Description

American Skyline construction set no. 92 with original packaging.

Text on outside of box: "Halsam American Skyline new plastic construction set", "Easy to build skyscrapers, bridges and many modern structures.", "All parts interlock for sturdy construction. . . safe and durable.", "True H. O. scale–1/8 inch to the foot.", "SET NO. 92, 476 PIECE PLASTIC CONSTRUCTION SET", "Sold exclusively by HALSAM PRODUCTS COMPANY", "PATENT PENDING", "ONLY 3 BASIC PARTS WITH VARIATIONS MAKE ANY SKYLINE MODEL // COLUMN, WALL SECTION, FLOORING OR ROOFING", "Skyline develops creative ability. . . fun for the entire family // EASY TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS". Original price written in pencil in white circle: "4.00 EA".

Wall sections in original, unopened plastic bags with red and white lettering, view of skyline, and perspective view of a constructed set. Text on bag: "EASY AND FASCINATING TO BUILD // CREATE MODERN STRUCTURES WITH TRUE SCALE UNIT PARTS // PIECES INTERLOCK AND MAKE STURDY MODELS // WILL NOT BREAK IN ORDINARY PLAY". Column sections in identical bags with blue color scheme.

Sixteen-page staple-bound instruction manual "How to build with American Skyline", "ELGO Plastics, Inc. 3610 Touhy Avenue, Chicago...45...Illinois", "Patent Pending, Made in U.S.A.", “This book contains easy to follow instructions for building various models shown in this cover picture", "Form 99--6-57--275M--Kitt".

A later version of this kit included small plastic sheets to create different colored windows. Kit No. 92 is an expanded version of Kit No. 91, with five floor/ceiling sheets (instead of two), two bags of wall sections (instead of one), and two bags of column sections (instead of one). The instruction manual is the same and shows models that can be constructed with Kit Nos. 91 through 95.

Additional Information

Building blocks have been popular mass-produced toys since the nineteenth century. Commercially available construction kit toys often paralleled contemporaneous trends in architectural design and the public perception of the built environment. This set, produced in the late 1950s by Chicago-based Elgo Plastics Inc./Halsam Products Company, focused on the skyscraper. First developed in Chicago in the 1880s, skyscrapers became a quintessential marker of American architectural and economic dominance. Skyscraper construction eventually waned during the Great Depression and World War II, but picked up again in the post-war economic boom of the 1950s and 60s, when American corporations spun their newfound profits into tall office buildings. In this same period, improvements in the stability of plastics and industrial techniques such as injection molding made the manufacture of plastic toys easier and less expensive. Furthermore, a growing American middle class had more time and money than ever before to spend on leisure items such as children’s toys. Elgo construction toys like this one predate other plastic modular sets produced by the Danish company Lego, whose products did not gain popularly in the United States until later in the 1960s.