Jouef

Georges Huard founded Jouef in 1944 as a French toy maker. Its early output included inexpensive plastic and lithographed tinplate toys. In 1949 the firm made the Alger-Tombouctou, a simplified tinplate railcar that marked its move into toy trains. The Paris-Rome set followed in 1952, combining a plastic locomotive with tinplate coaches. Jouef's 1954 Baby-Trafic set and the electric Sud-Express set in 1955 expanded its railway business; the BB 9200 locomotive appeared in 1957 and the 231 C steam locomotive in 1959.

In the early 1960s Jouef developed its railway products for model railway users, with more accurately proportioned locomotives, rolling stock and track. It moved to 12-volt direct-current trains and more realistic rail in 1961. Locomotives including the BB-67000 and CC-40100 followed, alongside buildings and scenery. In the 1980s, Jouef redesigned its scenery range to H0 scale with designer Alain Pras. The brand later changed hands: Hornby acquired Jouef in 2004 and continued to sell products under the Jouef name.