When, exactly, was the US Meccano Company purchased by A. C. Gilbert (owner of Erector)?
I think the answer to this question has been found.
One theory was that Joshua Lionel Cowen (of Lionel Trains) needed cash to purchase the Ives Company, and sold the Meccano Company to obtain the cash. Cowan was reputedly the owner of the US Meccano Company. I have found no evidence of such connection.
Recent study has, however, revealed the timeline of events. The Meccano Company of America, Inc. was established by A. C. Gilbert. In 1936, the Meccano Company of America was cited for insufficient duty payments. Several hearings ensued, with testimony from H. Hudson Dobson and an affidavit from Mr. Walter Manning Hewitt, Secretary of Meccano, Ltd. of Liverpool. There ensued several hearings, (see Treasury Decisions 1938 1939) but a few interesting points relating to the history of US Meccano were revealed:
1. Meccano Co., Inc (the US Meccano company) was owned by Meccano Ltd. of Britain
2. Meccano Ltd. was separated from Meccano Co., Inc in January of 1929; (bought by A. C. Gilbert)
3. US company became Meccano Company of America, Inc.
4. Meccano Company of America, Inc. exclusively owns the Meccano trade-mark … with the exclusive right to sell Meccano … having purchased said right and trade-mark in January, 1930.
The Meccano Company of America, Inc. was formed during 1929. The 1929 copyrights for manuals (0 – 40, and 50 – 70) were issued to Meccano Co., Inc., but 1930 copyrights were issued to the Meccano Company of America, Inc. The latter company was apparently established to receive the US assets from both the Meccano Co., Inc and Meccano Ltd., including patents, copyrights, and trademarks.
All of this still does not answer the question of why Gilbert bought US Meccano – and particularly why in 1929, with the stock market crash of late October, 1929.
There is an ad in Playthings, a trade magazine, from January of 1929 implying significant changes in Meccano marketing, perhaps suggesting a new owner.
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This wonderful picture shows a proud young boy with his No. 2 Meccano set and a model he presumably built. The model is a small version of a Telpher Span, as shown in the 1916 manual as model no. 23. Later manuals (for example, 1923) show a slightly different version The box lid has a design which seems to have been used from 1919 through about 1926, at least in the US. HOWEVER, it has a picture of a model called a "Helter Skelter" on the box lid. All of the boxes I have seen have an Eiffel Tower on the box lid. I have an example of this box, courtesy Albert Sendros from Spain. The writing is in English, but there is no US address along the bottom edge as on other US box lids. I therefore suspect that this box was probably not used in the US - subject to change, of course!! The question: 
Here is a scan of a portion of a British (I think) Meccano box. I have three non-US boxes, all from Canada, apparently. They have the word "Meccano" embossed in a curved pattern in the black paper covering the box. The repeat is 7/8 inch in both directions. None of the US boxes in my collection have this marking. The examples from Canada, from which this scan was taken, are from around 1923 through 1926. In case you have difficulty seeing it, the word MECCANO is curved upward at the ends, and appears both right side up and upside down.