Temsi metal construction box from the '60s

Temsi metal construction box. 

Temsi metal constructie box no. 3. This set consist several parts to make different vehicles and structures. The box also includes instruction booklet no. 2.

The contents of this box are almost 40 years old and no longer complete. 

Sizes box 

• Height: 2.5 cm. 
• Length: 49 cm. 
• Width: 34.5 cm. 

Temsi. 
Temsi is a Meccano-like construction toy that were produced from 1946 until the late nineties in Hengelo, Overijssel, The Netherlands.

The company 'Technical Electric Metals Toys' was founded in 1946 by the Hengelo stamp maker and entrepreneur Jan Blom. He copied the in those time expensive Meccano and brought it to the market under the brand name Temsi. That could be done, because 'Meccano construction toys' wasn't closed well with patents. The success of Temsi was mainly due to the persistence of the British half inch dimensions that are used by Meccano. Furthermore, Meccano was not available in the Netherlands at the end of the forties.

The biggest success Temsi made in the period 1950 - 1965. The range of Temsi was significantly smaller than that of Meccano, but by using the substantially similar colors and dimensions of the Temsi parts they were good to use with original Meccano parts. The only restriction was that the set screws, coupling nuts and bolts which had the metric thread M4 and therefore wasn't compatible with the English thread no. 10, with a larger coil than M4. The Temsi-hexagonal nuts were, facing the emblematic square bolts of Meccano.

After 1965 Temsi experienced increased competition from other types of technical toys like Lego and Fischer Technik. The smaller households and the rise of television played a role. In 1985, there was a lot of negative publicity surrounding Temsi associated with the use of lead and cadmium-based paint. The result was that the company was declared bankrupt in late 1986. Despite a restart, the company has never been more profitable and was sold in 1997, to the entire company stock and the fleet of the German company Metallus. This firm supplied in 2011 still Temsi like construction toys.