Martin Roberts chose….

Bayko set 

This item was collected in 1998, the year I started work at the Herbert as Keeper of Social History. When I looked back on the objects we collected that year, it wasn't really a vintage year! Most of our acquisitions seemed to be underwear for our costume collection! Luckily I came across this Bayko set. I remember having a similar set as a child, which had been passed down to me by an older cousin. It was quite hard to build I seem to remember and I didn't always have the patience to complete each building project! But I liked the 1930s style suburban villa which it made. 

Martin Roberts is Senior Curator at the Herbert

What the curator says:

Bayko set, 1950s

Bayko construction sets were produced between 1934 and 1967. It was named Bayko after bakelite, the early kind of plastic used to make the set.

Rods are inserted into the base and elements such as walls, windows and doors slide onto the rods. This kind of technical building kit was aimed at older children and was often frustratingly difficult to do. The kits' popularity eventually gave way to plastic toys such as Lego. Lego could be mass produced cheaply and is more straightforward to play with.

You can see Architex, another building toy, in the History gallery.