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AC GILBERT ERECTOR SETS 1960 (and other useful toys)
Out on the YouTube ^

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.


TOPICS: Education
KEYWORDS: chemistrysets; erectorsets
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1 posted on 04/19/2021 6:48:11 PM PDT by SamAdams76
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To: SamAdams76

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.


2 posted on 04/19/2021 6:52:11 PM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar ((Democrats have declared us to be THE OBSOLETE MAN in the Twilight Zone.))
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To: SamAdams76

My favorite toy as a yute.

Only Mighty Matilda came close to it.


3 posted on 04/19/2021 6:52:24 PM PDT by Ken Regis
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To: SamAdams76

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.


4 posted on 04/19/2021 6:52:28 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana (There is no salvation in politics)
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar

Bad dad


5 posted on 04/19/2021 6:53:09 PM PDT by Ken Regis
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To: SamAdams76

Wow! I had that one. And Lincoln logs, too.


6 posted on 04/19/2021 6:54:17 PM PDT by Noumenon (The Second Amendment exists primarily to deal with those who just won't take no for an answer. KTF)
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To: SamAdams76

Man, I wore that set out. And a set of Lincoln Logs.


7 posted on 04/19/2021 6:54:31 PM PDT by TangoLimaSierra (⭐⭐To the left, truth is right-wing extremism.⭐⭐)
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To: Ken Regis

Yeah, the Bad DAD SHOULDA GONE INTO HIS SHOP, GOT SOME BAR STOCK AND TURNED OUT SOME APPROPRIATE BOLTS.


8 posted on 04/19/2021 6:55:26 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: SamAdams76

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).


9 posted on 04/19/2021 6:55:31 PM PDT by Viking2002 (When's the appeasement party start? I brought enough white guilt for everyone! [/sarc])
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To: Noumenon; TangoLimaSierra

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.


10 posted on 04/19/2021 6:58:42 PM PDT by DannyTN
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To: SamAdams76

Chemistry sets... I stained everything in the house with phenolphthalein solution IIRC.


11 posted on 04/19/2021 6:59:01 PM PDT by mrsmith (US MEDIA: " Every 'White' cop is a criminal! And all the 'non-white' criminals saints!")
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To: Viking2002

I had one in the 1960s. They are still made by another company.

(Yeah, I know Amazon but it is just for demonstration purposes)

https://www.amazon.com/MECCANO-Erector-Motorized-Building-Animatronics/dp/B07Q7SK3JD/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=Erector+set&qid=1618883785&sr=8-5


12 posted on 04/19/2021 6:59:53 PM PDT by Fai Mao (It is time, past time and almost too late.)
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To: Dr. Sivana

We had a set when we were kids, although I did not remember the name. Born in ‘58.


13 posted on 04/19/2021 7:00:18 PM PDT by MRadtke (Light a candle or curse the darkness?)
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To: Noumenon

We also had wood burning sets and Mattel vac-u-form sets


14 posted on 04/19/2021 7:02:11 PM PDT by kaktuskid
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To: Paladin2

Sounds like he coulda used duct tape.


15 posted on 04/19/2021 7:02:30 PM PDT by Ken Regis
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To: SamAdams76

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.


16 posted on 04/19/2021 7:03:00 PM PDT by MachIV
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To: DannyTN

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.


17 posted on 04/19/2021 7:03:31 PM PDT by Noumenon (The Second Amendment exists primarily to deal with those who just won't take no for an answer. KTF)
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To: Ken Regis

Or High Speed Tape....


18 posted on 04/19/2021 7:03:39 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: SamAdams76

Tinker Toys and Lincoln Logs


19 posted on 04/19/2021 7:04:55 PM PDT by laweeks (Just wait till you have to have a biopsy from your prostate, now that is an experience you will neve)
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To: mrsmith

“Chemistry sets... I stained everything in the house with phenolphthalein solution IIRC.”

Likewise. Also loved “Watch Mr. Wizard”.


20 posted on 04/19/2021 7:06:42 PM PDT by Magic Fingers (Political correctness mutates in order to remain virulent.)
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