Kayes Oil Can miniature (Hornby Oil Can No 2)

Exhibit
Kayes Oil Can miniature (Hornby Oil Can No 2) Hornby Oil Can No.2 ("K"-type), 1928 catalogue picture (i)
location:
Arch Three , Area 30 Classic Locomotives (display)
Shelf 1

1928: Hornby Oil Can No.1 [image info]

1935: Hornby Oil Can No.1 [image info]

A miniature working copper Hornby Oil Can No.2 (K Type), very closely modelled on the full-size cans manufactured by Kayes from the late Nineteenth Century onwards.

No.2 Oil Can, 1935 catalogue image

Kayes perfected seamless cans, and the Hornby version is a faithful working miniature reproduction, down to the zig-zag patterning, the working pump and the "K" on the side.

The Hornby Oil Can No 2 is such a nice little item (and performs such a useful purpose for model train owners), that perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that if you wanted to lay your hands on one of these on ebay, you should expect to pay at least sixty pounds, and sometimes two or three times that. It's a historical miniature, and also a useful tool.

Joseph Kaye and Sons ("Kaye's")

Kaye's were established in 1864 making general metal door fittings, and after they perfected their oil cans, this became the company's speciality.

Their cans had a large "K" on the side, and their printed adverts sometimes abbreviated the company name from Kaye's to K's.

1932: K-type Oil Can, small-ad

External links

• Joseph Kaye and Sons, company history and advertising (gracesguide.co.uk)
• Kayes Oil Can (oldtools.co.uk)
• Kayes "Tool List" (catalogue) (tskayeandsons.weebly.com)
• Kayes tool images, including the original drawing for the oil can (tskayeandsons.weebly.com)