Chemistry set Kickstarter looks to recapture the wonder of days gone by

Geek.com ^ | Nov 14, 2013 | Graham Templeton

[Carriage Hill]

LMAO!

I had fun with my Gilbert Chemistry Set in the 50s, especially since Dad’s a Chemical Engineer.

[AdmSmith]

Sure, me too, but those were the days...

[EEGator]

One would probably get DHS’d for having that set now.

[skinkinthegrass]

thanks, for the post.

[dljordan]

Oh man, the wonderful hours I spent with that set and the ruined bedroom ceiling. I’ve heard Heathkit may be coming back.

[Iron Munro]

The Man Who Changed How Boys and Toys Were Made:
The Life and Times of A. C. Gilbert, the Man Who Saved Christmas

[FreedomPoster]

Thank the lawyers, first and foremost.

[EEGator]

“Better Living Through Chemistry”

[ccmay]

I melted elemental sulfur in one of my mom’s silver spoons. The silver sulfide tarnish never came off.

[ccmay]

I recall discovering some forgotten highway flares and being very disappointed that disassembling them and throwing the powder in a campfire did not do much.

[Free Vulcan]

I never could get saltpeter, but potassium permanganate for the rust filter was a great oxidizer substitute...

[Fresh Wind]

The best part of having a chemistry set when I was a kid was mixing stuff at random just to see what would happen.

That’s true experimentation.

[Iron Munro]

Finally, I got to a web page with a dollar amount -- $77,000!!! After I picked myself off the ground I finally realized that this was a kickstart campaign, to get seed money, to start a business

Not too long ago at a yard sale I bought a complete 1950's AC Gilbert Chemistry set including microscope, slides, etc. for $3.00.

It looks as if it was opened but never used.

I have been offered $100 for it but am hanging on to it.

[ccmay]

I thought all useful laboratory glassware was now treated as a controlled substance due to the meth epidemic??

[dfwgator]

The best part of having a chemistry set when I was a kid was mixing stuff at random just to see what would happen.

What could possibly go wrong?

[Fresh Wind]

Anybody have one of these laying around the house? I'm looking for one. They're worth a bundle if complete.

[RicocheT]

I’m in my la 60s & got a Gilbert chemistry set at about age 10. It had all the chemicals in it to make working gunpowder, not a lot, but enough to make a firecracker big enough to make a tin can jump 10+ feet.

Today’s sets only have tests for acids & bases, sodium bicarbonate to make fizzy water and some other benign changes. Darn lawyers & nanny government have taken out the fun of being a boy child!

[dalereed]

“The dream of every red blooded American kid was to discover some chemistry set concoction that would EXPLODE. That was certainly my quest and I threw all the stuff under the kitchen sink into the mix as well. Nothing worked, but burning sulfur poured over model airplanes was pretty neat.”

I never had a chemistry set but I used to go to the drug store and buy everything I needed to make black powder for my rockets,small bombs, and firecrackers.

[chesley]

Now that’s a MUCH better set than the Gilbert that I got when I was 10.

[Nifster]

I love this. It brings back some very fond memories ( for me not the folks)