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Toy Steam Engine

Period1898 - 1918

Place MadeNew Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

MediumSteel, brass, nickel, iron

Dimensions8.5 × 6 × 10.5 in. (21.6 × 15.2 × 26.7 cm)

Signed"The Weeden" embossed on the base

ClassificationsToys & Games

Credit LineGift of Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, 1942

Object number1798

DescriptionA toy stationary steam engine, consisting of a cylindrical brass boiler atop an open firebox. The boiler is fitted with a vertical cylindrical pipe, ending in a hinged valve cap. The boiler and firebox are fixed to a rectangular heavy iron base, with nickel plated base, molded with decorative flared bracket corners. A vertical bracket is fitted with a piston assembly, attached to a drive wheel. When the boiler is filled with water and heated by a fire within the firebox, steam power activates the piston assembly, moving the pistons up and down, turning the drive wheel.
NotesThis fully operational stationary steam engine was the creation of William Nye Weeden. Born in 1841 in Massachusetts, Weeden apprenticed as a jeweler and watchmaker. During his employment at the Benedict and Burnham Manufacturing Company in Waterbury, Connecticut, Weeden developed the "Waterbury watch," a relatively inexpensive winding pocketwatch. Weeden also worked as superintendent of the Waterbury Watch Company for four years. In 1883, Weeden returned to New Bedford and started the Weeden Manufacturing Company. In 1884, he was approached by the publishers of "Youth's Companion," a popular national magazine for families and children. The publishers were looking for an appealing premium to offer as prizes for those selling subscriptions of the paper. Weeden developed more than one hundred types of steam-powered toys. Weeden's health declined, and he died at the age of fifty in 1891.

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