Constructor metal construction set 3
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Constructor metal construction set 3 |
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A French boxed metal construction set similar to Meccano, "Constructor" number 3, in a large blue box.
The box has a large yellow label with a picture of two boys working on a very large bridge.
Label Text:
- Constructor: Jouet Mechanique A Combinaisons Multiples
- GRAND PRIX
- Concours Lepine - Paris
- Brevete S.G.D.G.
- Invention et Fabrication Francaises
(Grand Prize-winner of the Lépine Contest)
Concours Lépine
The Concours Lépine ("Lépine Contest") was set up in 1901 by Louis Lépine, the Seine's Chief of Police, and for its first year was known as the "Exposition des jouets et articles de Paris".
One of the big attractions of submitting designs and inventions to the "Concours", apart from the opportunity to show off one's products in public, was the ability to get submissions automatically registered and rights-protected, a major selling point for businesses in an environment where it was common for small companies to make copies and derivative versions of pieces manufactured by their competitors – the "Concours" allowed inventors who genuinely believed that their creations were original and worthwhile to show them off and have a form of patent protection to reduce the risk of their invention being stolen, in a single process.
The line Brevette S.G.D.G. stands for ""Breveté Sans Garantie du Gouvernement" , or "Patented Without Government Guarantee"
