The Gilbert American Flyer No. 772 Automatic Water Tower was introduced in 1950 to provide water pressure for the Gilbert American Flyer community. Along with the No. 769 Revolving Aircraft Beacon, the No. 774 Floodlight Tower and the No. 773 Oil Derrick, the No. 772 Automatic Water Tower was manufactured for Gilbert by the Colber Company.
Gilbert American Flyer added towers to the product line in 1951. The towers were actually produced by the Colber Company (a maker of toy train accessories) and several other Colber manufactured products were also introduced to the Gilbert American Flyer catalog in 1951, including bridges, and a pedestrian overcrossing.
In 1953 Gilbert stopped the relationship with Colber for street lamps and produced their own set of three. Now numbered 778 for the set, the lamp posts were still molded in gold plastic with white shades, but the shades are now round rather than faceted.
The No. 794 Union Station was introduced to the Gilbert American Flyer catalog in 1954. It included two of the street lamps. The mail box and the fire alarm box are slightly different than those in the No. 778 Street Lamp Set.
In 1950 Gilbert American Flyer changed from the die cast metal street lamps that had been in the catalog since 1940 to plastic street lamps manufactured for Gilbert by the Colber Company. The posts are molded in a gold color plastic with a white plastic diffuser/shade over the bulb at the top.
The first single bulb and dual bulb street lamps entered the Gilbert American Flyer product line in 1940. This was after the acquisition of the American Flyer train product line in 1938 and cataloging double lamp posts designs No. 233 and No. 2210 the same year.