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As you explore the A.C. Gilbert Collection, you will notice that many Gilbert products were marketed specifically to young men. In the first half of the 1900s, it was believed that only boys were interested in subjects like engineering and science. This stereotype continues in toy marketing today, although it is fading.
A.C. Gilbert Company had a sibling company, La Velle Toys, which marketed a variety of products less closely associated with scientific education, from Anchor Blocks, to sports-themed games, to records. La Velle also produced toys for girls. In the 1920s and 1930s, many of these toys were focused on traditional women’s gender roles like cooking and cleaning.
By the 1950s, however, things were changing. Marketing photographs from the 1950s in the Jantzer archive show both boys and girls playing with telescopes and model trains. In the 1950s and 1960s the company also made a science set specifically for girls. While the set’s emphasis on women as lab technicians (scientific assistants) rather than full-fledged research scientists is very old-fashioned today, at the time it was progressive to suggest young women might want to pursue technical, scientific careers. Additionally, while the set was packaged in a pink box, the materials and instructions provided were the same as the set marketed to boys.