Alfred Carlton Gilbert was enjoin he had 15 minutes to convert the United States government not to invalidate Christmas .
For hours , he paced the outer lobby , look his turn before the Council of National Defense . With him were the tools of his trade : plaything submarines , air rifle , and colourful ikon books . As government personnel department walked by , Gilbert , bashful about his cache of kid thing , try on hiding them behind a leather satchel .
Finally , his name was call . It was 1918 , the U.S. was embroiled in World War I , and the Council had made an undefendable issue about their advisement over whether to kibosh all production of toy indefinitely , turning manufacturing plant into ammo centers and even monish gift or receiving gifts that vacation time of year . Instead of toy , they argue , citizens should be spending money onwar bonds . Playthings had become inconsequential .
Frantic toymakers persuaded Gilbert , founder of the A.C. Gilbert Company and Jehovah of the popular Erector construction sets , to talk on their behalf . toy in script , hefacedhis own personal inflammation police squad of military generals , policy advisors , and the Secretary of War .
Gilbert held up an strain rifle and begin to spill the beans . What he ’d say next would make up one’s mind the destiny of the full toy industry .
Even if he had never had to bear witness on behalf of Christmas toys , A.C. Gilbert would still be commemorate for living a singular life . Born in Oregon in 1884 , Gilbertexcelledat athletic competition , once defend the mankind platter for straight chin - ups ( 39 ) andearningan Olympian gilt medal in the pole vault during the 1908 Games . In 1909 , he graduated from Yale School of Medicine withdesignson persist in sports as a wellness advisor .
But medicine was n’t where Gilbert found his passion . A lifelong performing artist of magic , he dress his mickle on opening a business selling illusionist kit . The Mysto Manufacturing Company did n’t last long , but it turn up to Gilbert that he had what it took to own and operate a small shake . In 1916 , three years after introduce the Erector sets , he renamed Mysto the A.C. Gilbert Company .
Erector was a big hit in the burgeon American toy market , which had typically been fueled by imported toys from Germany . Kids could take the steel balance beam and make scaffolding , bridges , and other small - ontogeny project . With the toy fly off shelves , Gilbert ’s mill in New Haven , Connecticut grew so prosperous that he could yield to offer his employeesbenefitsthat wereuncommonat the time , like maternity farewell and fond medical insurance .
Gilbert ’s repute for being fair and floor - headed led the produce toy industry to elect him their president for the newly created Toy Manufacturers of America , an assignment he readily accepted . But almost instantly , his posture became something other than ceremonial : His peer set out to grow interested about the state ’s amour in the war and the growing belief that toy were a dispensable try .
President Woodrow Wilson hadappointeda Council of National Defense to deliberate these sort of subject . The valet de chambre were so preoccupied with the consequences of the U.S. marching into a European conflict that something as trivial as a pull - drawstring miniature or chemistry set seemed almost disdainful to reflect . Several toy companionship concord to convert to arms factories , as did Gilbert . But when the Council begin discussing a blanket prohibition on toymaking and even endowment - gift , Gilbert was give an chance to defend his manufacture .
Before Gilbert was earmark into the Council ’s chambers , a Naval guard duty inspect each toy for any polarity of sabotage . quenched , he allowed Gilbert in . Among the officials model opposite him were Secretary of War Newton Baker and Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels .
“ The greatest influences in the life of a male child are his toys,”Gilbert say . “ Yet through the toy American manufacturers are turn out , he stimulate both playfulness and an education . The American son is a true boy and wants genuine toys . "
He draw an gentle wind rifle , showing the committee members how a child maintain less - than - lethal arm could make for a unspoiled marksman when he was honest-to-goodness enough to become a soldier . He insisted mental synthesis toy dog — like the A.C. Gilbert Erector Set — fosteredcreative thinking . He told the homo that toys bring home the bacon a worthful escape cock from the repulsion narration follow out of fighting .
build up with swordplay objects , a boy ’s life could be directed toward “ construction , not end , ” Gilbert said .
Gilbert then laid out his toys for the board to canvass . Secretary Daniels grew absorbed with a toy submarine , marveling at the detail and ask Gilbert if it could be bought anywhere in the country . Other officials examined children ’s books ; one set out press a power train around the table .
The countersign did n’t come immediately , but the expressions on the faces of the officials told the taradiddle : Gilbert had come through them over . There would be no toy or gift trade embargo that year .
Naturally , Gilbert still devoted his work floors to the production effort for both the first and second mankind wars . By the 1950s , the A.C. Gilbert Company was dominating the toy business with products that demanded kids be engaged and attentive . Notoriously , he issue a U-238 Atomic Energy Lab , whichcame completewith four character of U ore . “ Completely safe and harmless ! ” the box promised . A Geiger counter was included . At $ 50 each , Gilbert mislay money on it , though his decision to produce it would earn him a certain infamy in toy lot .
“ It was not suited for the same old age groups as our dewy-eyed chemistry and microscope set , for instance , ” he once say , “ and you could not manufacture such a affair as a beginner ’s nuclear push lab . ”
Gilbert ’s caller reach an astounding$20 millionin sales agreement in 1953 . By the mid-1960s , just a few geezerhood after Gilbert ’s destruction in 1961 , it was gone , motor out of business by the apathy of new investors . No one , it seemed , had quite the same rage for sport as Gilbert , who had spent over half a 100 ply fun and educational transportation that kids were rapt to see under their trees .
When intelligence of the Council ’s 1918 determination reached the media , TheBoston Globe ’s front Sir Frederick Handley Page written matter summed up Gilbert ’s contribution dead : “ The homo Who Saved Christmas . ”
