History
The only Scandinavian company to become an accomplished diecast metal toy producer, Tekno was similar to Schuco Modell, Marklin, or Gama Toys, being one of the oldest toy and model producing firms of Europe. The founder was A. Siegumfeldt, a plumber from Copenhagen, who began producing diecast vehicles in 1945, thus becoming a main competitor to Dinky (Rixon 2005, p. 34).
Brochures show that the company regally celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1953. By this time a wide variety of trucks, tractors and cars were being produced along with toy miniature pots, pans and other kitchenware (Tekno Dansk 1953). Wooden houses, cranes, trucks and other toys, sometimes in association with the Swedish company Brio, were also produced in the 1950s.
More than any other diecast maker, Tekno was known for its variety of liveries and model variations which could seem nearly endless. For example, veteran collector Cecil Gibson wrote as early as 1970 how Tekno in the 1960s made its Volkswagen transporter panel truck and Ford Taunus vans in many liveries, often for Scandinavian products such as Amstel Beer, the Politiken Newspaper, or the more well known Scania (Gibson 1970, pages 28–29). Tekno's Scania and Volvo trucks were also offered with a variety of advertising on their flanks. In fact, Tekno may have been the earliest diecast company to focus on promotional products, perhaps even earlier than Winross Models' diecast trucks out of Rochester, New York - known for having many promotional variations in the States.
From the late 1940s through about 1967, many Tekno models were made by H. Langes Legetøj (Langes Toys), a diecaster in Copenhagen with which Tekno had contracts. Parts were cast in the neighborhood of Nyrnbergadde then sent west about four miles to Kirkebjerg. Later, production was also done in Glostrup about three miles west of Kirkebjerg. This area of Copenhagen apparently also gave its name to Kirk Toys. Langes Toys were later bought by Kirk toys which replaced the Tekno name with Kirk on some vehicle bases.
Read more about this topic: Tekno (toy Manufacturer)
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