
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.329063
label: catalog number
content: 329063
label: accession number
content: 278175
objectType: label: Object Name
content: toy, drill press
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cast white metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: tin (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall - from catalog card: 4 1/2 in x 3 1/2 in; 11.43 cm x 8.89 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 7/8 in x 3 1/2 in; x 12.3825 cm x 8.89 cm