Paradox Toy Gas Engine
date: label: date made
content: 1900
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This Paradox gas engine was made by the Pardox Gas Engine Company of Hartford, Connecticut around 1900-1930. The engine ran on a mixture of “illumination gas,” an early gas used to light homes that was generated from coal. The engine was attached to an ordinary gas burner by a rubber tube, and advertising described it as “running with an explosion at each revolution.” The engine has two 3.5-inch flywheels, and the base bears the inscription “PAT. NOV. 20 1900.” G.J. Altham & J. Beattie Jr. of Fall River, Massachusetts received patent number 662,181 for this invention that related to “a simple and efficient valveless engine adapted for use in small size as a toy.”
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
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.329045
label: catalog number
content: 329045
label: accession number
content: 278175
objectType: label: Object Name
content: engine, hot air
label: Object Name
content: engine, gas, toy
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cast iron (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (base material)
label: Measurements
content: overall - from catalog card: 6 in x 5 1/2 in x 4 in; 15.24 cm x 13.97 cm x 10.16 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 6 in x 4 in x 6 3/8 in; 15.24 cm x 10.16 cm x 16.1925 cm