Category:North London diecast (display)

A new (2024) display of postwar diecast models, mostly made by a range of companies packed into a small region of North London.

This bizarre concentration of talent was a result of the large Britains Limited cast-lead factory that had been in the area since the Nineteenth Century, and which cause large numbers of local people to gain skills and experience in casting lead. as a result, the area became a centre for cast lead toymaking businesses between World Wars One and Two.

Many of these businesses learned how to diecast during World War Two in order to carry out military contracts, and acquired the necessary machine tools from DCMT (who had also set up in the area), and after the war this led to a profusion of small diecasting businesses. Other than Meccano Limited (in Liverpool), and later, Corgi Toys (in Wales) and the Tri-Ang Spot-On factory (in Belfast). Almost all of Britain's other diecast toy manufacturers were located in this tiny wedge of North London.

Lesney (Matchbox) were large enough to be able to market and promote their own products (and have their own display cabinet in the Museum). Most of the other diecasting businesses supplied their pieces to distributors Morris and Stone (Morestone), who in turn supplied them to retailers under a range of brandnames.