Most of the models on display are Dinky Toys, created by Frank Hornby of Meccano Ltd in 1934.
Known also as die-cast toys, each was a miniature version of a British vehicle.
Initially they consisted of only one or two parts: the fewer the parts, the cheaper the model was to produce.
This made a Dinky Toy widely affordable: children could purchase them with their hard-earned pocket money, and parents, for birthday and Christmas presents.
Dinky Toys proved instantly popular with children.
Each toy was small enough to be held in a child's hand or put in a pocket.
They had freely rotating wheels and could be pushed around on any surface, whether carpet, sandpit or school playground.
The toys were also brightly painted, well made and almost unbreakable.
Meccano Ltd made sure that Dinky Toys kept up with the times and models reflected contemporary road transport such as sports cars, racing cars and, in the 1950s, popular saloon cars such as the Hillman Minx.
In the late 1930s, just prior to World War II, there was a strong demand for realism in toys as children acted out what was going on in the world.
Meccano Ltd worked in close co-operation with the British military to ensure that details in the models of Army trucks, jeeps, tanks, and Air Force planes were accurate.
During the war, production of Dinky Toys ceased as Mazak, the zinc alloy of which the models were constructed, was required for the war effort.
Up to 1956, Dinky Toys dominated the die-cast toy market: after which time competition from Matchbox Toys and Corgi Toys would start to erode sales.
In the final two decades of production (1960s-1970s), to keep up with the challenge from other companies, Meccano Ltd had to improve the technology of the vehicles.
The toys became more complex, with movable parts: doors, windows and bonnets that opened, exact replicas of motors, windows, levers to lift front-end loaders, and wheels to turn concrete mixers.
These sophisticated toys had come a long way from their humble beginnings in the early 1930s.
We hope this small display in the new Napier Library will capture the imagination of children and bring a sense of nostalgia to adults for the intrinsic charm of these childhood toys that undoubtedly provided endless pleasure.
Children: look out for the Ford Anglia that Harry Potter and Ron Weasley flew to catch up with the Hogwarts train in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
• Gail Pope, curator Social History
