German Toy Steam Engine
date: label: date made
content: early 20th century
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This toy steam engine was made by an unknown German maker around the early 20th century. The toy consists of a vertical boiler, vertical engine, and flywheel. The chimney stack is in the shape of a hexagon.
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: Germany
label: place made
content: Germany
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.328983
label: catalog number
content: 328983
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 (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: boiler: 1 5/8 in; x 4.1275 cm
label: Measurements
content: flywheel: 1 3/4 in; x 4.445 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 5/8 in; 19.3675 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 7/8 in x 2 3/4 in x 3 1/4 in; 20.0025 cm x 6.985 cm x 8.255 cm