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Welcome to Pop-PopBoats.com, your one-stop pop-pop shop. Our catalog includes the widest variety of pop pop boats available anywhere. We also provide custom-made toy boats, supply replacement parts and service, promote pop-pop boat races and festivals, and produce our own models of steamboats and toy steel boats. Check back often to see what's new!
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What Is a Pop-Pop Boat?
Pop-pop
boats are
stamped tin
toy boats that
use the most
simple marine
propulsion
engine ever
invented.
Even though
they do not
have any
moving parts,
pop-pop engines
have basically
three phases
per cycle-steam,
jet, and
convection.
This cycle
is repeated
approximately
four to ten
times per
second.
There are two types of pop-pop engines. One is a copper tube coiled in the middle with both ends protruding from the rear of the boat. The other has two tubes connected to a boiler with a
diaphragm that improves thrust and produces a popping sound.
Most pop-pop boats run on candles, some on alcohol, and others on fuel pellets. Because of the engine's remarkable efficiency, they have a much longer run time than most modern electric or
fuel-driven toys. The U.S. Navy has reputedly done much secret research on pop-pop engines. Some say that today's nuclear submarines use pop-pop engine technology.
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A Brief History of Pop-Pop Boats
The inventor Thomas Piot patented the pop-pop boat in 1891. Between the 1920s and the 1940s it was the most popular toy in the world. When toy companies started using plastic
and electric motors to make toys, pop-pop boats and other stamped tin toys slowly faded away so that now they are only produced in a few places.
Today toy lovers and collectors are rediscovering the joys of old-fashioned tin toys and the pop-pop boat is making a big comeback.
Pop-PopBoats.com's catalog provides everything you need to get started with this fun and exciting hobby!
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