Constructional toy
Premo Rubber Co. Ltd.
Category
Toys
Date
circa 1951
Materials
Rubber, cardboard and paper
Measurements
Blocks (min) - 12 mm (length), Blocks (max) - 182 mm (length), Cylindrical clocks - 12 mm (diameter), Box - 285 mm (length); 203 mm (width); 54 mm (height), Instructions (min) - 185 mm (width); 183 mm (height), Instructions (max) - 227 mm (width); 218 mm (height)
Place of origin
Petersfield
Order this imageCollection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 663570
Summary
A set of 'Minibrix' rubber building bricks in their original box. The bricks are made of brown or white coloured rubber with green roof pieces. The blocks resemble Lego bricks, with holes on one side and 'bobbles' on the other to enable them to interlock. Most are rectangular, some square, but there are also a few small sloping pieces and cylindrical pieces. There are also some plastic windows and doors. The box base is white with a yellow lid, which shows a boy and girl making a building from Minibrix on a table. According to the information on an instruction sheet inside this is the Junior Set. Also inside is a 30 page instruction booklet with diagrams for many different models to make using Minibrix. The box and the bricks are quite dirty, and the first two pages of the instructions booklet are missing. The image included with this object are digital copies of original photographs (now returned to the donor). Both photographs were taken in 1951. One photograph shows a bridge made by the donor in 1951 out of the her Minibrix set and the other shows a contemporary image of the donor at age 10 years old. The image of the bridge was taken with her first camera. The donor recalls "They were hugely popular among children in the late 1940s and 1950s as the bricks seemed quite realistic. But were expensive and were then superseded by Lego. The trick was to lick the little rubber 'lugs', so that they slipped more easily into the adjacent holes and then held together more firmly! They gave a satisfying 'pop' when pulled apart. I remember it was very heavy! It may be that some of those you have already are coloured? The pastel shaded ones came in about five years after the dark red ones, as I recall, and were therefore more like modern Lego . . .I have to admit I always loved my Minibrix, and constructing things with them; maybe that's why I ended up studying architecture and came to love Sudbury Hall so much . . . all those warm red/brown bricks! Think my younger brother enjoyed them too - he became a structural engineer . . ." Total number of items is 368.
Marks and inscriptions
On the box lid and box base: 'Candy Knott/ Cherry Knott'
Makers and roles
Premo Rubber Co. Ltd., maker