The renowned toy making business commonly referred to as “Matchbox Toys” commenced in 1947 as a metal die-casting company , “Lesney” being a combination of the names of Leslie Smith and Rodney Smith who were unrelated, but friends since school age.

They had been school friends and served together in the Royal Navy during World War II. Shortly after they founded the company, Rodney Smith introduced to his partner a man named John “Jack” Odell, an engineer he had met in a previous job at D.C.M.T. (another die-casting company). Mr. Odell initially rented a space in the Lesney building to make his own die-casting products, but he joined the company as a partner in that same year.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesney_Products

This website is not here to replicate everything about the history of Matchbox Toys but as a reference site for my own research which relates to my work with Antique Toy World, RecoverToy, and Repro Boxes.

Everything here is either a link to other Matchbox related sites or some research that relates to a Matchbox toy product.