Erector Sets

In 1912, Dr. Alfred Carlton Gilbert developed the Erector Set. A miniaturized version of the girder system used to build railroads, the toy envisioned a new version of childhood and endeavored to teach boys the principles of engineering. Hugely successful, the Erector Set became a mainstay of American toys.

Gilbert developed the Erector Set in the same era that saw the invention of Meccano and Tinkertoys, after watching construction workers erect the electrical system of a railroad with steel girders and rivets. Convinced that a childhood version of that system would allow boys [Page 193]to learn more about engineering, Gilbert developed a toy that he first called the Mysto Erector Structural Steel Builder, which included actual metal tools—the girders and rivets of the construction trade—in smaller sizes. As Erector Sets developed, those tools came to include a variety of parts: metal beams with regular holes, nuts, screws, bolts, pulleys, flanges, motors, and gears.

By offering these tools for building, Gilbert hoped to encourage construction and engineering abilities among America's boys. He believed that the ability to solve problems and create structures, no matter how small, would prevent boys from descending to the level of aimless, pessimistic, disaffected youth without skill or purpose. His Erector Sets and his Erector Tips magazine attempted to shape boys into efficient men by giving them the ability to build. Indicative of the Progressive Era that witnessed the emergence of an energized and activist nation, this focus on solving what he called “the boy problem” made the Erector Set one of the most successful educational toys in American history.

First offered at a time when skyscrapers were becoming popular and engineers were earning more money a year than doctors, playing with the Erector Set seemed like the first step toward a lucrative career. Businessmen and industrial psychologists touted the Erector Set's ability to encourage constructive instincts; parents paid a considerable sum to buy the toy and invest in their sons' futures. Americans saw the Erector Set as a means of producing the next wave of scientists and engineers who could continue to make life better and easier.