Simplex was a brand name that was originally used by the company Steinmeier & Co. who, under the Simplex brand, produced wooden toys, puzzles and educational materials including reading boards and wooden clocks. Simplex became particularly known for their (often round) wooden inlay puzzles; plywood boards from which various figures were cut out and which could be moved in and out of the board. The first of these puzzles were produced in 1945, right after WW2, in Aalst (near Eindhoven) by Steinmeier. Round inlay puzzles were made from the left over discs that the Philips radio factory cut from the plywood front panels to make room for the loudspeakers in their radios (Source Wikipedia).
Simplex also produced wooden toys, including cars, road signs, garages, petrol stations and a variety of accessories for use with 0 gauge trains, such as railway signals, directional signs, stations, platforms, clocks, railroad crossings and barriers. Semaphore signals had flexible vinyl arms, which did not break easily.
It is not clear how long Simplex produced these railway accessories which were sold in toy shops and the Vroom & Dreesman department stores in the 1950s and 60s. Simplex ceased the production of toys eventually and focused almost entirely on the production of the wooden puzzles and educational materials.
The company was bought by Fisher Price (who, with Marx, was owned by Quaker Oats), in 1972, and the puzzles were produced under the name Simplex Toys, although production ceased three years later. However the brand name Simplex was sold and nowadays Simplex puzzles are still produced, now in China.
The original (pre 1972) Simplex toys mostly had a little round sticker on the bottom. It mostly showed the name and a picture of a windmill or 2 children faces. Because these stickers worn away over time, often no brand name is visible which makes identification difficult.
Simplex wooden semaphore signal |
Simplex wooden semaphore signal with identification label below base |
Simplex wooden semaphore signal with identification label below base |
Simplex wooden direction signpost, showing logo |
Simplex wooden signposts |
Simplex wooden level (grade) crossing barriers, with semaphore signal |
Simplex wooden level (grade) crossing barriers, with semaphore signal |
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