Posted on 04/19/2021 6:48:11 PM PDT by SamAdams76
Back in the 1960s, when you were Christmas shopping for your children, both boys and girls, you looked for toys that would help teach them useful skills for adulthood.
Before there were Legos, there were Erector Sets. In which you were given a wrench to screw together various steel pieces that were then hooked up to motors to make them do things.
But that's not all. Children were provided with microscopes, telescopes, chemistry sets, electronics kits and even home brewing kits.
Okay, I'm just kidding about the last part. But check out this video.
I had a Gilbert microscope back in 1957. Kept it together for years while we moved around. Then in 1964 I found part of it taken apart in the back yard. Dad needed a bolt. Soon it was no more.
He did the same with our BB guns. He needed a couple of bolts. Too cheap to go to town to buy some.
My favorite toy as a yute.
Only Mighty Matilda came close to it.
My father drove me to the shut down A.C. Gilbert factory in New Haven. Erector sets were a BIG deal in CT. Before LEGO hit the U.S., there was a U.S. based version called “ELGO”. The bricks were thinner, wider and longer, and mostly had ridged sides. They snapped together very well, though. They came in round cardboard tubes with metal lids like Tinker Toys did. That’s what I grew up on. ELGO.
Bad dad
Wow! I had that one. And Lincoln logs, too.
Man, I wore that set out. And a set of Lincoln Logs.
Yeah, the Bad DAD SHOULDA GONE INTO HIS SHOP, GOT SOME BAR STOCK AND TURNED OUT SOME APPROPRIATE BOLTS.
Man, I remember those, getting one under the Christmas tree in the late 60’s. Glad you mentioned that last part, too. I got two cases of two different Mr. Beer homebrew ales in the garage fridge. I brewed and fermented them then put them in there to condition back around Thanksgiving. I gotta drink them before they get skunky. I bet the ABV is probably in double digits by now (I overcharged them with carbonation drops).
My brother and I built forts in opposite corners of the room and had a lincoln log fight. Left lots of little dents in the walls.
Chemistry sets... I stained everything in the house with phenolphthalein solution IIRC.
I had one in the 1960s. They are still made by another company.
(Yeah, I know Amazon but it is just for demonstration purposes)
We had a set when we were kids, although I did not remember the name. Born in ‘58.
We also had wood burning sets and Mattel vac-u-form sets
Sounds like he coulda used duct tape.
My late father had a Gilbert erector set when he was a kid. Even had a n electric motor with a geared transmission. It is still in my mom’s house.
I made a Lincoln log launcher out of erector set components and rubber bands. Used a similar design to launch bottle rockets out of our second story closet window at kids walking across the street. Good times.
Or High Speed Tape....
Tinker Toys and Lincoln Logs
“Chemistry sets... I stained everything in the house with phenolphthalein solution IIRC.”
Likewise. Also loved “Watch Mr. Wizard”.
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