The Erector line of metal girder construction sets was introduced in 1913, quite a bit later than the similar Meccano made in Britain. The sets were popular and after a redesign in 1924 made the kits more versatile , also electric motors, wheels etc. were all added to make more complex toys. In this 1958 starter kit it is implied that you could make a 3 foot tall robot, probably piggybacking off Robbie the Robot in the movie Forbidden Planet. Sorry, kids, you'll have to buy a bigger kit!
We had Meccano sets as kids, the Erector sets seemed cheap in comparison. The interest in this sort of building set declined in the seventies, and we know where kid's interests are today. The line was discontinued in the eighties. Meccano bought the rights in 1990.
As a kid born in 1952, my 3 years older brother and I grew up playing with Erector Sets, Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys, and American Bricks, (precursors to Legos), then i moved on to plastic models then eventually balsa RC, control line and free flight airplanes and RC boats. Any manual dexterity, spatial awareness, mechanical abilities, problem solving skills I might have can be directly attributed to these kinds of toys.
ReplyDeleteI had an Erector set with an ungrounded 115V electric motor attached to an open gearbox. How I never electrocuted myself or lost a fingertip I won't ever know.
ReplyDeleteI have - amongst the rest of it - my dad's old Meccano aeroplane set. It has its own specific clockwork motor to drive the wheels and the propellor. You can also build Mamod steam engines into Meccano contraptions as the power supply. D.
ReplyDeletethey all grew up and became garage door track installers.
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