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10/19/2017 12:01 AMBefore Barbie and GI Joe and Lego, and way before X-Box, the most popular children’s toys in America were made by A.C. Gilbert, who developed an erector set and later a microscope and lab set that inspired a generation of future engineers, inventors, and scientists.
Alfred Carlton Gilbert was a 1909 Yale graduate who built popular learning toys that helped shape the 20th century and from the 1930s to the 1950s employed 5,000 workers in three shifts at Erector Square in New Haven.
His lab set is one of many Connecticut-made goods on display at the Acton Public Library, 60 Old Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook.
In addition to the A.C. Gilbert set, the exhibit features a gingerbread clock, also called a kitchen clock, with its elaborate pressed wood design, made by the New Haven Clock Company, an early royal portable typewriter, a handbell, silver sugar spoon, “loving cup,” a silver flask, an ink well and pen tray, and an 1830s wood molding plane made by J & L Denison in Old Saybrook.
Alfred Gilbert died in 1961 and by 1967 the business was sold and moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Subsequent owners of the A.C. Gilbert name have continued to use the popular brand on its products.
The display was prepared by Andrew Lowe, proprietor of The Trove, 1353 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook and will remain for viewing during the next few weeks.
Individuals or organizations wishing to display historic objects are invited to contact the Acton Library or the Old Saybrook Historical Society at 860-395-1635.