Porter Chemical Company was an American toy manufacturer that developed and produced chemistry sets aimed as educational toys for aspiring junior scientists. The company's Chemcraft kits were first sold at major retail by Woodward & Lothrop, and appeared soon after at other retailers in the country. The company would later form a relationship with the Lionel Corporation, famed American maker of toy trains. The company also made the Microcraft line of microscope sets. The Chemcraft and Microcraft line competed with similar sets offered by A. C. Gilbert Company as part of a boom in science educational toys spurred by the Space Race between the US and USSR in the late 1950s.
| Industry | Toys and hobbies |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1916 |
| Headquarters | Hagerstown, Maryland |
Key people | Harold M. Porter (Owner) John J. Porter |
| Products | Chemistry sets |
In 1951, the company's top-of-the-line "Chemcraft Master Laboratory" set retailed for $27.50 ($equivalent to $323 in 2023) and contained, among other things, radioactive Uranium ore.[1]
At the peak of its success, Porter Chemical Company was the biggest user of test tubes in the USA.[2] The company produced over a million sets before increasing consumer liability concerns led to its demise in the 1980s.[2]
References
edit- ^ "Could this be one of the most dangerous toys ever made?". statemuseumpa.org. State Museum of Pennsylvania. 2015-05-19. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
- ^ a b Silberman, Steve (2006-06-01). "Don't Try This At Home". Wired. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
External links
edit- John Tyler, The Chemcraft Story: The Legacy of Harold Porter, St Johann Press, 2003.
- "The chemistry set generation", Chemistry World, Dec 2007.
- The Story of Atomic Energy with Safe Experiments
- "Wow! Now Chemcraft has ATOMIC ENERGY!", Popular Science, Dec. 1947.
- Lionel-Porter Chemcraft Chemistry Lab, 1958
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