History:
Forerunners:
The earliest forerunners of the chemistry set are 17th century books on "natural magick", "which all excellent wise men do admit and embrace, and worship with great applause; neither is there any thing more highly esteemed, or better thought of, by men of learning." Authors such as Giambattista della Porta included chemical magic tricks and scientific puzzles along with more serious topics.
The earliest chemistry sets were developed in the 18th century in England and Germany, with the purpose of teaching chemistry to adults. In 1791, Description of a portable chest of chemistry : or, Complete collection of chemical tests for the use of chemists, physicians, mineralogists, metallurgists, scientific artists, manufacturers, farmers, and the cultivators of natural philosophy by Johann Friedrich August Göttling, translated from German, was published in English. Friedrich Accum of London, England also sold portable chemistry sets and materials to refill them. Used primarily for training druggists and medical students, they could also be carried and used in the field.
Scientific kits also attracted well-educated members of the upper class who enjoyed experimenting and demonstrating their results. James Woodhouse of Philadelphia presented a Young Chemist's Pocket Companion (1797) with an accompanying portable laboratory, specifically targeted ladies and gentlemen. Jane Marcet's books on chemistry helped to popularize chemistry as a well-to-do pastime for both men and women.
Beginning in the late 1850s John J. Griffin & Sons sold a line of "chemical cabinets", eventually offering 11 categories. These were marketed primarily to adults including elementary school teachers as well as students at the Royal Naval College, the Royal Agricultural Society, and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
In the mid to late 1800s England, magic and illusion toys enabled children to make their own fireworks, create disappearing inks and cause changes in color, tricks which were mostly chemically based. The Columbian Cyclopedia of 1897 defines "CHEMISTRY TOYS" as "mostly pyrotechnic; recommended as illustrating to the young the rudiments of chemistry, but probably more dangerous than efficient for such use", listing a variety of hazardous examples
Chemistry sets as toys:
Beginning in the early 1900s, modern chemistry sets specifically targeted younger people and were intended to popularize chemistry. In the United States, the best known such sets were produced by the Porter Chemical Company and the A. C. Gilbert Company. Although Porter and Gilbert were the largest American producers of chemistry sets, other manufacturers such as the Skilcraft corporation were also active.
The Porter Chemical Company was started by John J. Porter and his brother Harold Mitchell Porter in 1914. Their initial purpose was to sell packaged chemicals, but they soon introduced kits. John researched the experiments, while Harold wrote the instruction manuals. Their earliest toys, under the "Chemcraft" trademark, were "chemical magic" sets, selling for less than $1. By the 1920s, they sold six different sets, the largest of which sold for $25. The range of toys they offered became broader throughout the 1930s. In the 1950s it was possible to buy toys that included radioactive ores, such as an “Atomic Energy Lab” and a Geiger counter.
Alfred Carlton Gilbert earned money by performing magic tricks while a medical student at Yale. He and John Petrie formed the Mysto Manufacturing Company (later the A. C. Gilbert Company) in 1909, and began to sell boxed magic sets. By 1917, they were selling chemistry sets, which they continued to produce throughout World War II, in spite of war-time restrictions on materials. Robert Treat Johnson, noting the number of chemistry students at Yale whose interest in the science had begun with a chemistry set, argued that the production of chemistry sets was a patriotic duty.
Chemistry sets were actively promoted by toy companies through advertising campaigns, the "Chemcraft Chemist Club" and its accompanying "Chemcraft Science Magazine", comic books, and essay contests such as Porter's "Why I want to be a scientist". The goal of attracting students to a potential career in chemistry was often explicit in the sets' naming and promotion. Chemistry sets may have been the first American toys to be marketed to parents with the goal of "improving" children for success in later life.
Gilbert Lab Technician Set for Girls, 1958, at the Chemical Heritage Foundation
Marketing of chemistry sets was also highly gendered, targeted almost exclusively at "young men of science". A 1950s set introduced by Gilbert for girls, came in a pink box and explicitly identified girls as laboratory assistants rather than full-fledged scientists.
Well known chemistry sets from the United Kingdom include the 1960s and 1970s sets by Thomas Salter Science (produced in Scotland) and later Salter Science, then the "MERIT" sets through the 1970s and 1980s. Dekkertoys created a range of sets which were similar, complete with glass test tubes of dry chemicals
Notes to find. When you walk towards the cache from the S in the road, stay right of the No Trespassing sign on your way back to the cache as the left side is private property and the right side is public land. This area can be wet at times so wear appropriate footwear depending on the season.