In 1879 Louis J. Manon, together with A. Berton, starts a small tin toy factory in Paris. A year later another associate, Pierre A. Tantet, joins the company and from then on all toys from this factory are marked with the letters “T.M.B”. The toys produced are varied: carriages, wagons, trains and pulltoy animals.

In 1887 Berton leaves the partnership and from then on the factory is known as Tantet & Manon and the toys are marked T & M.

In 1889 T&M patents an invention called the “Crémaillère”, which is a toothed rack of 8″-14″ (20-35 cm) that is inserted into the driving mechanism of a wheeled toy. This driving mechanism consists of a coarse-toothed cog wheel next to lead flywheel, on the shaft of which also sit two wheels of  the toy. The toothed rack engages with the cog wheel and when it is pulled from the toy, the flywheel and hence the wheels of the toy are put in motion. It is a simple mechanism and much cheaper than the usual alternative, a springdriven mechanism.

It brings the firm considerable success. T&M uses the mechanism to drive a cat, a dog, a rabbit, carts, fire engines and trains. The trains are not only floor trains, but also trains running on track. All trains are sold under the title “Chemin de Fer à Crémaillère”. The track uses rails with a specially designed coupling, an invention by engineer Decauville. The trains are more or less 0 gauge.

A rather macabre train set is the “Catastrophe Train”, where the train is purposely being derailed and the coaches fly apart (Märklin also made a similar train set).

T&M continues until 1902, when the firm is bought by big toy maker JdeP (later JEP), which is buying many smaller toy makers. The T&M designs are continued by JdeP until 1906.