About Us

I started this website in 2010 as an outgrowth of my search at the at time for decent photos of the 2nd Floor sales layout at the New York Hall of Science.  I was anything but an expert at the time and simply wanted to learn more about Gilbert displays.  Thanks to the generous donations of photos and other documentation of these layouts and other aspects of Gilbert history by many collectors I have learned a lot.  They have made this website a repository of a lot of information about the A.C. Gilbert Company that is not available anywhere else. 

There is a lot of information in this website, so take your time to explore it.  It is not a finished product and is always growing and changing as I get new contributions.  Be sure to check the "What's New" page every so often to find the latest additions.  If you have information about Gilbert displays or history, please share it by contributing to this website.  You can contact me at flyerdisplays@att.net

Information and documentation of the following would be particularly appreciated.

  • The Washington D.C. Hall of Science

  • The Miami Hall of Science and its owner, Leroy Jahn

  • Identifying the Mystery Layout

  • Copies of Newspaper and Magazine Ads, especially those showing uncataloged sets

  • More stories for the Layout Memories Section

Finally, my thanks go out to the many individuals, especially those listed below, who have already shared their knowledge and resources to make this website what it is today.

  • Jim Auld, who provided photos of his restored #98 display

  • Lonny Beno, who provided many, many scans of hard to find display catalogs and also helped me find things I didn't even know existed.

  • Bob Bubeck, who helped sort out information related to the catalogs

  • Clay and Charlie Buckage for providing their fantastic photos of the second floor Gilbert Hall of Science layout and for their support and assistance in creating the section on the Sibley Department Store Layout

  • Terry Cornelius, for his reminiscence of the Meier & Frank Department Store including a photo of the toy department

  • Bill Drake, who provided high quality photos of an early American Flyer Displays including an HO roundhouse display

  • Jeff Faust, who provided his detailed track plans for the Sibley department store layout

  • Bob Giardina, who gave me permission to use illustrations from rfgco.com and provided a reminiscence of a 1957 visit to the 2nd Floor layout at the New York Hall of Science

  • Chuck Harrington, who gave me permission to use illustrations from his website, myflyertrains.net

  • Bob Horton, who provided photos of his rare Gifts Galore Store Display

  • John Huster, who gave me permission to use still shots from the Boys' Railroad Club and Roar Of The Rails videos

  • Andy Jugle, who provided scans of department store layout photos

  • Mike Leahy, for his reminiscence of Gold's Department Store in Lincoln, Nebraska

  • Jeff Madden, for his reminiscence of Hudson's Department Store in Detroit, Michigan

  • Ray Mohrlang, who provided several scans of photographs from his collection, including those of the large 1st floor layout in the New York Hall of Science and also much useful information concerning the Hall of Science layouts and the location of the 1956 catalog cover photo.

  • Daryl Olszeski, who researched and colorized our logo and reviewed the narrative, and acted as a sounding board from the earliest days of this website.  Daryl is also responsible for most of the photo and image restoration of many items that appear on the website

  • Mike Schmidt, who provided information on his rare 1951 display layout and who has provided many excellent tips that have helped develop the website

  • Bill Sheneman, who provided photos of parts of a beautifully preserved Scenarama set as well as the instructions that came with it

  • George Sorensen, who provided information on the Chicago Gilbert Hall of Science as well a reminiscence of that facility including his photo taken with the store "Engineer"

  • Emil Suda, who provided background on A.C. Gilbert History and helped me identify important articles and other source material

  • Richard Trotter, who shared his vast knowledge of the Ray Mohrlang Collection and acted as a great consultant on a variety of topics, especially photo analysis.   He also provided scans of a hard to find brochure covering the otherwise uncataloged 1958 factory displays

  • Doug Wynne, for his reminiscence about the Jordan Marsh Boston Layout, including the fact that he appears in the photo of that layout

  • Paul Yorke, who allowed me to incorporate the relevant portions from his website related to the Sibley and FAO Schwarz layouts

Dale Smith