Maker record
Tri-Ang Toys
Tri-ang was the toy trade name of British manufacturer Lines Bros, formed in 1919 by William, Walter and Arthur Lines. Its products included bicycles, scooters, dolls, prams, pedal cars, dolls’ houses, tinplate clockwork toys, model boats and aircraft, and model railways. From 1935 the Minic range added clockwork tinplate cars and trucks; Tri-ang later introduced Spot-On diecast cars, Minic Motorways and Minic Ships. The company’s Merton factory was known for pressed-sheet-steel production and also contributed to wartime manufacturing.
- Founded
- 1853
- Final year
- 1970
- Countries
- United Kingdom, United States
- Locations
- London · Michigan
- Founders
- George Lines · Joseph Lines
The story of Tri-Ang Toys
The Lines family had made toys in London before the First World War. In 1876 George and Joseph Lines formed G. & J. Lines, a business associated with wooden toys. In 1919, three of Joseph’s sons—William, Walter and Arthur—formed the separate company Lines Bros. They established a factory in Merton, south London, and registered Tri-ang Toys as its brand name in 1924. The triangular mark referred to the three brothers. Lines Bros made a broad range of toys, including bicycles, scooters, dolls, prams, pedal cars, dolls’ houses, tinplate clockwork toys, model boats and aircraft.
Tri-ang’s Minic clockwork tinplate cars and trucks appeared in 1935. After the Second World War, the company resumed toy production and introduced plastic parts into some Minic vehicles in 1947. Its later products included Spot-On diecast cars from 1959, Minic Ships in 1959 and Minic Motorways in 1963. Lines Bros also acquired other toy businesses; it bought Meccano Ltd in 1964, bringing the Hornby and Dinky Toys businesses into its group.
During the Second World War, the Merton factory shifted from toys to military production. Its experience with pressed sheet steel informed Walter Lines’s redesign of the Sten Mk.III, which entered production in 1942. Lines Bros collapsed in 1971, although Tri-ang toys continued to be made after that date.