Group    From 19/1/1947  To 11/7/1982

Lesney Products & Co. Ltd.

Categories: Engineering

The company's name came from the forenames of its founders Leslie Smith (1918 - 2005) and Rodney Smith (1917 - 2013). They were not related, but had been schoolfriends and also served together in the Royal Navy. With another partner, John Odell, they started making die-cast products and then moved on to model cars. Their breakthrough came when they produced a model of the royal state coach for the coronation in 1953 which sold over a million.

Odell designed a model for his daughter, (who was only allowed to bring toys to school which fitted into a matchbox) and the brand name was born. The range was phenomenally successful and the company received the Queen's Award for Industry in 1966. By the early eighties though, the economic climate forced the company into bankruptcy.

Trying to locate the factory we found that this 1960 map has a 'Factory' marked on the west side of the canal between the B112 and A106. Whereas the Matchbox cars sculpture is north of the B112 and the Lesney Products plaque is a long way south of the A106. Then we found photos of the Lesney factory being demolished, which confirm it was at the location of the sculpture. It is shown on the map, but not labelled as 'factory'.

This British Pathé film shows the little cars being made - delightful.

2024: Spitalfields Life published the 'Matchbox 1966 Collector’s Guide & International Catalogue'.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Lesney Products & Co. Ltd.

Commemorated ati

Lesney Products

Erected sometime 2008-15.

Read More

Matchbox cars - sculpture

Frustratingly, we cannot discover the name of the sculpture who has solved th...

Read More

Other Subjects

Thomas & Taylor

Thomas & Taylor

Engineers active in 1897.  

Group, Engineering

2 memorials
James Henry Greathead

James Henry Greathead

Railway and tunnelling engineer. Born in Grahamstown, South Africa. Arrived in England in 1859. Studied with and then worked with civil engineer Peter W. Barlow on the Tower Subway tunnel. The trav...

Person, Engineering, South Africa

3 memorials
Whitechapel Bell Foundry

Whitechapel Bell Foundry

This foundry is the oldest manufacturing company in the UK and is still making bells at 32/34 Whitechapel Road. Probably their most famous creation is Big Ben (we thank Alice, a member of a childre...

Place, Commerce, Engineering

4 memorials
Edward Charles Dodd

Edward Charles Dodd

The Junior 3rd Engineer on the RMS Titanic. A résumé of his life can be found on the Encyclopedia Titanica website that (in April 2022) incorrectly gives his age as 39 years at the time of his deat...

Person, Engineering, Tragedy

1 memorial
William Charles Copperthwaite

William Charles Copperthwaite

Engineer. 1906 Copperthwaite published "Tunnel shields and the use of compressed air in subaqueous works". 2021: We were kindly contacted by Christopher Nobbs (great-nephew of Copperthwaite) who w...

Person, Engineering

2 memorials