The Meccano Museum

The Meccano Museum (1963-1989), was an independent museum based in London, which eventually moved to South Africa and became part of the Toys of Yesteryear exhibition.

Their collection was sold on 7th September 1989 by the auction house Christies.

Toys of Yesteryear: How did it all start?

1963 The first museum

Peter Matthews started collecting the history of Meccano in London, England back in 1963.

The first museum to be established was very small but it was a start. It was displayed in a converted coal cellar of a terraced house and measured only 2 metres wide by 4 metres long.

1967 The second museum

The second museum was arranged in a large outdoor shed suitably arranged with glass cases etc. This was also in London and the museum had already doubled in size.

1969 The third museum

The second time the museum moved was to its own brick building attached to his new house in Sussex, England. The collection was now quite large.

1972 The fourth museum

A major move was made next, to South Africa, and the fourth museum was established south of Johannesburg. It was housed in a special extension built on to his house. The collection soon outgrew its new home and the only thing to do was to move to another house with more space.

1975 The fifth museum

The move for the fifth museum was to a house only a short distance from the previous one but where Peter could convert two garages, a study, playroom, and servants quarters into one large interconnecting area. At last the museum had more space than it needed. This position was not to last long and by the middle of 1985 the Meccano museum was overflowing again. The museum was now large enough to go on public display but the question was how and where?

1985 What to do now?

In September 1985 Peter telephoned the offices of "Gold Reef City" and an appointment was made for Mr. J.R. Rothschild (Executive Director), and Mr. P. Cowan (General Manager) to visit the Meccano museum. Peter had asked his good friend and meccanoman Paul Hatty to come along on that evening also. To cut a very long story short Mr. Rothschild and Mr. Cowan showed great enthusiasm which was very encouraging. Thes result of this was that Paul Hatty and Peter Matthews decided to form a company "Toys of Yesteryear" (Pty) Limited. The present "Toys of Yesteryear" exhibition that you now see at "Gold Reef City" is the result of much hard work and planning and 23 years of collecting.

1986 The sixth Meccano museum

Peter's museum has come a long way since the coal cellar in London and hopefully the Meccano museum has now come to rest for some considerable time and together with a wonderful display of other toys we hope you will get as much fun and enjoyment from your visit as we have had in making it all possible.

— Souvenir Guide Introduction, Toys of Yesteryear incorporating The Meccano Museum, circa ~1987