Bonzer Words!: Uncle Gilbert's Marvellous Sets
...For very little effort, a person could create important smells that traveled all over the house. I knew that I was doing well when my mother came down to the basement to complain about the smells wafting upstairs...
Colin Fisher recalls the boyhood joy he had experimenting with the toy experimental sets manufactured by the A C Gilbert Company.
Oliver Sacks, the writer neurologist, had his 'Uncle Tungsten.' As a young boy, growing up in London during WW II, Sacks exercised his curiosity about the world by doing scientific experiments at home. His Uncle Tungsten was an important source of information and materials for his adventures.
My youthful uncle was Uncle Gilbert. No, he wasn't a real relative. In the USA, we had the A.C. Gilbert Company. They manufactured 'sets.' These sets were available in toy stores and were boxed collections of things for doing such as magic tricks or chemical experiments. He is said to be the inventor of the Erector Set. They manufactured toy electric trains with the brand name American Flyer; but, I always preferred the toy rail products of the Lionel Corp. Surprising to me, he was also a graduate medical doctor.
I think that I was about six years old when I received my first Uncle Gilbert Magic Set as a Christmas gift from my parents. It was very exciting for me. When I looked in the box, there was an array of gadgets; each one was associated with an act of conjuring that could be performed in accordance with the instructions in the manual provided. The item that I remember most clearly was a flesh-colored, longish wooden tube, open at one end and with an elastic band at the closed end. The elastic band was attached to something like a safety pin. The idea of the stunt was to pin the elastic to the inside of the sleeve, hold the cup concealed in the hand and then take a burning cigarette and appear to stuff it into the clenched hand. When the hand was opened, there was nothing to be seen because the elastic had whipped the cup and cigarette up the sleeve and out of sight.
The only problem I had in enjoying the performance of the above conjuring act was that, in my circle of acquaintances, there were no smokers. I thought that perhaps it could be done with a stick of candy; but, alas, I could not find anyone to cooperate with me. Another bit of the supernatural abandoned!
I did somewhat better with my Uncle Gilbert Chemistry Set. I think that I must have received it as a gift in the year following the receipt of the Magic Set. The Chemistry Set contained much more mysterious-looking parts than did the Magic Set. There were bottles of chemicals, both liquid and solid and labeled with the kind of names that you would expect. There were also test tubes and racks for same and both solid and hollow glass tubing. There were little spoons for shoveling out solid chemicals. Those little spoons looked more like they were designed for feeding a pet lizard than for engaging in scientific bravado. There was an alcohol-fueled lamp for heating things and a wire clamp with handle for holding test tubes over the lamp.
This was all great stuff. For very little effort, a person could create important smells that traveled all over the house. I knew that I was doing well when my mother came down to the basement to complain about the smells wafting upstairs.
Today, I think of Uncle Gilbert as more of a catalyst than as an end in himself. My experience with the Magic and Chemistry sets lead me to the library where I found books such as The Boys' First Book of Chemistry, or The Boys' First Book of Radio. I then found other 'sets,' not of Uncle Gilbert's origin; but, they were the manufacture of others. These sets lead the neophyte through the construction of radio (wireless) gear and other electrical gadgets.
For those of you who may wonder where this path ended, I eventually became an engineer and my earlier work involved experimental studies of various physical processes associated with the generation and application of energy, including, in particular, nuclear energy. When I think back about those early days, I am very thankful to Uncle Gilbert for the push in the rump that he provided.
Today, I still enjoy watching a conjurer ply her art. I watch very closely because, when she releases that cigarette, I want to see it go up her sleeve. If I am able to see it vanish, I shall attempt to meet with her and recommend that she try a piece of candy instead of the cigarette . . .
© Colin Fisher
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Colin writes for Bonzer! magaine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
