Porter Chemical Company was an American toy manufacturer that developed and produced chemistry sets aimed as educational toys for aspiring junior scientists.
The company would later form a relationship with the Lionel Corporation, famed American maker of toy trains.
The Chemcraft and Microcraft line competed with similar sets offered by A. C. Gilbert Company as part of a boom in science educational toys spurred by the Space Race between the US and USSR in the late 1950s.
In 1951, the company's top-of-the-line "Chemcraft Master Laboratory" set retailed for $27.50 ($equivalent to $323 in 2023) and contained, among other things, radioactive Uranium ore.[1] At the peak of its success, Porter Chemical Company was the biggest user of test tubes in the USA.
[2] The company produced over a million sets before increasing consumer liability concerns led to its demise in the 1980s.