Trix model construction sets were originally produced in 1931 by a Nuremberg company, Andreas Förtner (Anfoe). The German patent for the basic Trix pieces had been granted the previous year, in 1930.
The origin of the name Trix is uncertain; it has been suggested (by Adrie Wind
]) that it could have referred to the triple-hole configuration of the basic pieces.
A friendship between
Bing (company), Stephan Bing, owner of Anfoe, and the English toy manufacturer W J
Bassett-Lowke
Bassett-Lowke was an English toy manufacturing company based in Northampton. Founded by Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke in 1898 or 1899, the company specialized in model railways, boats and ships, and construction sets. Bassett-Lowke started as a m ...
led to the founding of the London company Trix Ltd in 1932. In the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, Trix sets challenged the British-invented
Meccano
Meccano is a brand of scale model, model construction system created in 1898 by Frank Hornby in Liverpool, England. The system consists of reusable metal strips, plates, Structural steel#Common structural shapes, angle girders, wheels, axles and ...
model construction sets.
(See
Trix (company)
Trix is a German company that originally made Trix metal construction sets. One of its co-founders was Stephan Bing, the son of the pioneer toy-maker industrialist Ignaz Bing. In 1935 the company began producing the electrically powered model ...
for details of the model electric trains that the German company also began producing in 1935.)
References
External links
Trix construction setswebsite created by Adrie Wind; contains scans of most Trix manuals and brochures, mainly in Dutch, with some in German and some in English
(tr. "A Short History of Trix Construction Sets") by Werner Sticht
Construction toys
Educational toys
Model manufacturers of Germany
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