H.L. Trisch; A.C. Gilbert Company World War II Records

A.C. (Alfred Carlton) Gilbert was born February 15, 1884. According to the A. C. Gilbert Heritage Society, Gilbert was an "inventor, athlete, toy maker, outdoorsman, and businessman." Created in 1916 and located in New Haven, CT, the A.C. Gilbert Company was best known for its production of the Erector Set which allowed children to design and build their own girder models.

Though Gilbert had prevented the company from being converted to wartime productions during the First World War, that would not be the case in the Second World War. According to the company records, later compiled by then vice-president Herman L. Trisch, the A. C. Gilbert Company helped produce hundreds of thousands of mechanical parts for military aircraft, landmines, guns, and other wartime weaponry.

According to the May 1944 issue of Connecticut Industries, during World War II, Connecticut was ranked as the ninth biggest war production state. Between June 1940 and January 1944 war contracts with Connecticut businesses totaled $6,013,536,000. Most of those contracts were for aircraft and ordnance.

After the war, the company returned to making toys until Gilbert’s death in 1961. According to the A.C. Gilbert and Eli Whitney Museum: "The A. C. Gilbert Company was typical; it never got through the second generation man; after a couple years as C.E.O., and his self-prophecy ringing true, Gilbert’s son sold his family's stock." The company was then acquired by Jack Wrather who led the company to bankruptcy, and eventually, its closing in 1967.

The long-time vice president of A.C. Gilbert, Herman L. Trisch, was born February 15, 1889 to Herman and Nellie Trisch in Connecticut. After the Second World War Trisch compiled several binders of materials documenting A.C. Gilbert Co.'s wartime manufacturing. He also, according to the New York Times, stated in July, 1948 that, in order to help with the conservation of steel after the end of the war, the company would begin making its toys out of plastic; a radical shift from the typical steel based train sets of that time. He is related to the university through his daughter Claire Trisch Geddes, the first Dean of Women at WestConn.

According to A.C. Gilbert's book, "The Man Who Lives in Paradise": "One of the mainstays of the company came to New Haven as Sales Mangager in 1924. This was Herman L. Trisch, who had started with the Mysto Manufacturing Company as as supervisor of demonstrators back in 1915. The next year he bacame a salesman in the northwest territory, and then in the Pacific Coast territory. It was during this time that I almost made a serious mistake without realizing it." Because of Trisch's quiet demeanor, Gilbert had contemplated letting Trisch go but was convinced of Trish's value as one of the "best salsesmen" by one of his colleagues. Trisch was sent by Gilbert to run the San Francisco office and later ran the Chicago office. Trisch was promoted to director in 1930, VP in 1940 and executive VP in 1948. ("The Man Who Lives in Paradise," pgs. 185-187)

Ancestry Herman L. Trisch Mother: http://0-person.ancestrylibrary.com.www.consuls.org/tree/13213404/person/12049227108/facts Herman L. Trisch wife: http://0-person.ancestrylibrary.com.www.consuls.org/tree/44388076/person/6195231777/facts