In his brilliant work, the Mystery of Capital, Hernando De Soto argues that the United States has forgotten its own history and methods behind its current success. So here at BRINQ, we try to learn as much as we can from the great innovators of history. Today we profile one of the greatest, A.C. Gilbert: medical doctor, Olympic gold medallist, magician, and inventor of the Erector Set, one of the most popular toys of all time.

Gilbert’s Erector Sets allowed children to build mini metropolises, bridges, Ferris weels, and even zeppelins in their living rooms. An estimated 30 million of these steel and wooden construction sets have sold over the years. Although Erector Sets have lost ground in recent years to more modern toys and video games, they are still a popular toy for purchase, especially for children with an imagination for building things up rather than tearing them down (a common theme in today’s video games). EBay alone clears hundreds of new and vintage Erector Sets each day, some bidding as high as $1000!

Inventor A.C. Gilbert was born in 1884 and as child had a love for all things magic. When he began medical school at Yale he started Mysto Manufacturing, a company which manufactured magic kits, to pay for his tuition. After a break from school and work in 1908 to win the gold medal for pole-vaulting at the 4th Olympic Games, Gilbert graduated with his MD and made the fateful decision to design toys rather than practice medicine. As the story goes, it was on train trip into New York City when Gilbert had the inspiration for Erector sets:

“Watching out the train window as some workmen positioned and riveted the steel beams of an electrical power-line tower, Gilbert decided to create a children’s construction kit: not just a toy, but an assemblage of metal beams with evenly spaced holes for bolts to pass through, screws, bolts, pulleys, gears and eventually even engines. A British toy company called Meccano Company was then selling a similar kit, but Gilbert’s Erector set was more realistic and had a number of technical advantages — most notably, steel beams that were not flat but bent lengthwise at a 90-degree angle, so that four of them nested side-to-side formed a very sturdy, square, hollow support beam.”

Lessons? Well, A.C. Gilbert’s story emphasizes the fact that innovation can come from many different places and can be inspired at any moment. Just keep looking at the world from different angles and who knows what treasure you’ll discover. It also probably wouldn’t hurt to live as eclectic and stimulating a life as A.C. Gilbert’s!

Resources and Links:
Girders and Gears - the Web’s #1 resource for metal toy construction systems
A.C. Gilber Heritage Society - honoring the memory and accomplishments of a very great man in American toy history
The Great Idea Finder - A.C. Gilbert - More facts and links about A.C. Gilbert

Who: Mohammed Bah Abba Where: Nigeria What: For less than $2 for a clay pot system to refrigerate up to 12 kg of produce. This is a relatively old story but a great one. In 2000 Mohammed Bah Abba was awarded the Rolex Award for Enterprise for his innovative Pot-in-Pot system to provide affordable, electricity free, refrigeration in arid Nigeria. Mohammed took an old local understanding of the cooling properties of evaporating water, combined it with the ancient tradition of making clay pots, and turned into a useful, world-changing innovation: a “desert refrigerator” that helps reduce food spoilage and increases income by increasing the shelf-life of farmers’ produce for sale. “Eggplants, for example, stayed fresh for 27 days instead of three, and tomatoes and peppers lasted for three weeks or more. African spinach, which usually spoils after a day, remained edible after 12 days in the Pot-in-Pot storage.” [source] The Pot-In-Pot system consists of two earthenware terracotta pots of different diameters, one placed inside the other. The space between the two pots is packed with sand, the sand is kept wet by pouring water into the sand about twice a day. Produce is placed within the inner pot and then covered with a damp cloth, and the system is left in a dry ventilated area. As the water in the sand evaporates throughout the day, the law of thermodynamics ensures the tempature in the inner pot drops. Our bodies use the same technique to keep us cool. How well does it cool? Well, one quantative study was performed in Ramona, CA by student Garret Rueda in his 2003 entry to the state Science Fair. Rueda found that average daily temparature drop inside the sytem was 14 C (23.5 F), aka keeping produce at 15 C (59 F) while the outside temparature is 28 C (82.4 F). Finally, the Rolex Awards Committee makes a great point about ideas vs. innovation in their article about the Pot-in-Pot award: “Good ideas are indeed rare, but good ideas that actually become good projects and bring lasting benefits are even rarer still,” In other words, an innovation is an idea that is brought to life and changes people’s lives. Related Links A Short History of Refrigeration from the History Channel. Terracotta Water Cooler for the office. The Coolgardie Safe - An Australian invention from the turn of the 20th century, but a bit more complicated, metal and heavier than two clay pots! Amish Water Cooler - in use by the Amish for decades, link courtesy of WorldChanging