The 2018 A.C. Gilbert Heritage Society’s Annual Convention was held in the small college town of Plymouth, New Hampshire on July 12, 13, and 14. Hosted by Ken and Kathy Weinig, the Convention featured an optional trip to the famous Mt. Washington Cog Railway; an Open House at Ken and Kathy’s home in nearby Rumney, NH, where Ken shared his fabulous basement Gilbert collection known as the Stinson Mountain Museum of Building Toys; and of course the main event – Saturday’s Convention Show in the Hartman Union Building on the campus of Plymouth State University. Finally, the Saturday evening banquet was held at the historic Common Man Inn and Spa just down the road from the Convention site.
2018 Convention brochure
Ken’s basement museum was one of the highlights of the Convention weekend. It features one of the world’s largest known collections of Erector sets and other A.C. Gilbert products, including chemistry sets, tool sets, string toys, tin vehicles, models, wheel toys, magic sets, electrical sets, lead casting kits, La Velle sets, and other educational/scientific toys.
One of the many great displays of A.C. Gilbert products at this year’s Convention was the 1959 gold-plated presentation Erector Set, given to A.C. Gilbert by his employees on the occasion of the company’s 50th Anniversary. A.C. Gilbert grandsons Alfred (Fred) Gilbert III and David Gilbert showcased the presentation set and enjoyed meeting and talking with the ACGHS members who made it to this year’s show.
This year’s banquet speaker was long-time Erector collector and expert Bill Bean, author of Greenberg’s Guide to Gilbert Erector Sets. Bill shared some great stories about the people, places, and events that brought him into the world of Erector, and how his interest evolved into the business of writing Erector set guides.
Finally, this year’s winners of Convention show awards were Bill Tanis for “Best Erector Display”, Ken Schuman for “Best Gilbert Display”, Dave Ware for “Best Model Builder”, Bob Zimmerman for “Best Kaster Kits”, Andy Jugle for “Best Gilbert Paper”, Ken Schuman for “Best Electrical/Science Sets”, and Jim Wheeler for “Best Erector Motor Display”. John Clark, Greg Bilek, and Bob Asleson also received “Model Builder” awards.