Kelmet Toys

The Kelmet Corporation was started in 1920 by Alfred C Gilbert who was the founder of the A. C. Gilbert company best known for their erector set line. It is believed that the Kelmet Corporation was formed to market the games, toys and simple erector sets under a different brand. 1924 was a defining year for Kelmet. They acquired the tooling and dies for the “White” branded toy trucks manufactured by the Burdette-Murray Company of Cleveland, OH. Kelmet began selling the fixed bed and dump trucks in the “Big Boy” and “White” trade names. In addition, they expanded the line to include cranes, fire trucks, tank trucks, army trucks & crane trucks. Around 1926 Alfred acquired the Noble Manufacturing Company’s line of construction toys which included their “TruModel” line. The TruModel line consisted mostly of toy hoists & winches. Kelmet ceased operations around 1931.

Some interesting notes about the Kelmet Corporation:

• Around 1925 Alfred Gilbert started using some of the components of the Kelmet White truck line to create a new Erector Set marketed by the A. C. Gilbert Company.

• When Kelmet acquired the White truck tooling and dies from the Burdette-Murray Company, Burdette-Murray had only been producing the truck line under their brand for about 1 1/2 years.