Weeden No. 23 Hot-Air Engine Toy
date: label: date made
content: ca 1900
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: The Weeden Manufacturing Company of New Bedford, Massachusetts produced this number 23 “hot air” engine from the 1890s until 1916. The engine is not a steam engine, as no water is heated. Instead the firebox heats air which expands and moves a piston to create useful mechanical work. The toy consists of a vertical firebox, with a nickel-plated horizontal engine that drives a 2.25-inch flywheel all mounted on a cast iron base.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The Weeden Manufacturing Company was founded in New Bedford, Massachusetts by William M. Weeden in the early 1880s, originally producing a variety of tinplate household items. In 1884 it introduced the Weeden No. 1 Steam engine as “a new and great premium for boys” who were subscribers to the <i>Youth’s Companion</i> magazine. Weeden made over a hundred different models of toy steam engines until the company ceased operations in 1952.
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.329053
label: catalog number
content: 329053
label: accession number
content: 278175
objectType: label: Object Name
content: engine, hot air
label: Object Name
content: engine, hot air, toy
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: tin, nickel (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall - from catalog card: 8 in x 4 in; x 20.32 cm x 10.16 cm
label: Measurements
content: flywheel - from catalog card: 2 1/4 in; x 5.715 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 1/8 in x 8 1/8 in x 4 in; 18.0975 cm x 20.6375 cm x 10.16 cm