Jun 5, 2014 6:00 AM

Gallery: Vintage Chemistry Sets Show We Used to Be Way More Chill About Chemicals

Photo: Jared Soares/WIRED
01
chm-soares-117edit
This kit dates to 1847, and it's less a toy than a kit for serious students and amateurs. Its creator, John Joseph Griffin, wrote a 556-page manual to go with it.
Photo: Jared Soares/WIRED
02
chm-soares-146edit
Griffin's book, *Chemical Recreations*, extolled chemistry as "an everlasting source of occupation and amusement."

Photo: Jared Soares/WIRED
03
chm-soares-190edit
The cover of this Chemcraft kit from 1917 may have inspired would-be chemists with its images of science and industry.
Photo: Jared Soares/WIRED
04
chm-soares-205edit
The Chemcraft kit included an impressive selection of chemicals and equipment.

Photo: Kristen Frederick-Frost / Chemical Heritage Foundation Museum
05
chemcraft
The boy and the chemist he would become were a common trope on 20th century chemistry sets, like this one from around 1952.
Photo: Jared Soares/WIRED
06
chm-soares-261edit
Like many sets, this one from the 1950s highlights topics that were hot at the time, including plastics, atomic energy, and outer space.

Photo: Jared Soares/WIRED
07
chm-soares-288edit
The atomic energy experiments included looking at a piece of paper coated with radium dust with a spinthariscope, a device used to visualize radioactive emissions. Outer space experiments included adding sodium carbonate and sodium bisulfate to water to power a soda bottle "rocket."
Photo: Jared Soares/WIRED
08
chm-soares-254edit
Girls can't be scientists, but they can still be technicians--that's the unenlightened message implied by this kit from the late 1950s.

Photo: Jared Soares/WIRED
09
chm-soares-177edit
By the early 1970s, when this kit came out, people were becoming more attuned to the negative environmental impacts of chemicals. In one experiment depicted on the back cover, a boy uses the kit to measure emissions from a nearby factory--a notable contrast to the more positive depiction of a factory on the 1917 Chemcraft kit.
Photo: Jared Soares/WIRED
10
chm-soares-231edit
This 1996 Smithsonian kit includes tiny vials of chemicals with labels taken up mostly by warnings (see next slide).

Photo: Kristen Frederick-Frost / Chemical Heritage Foundation Museum
11
vials
A handful of lemons might have more citric acid than that tiny vial on the right. Come to think of it, why don't lemons come with warning labels?

A Lot of Shops Won't Fix Electric Bikes. Here's Why

Bike shop mechanics have lost fingers and their shirts while repairing ebikes of dubious origins. Make sure yours is repairable and third-party certified.

Stephanie Pearson

The Audacity Is the Broligarchy Takedown You Were Waiting For

AMC’s new black comedy about a manchild tech titan spinning out of control is a skewering Silicon Valley’s billionaire class deserves.

Miles Klee

It’s a Tablet! It’s a Laptop! After Testing the Best 2-in-1s, Here’s What I Recommend

Whether you want a detachable tablet or a laptop screen that spins, these 2-in-1 devices manage to balance being both a tablet and a laptop.

Luke Larsen

There’s a Secret Ingredient to Making Luxury Ice at Home

Nice ice is big business, but you can get perfectly clear cubes at home without freezing your assets.

Jeremy White

The Screenmaxxers Who Spend Every Waking Hour on Their Phones

As debates over social media addiction rage, people with extreme screen times tell WIRED they have no plans to cut back.

Miles Klee

Mammotion’s Spino E1 Pool Cleaner Isn’t Bad for the Price—It's Just Not That Good

This compact pool robot keeps its price down, but its performance doesn’t match that of more capable cleaners.

Christopher Null

The Best Coffee Mug Warmers Are Smart. But They Don’t Need an App

The first rule of coffee is that it must stay hot. After weeks or even years of testing, these are the three coffee warmers that will best keep it that way.

Matthew Korfhage