National Building Museum

Adopt an Artifact: Erector Archival Boxes

The National Building Museum is home to the nation’s foremost archive of American architectural and design heritage. The Adopt an Artifact program allows you to directly support the proper care and preservation of objects with critical conservation needs, helping the Museum continue its mission to inspire curiosity about the world we design and build. To support this initiative, click here.

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Program Details

In 1911, Alfred Carlton Gilbert invented the Erector construction toy concept, and by 1935, had become the inventor of one of the most successful toy products in the world. During World War I, Gilbert famously petitioned the United States Council of National Defense to allow for the continued production of toys instead of converting his factories to ammunition production. His plea succeeded, and he was celebrated and dubbed “The Man Who Saved Christmas” by the press.

The Museum’s collection of original Erector sets have been opened, played with, and sometimes assembled by children in their lifetimes, but as such have been exposed to dust, light damage, and other environmental wear.