Figure 1.--This American Lux soap ad appeared in 1925. The boy wears an English style collar and jacket, but with very American white above the knee knickers.

Erector Sets were very popular with boys. Erector Sets were a brand of metal toy construction sets, we think the first metal sets in America. They were created by Alfred Carlton Gilbert and first sold by his company--the Mysto Manufacturing Company of New Haven, Connecticut (1913). Erector sets were an immediate hit. The company quickly reorganized as the A. C. Gilbert Company (1916). The company emphasized its appeal to boys and element in future adult life. One 1922 ad read, "Boys Today -- Men Tomorrow! Thousands o young men from 20 to 30 years old, who are today making great strides in n engineering, chemistry [Gilbert also did chemistry sets] and other sciences were Gilbert Toy boys just a few years ago. I have watched their progress with interest and I will tell you that I am mighty proud that my engineering toys have started these boys on the road to success. When I was a boy I loved to play with scientific things myself, but no one made the toys I wanted, so I said that some day for a new generation of boys, toys that I wanted when I was a kid myself." 【Gilbert】 Advertiser only showed boys, I am sure a few girls may have asked for an Erector Set, but not very many. When I grew up in the 1940s-50s, I never encountered a single girl that had the slightest interest in a an Erector Set. And the company had no interest in marketing to girls. Thus their advertising closely followed popular boys' fashions over an extended period beginning with 1913. Gilbert toys ranged from $1.00 to $30.00. Gilbert offered a variety of toys, saying that there was a Gilbert toy for every boy, butnotb apparentlky for evey girl. The $5.00 set included a motor. $5.00 was a condiderable amoint in 1922. There was a $5.00 gold piece that was a quarter ounze of gold. A more accurate value is a about $100 in 2026 dollars.

Created: 11:41 PM 7/13/2026
Last updated: 11:41 PM 7/13/2026