Mysto Manufacturing Company
Mysto Manufacturing Company;A.C. Gilbert Company
Place: Westville
Born: 1909
Death: 1967
Biography:
The A. C. Gilbert Company was an American toy company, once one of the largest in the world. It was founded in 1909 in Westville, Connecticut, by Alfred Carlton Gilbert and John Petrie as the Mysto Manufacturing Company, to provide supplies for magic shows. In 1911, Gilbert invented the Erector Set, a construction toy similar to Meccano in the rest of the world, and made chemistry sets, microscope kits, and a line of inexpensive reflector telescopes. In 1938, Gilbert purchased the American Flyer, a manufacturer of toy trains. The Gilbert Company struggled after the death of its founder in 1961 and went out of business in 1967. Its trademarks and toy lines were sold to other companies.
