The Erector Set, a metal toy construction set was invented by A.C.
Gilbert in 1911, and patented in 1913. They were manufactured by
the A. C. Gilbert Company in New Haven, Connecticut, from 1913
until its bankruptcy in 1967. The Gabriel company of Lancaster,
Pennsylvania bought the Erector name, and continued to make
the sets into the 1970s and 1980s.

The Erector Set is believed by many to have been the subject
of the first national advertising campaign in America for a toy.

Toy maker Alfred Carlton Gilbert

1922

1920

Inspired by watching children play with pencils, sticks and empty spools of thread, Charles Pajeau and Robert Pettit of Evanston, Illinois created Tinker Toys in 1914. They were originally called the “Thousand Wonder Builder”
and sold for 60¢. Tinkertoys were inducted into the National Toy Hall of
Fame at The Strong in Rochester, New York, in 1998