Scandal & the Story of Bakelite

Bakelite hit the market in 1907, heralding the arrival of the modern plastics industry. Bakelite was the first completely man made plastic, as until then, plastics such as celluloid, casein, and Gutta-Percha all had as a base a natural material. It was developed by Belgian-born chemist Dr. Leo Hendrick Baekeland who started his firm General Bakelite Company to produce the phenolic resin type plastic. Bakelite was inexpensive to manufacture and extremely durable, and made its inventor a wealthy man. In subsequent generations, however, the Baekeland’s family story was one of tragedy rather than triumph. In 1972 the schizophrenic great grandson of Dr. Baekeland stabbed his mother to death. Savage Grace, by Natalie Robbins and Steven M.L. Aronson, a book about the family and the murder, was a best seller when it was published in 1985.

Bakelite for Appliances & Jewelry

Early Bakelite was used almost exclusively in the manufacture of radios, appliances and electrical components because it was lightweight, inexpensive, durable, moisture-resistant and non-flammable. The limited color range of black, brown, and the occasional burgundy and dark green was appropriate for use as radio cabinets, vacuum cleaner parts, and electrical elements, but eventually, formulas were developed to produce the plastic in a range of appealing colors. Its ability to be carved and molded made it ideal for inexpensive jewelry. Early jewelry attempts to mimic more expensive materials like ivory amber, onyx, and jade, but by the 1930s, consumers began to appreciate the plastic for own qualities and Bakelite jewelry made its appearance everywhere from Sears Roebuck to Sacks 5th Avenue.

Colorful Art Deco Bakelite Gems

Artists and designers discovered the beauty and workability of Bakelite (and Catalin, a competitor who also produced a phenolic resin plastic). New technology created additional colors, and the plastic became available in scarlet, green, amber, brown burgundy, red-orange, and Kelly green and black and marbled. By 1934, yet another plastics company had produced a formula for Bakelite in pastel colors including willow green, light blue, pink and yellow. Due to the unstable nature of the chemicals used in the pastel colors formula, these pieces are hard to find, and as such, are among the most costly of Bakelite jewelry.

Bakelite Jewelry & Values

Bakelite could be molded, carved, or laminated, and designers and turned to the material for brightly colored, inexpensive flights of fancy to adorn everything from wrists to waists. Necklaces featured beads in a variety of sizes and colors, sometimes terminating in carved or laminated pendants. A popular choker style necklace consisted of pairs of bright red cherries on celluloid stems and leaves dangling from a celluloid chain (today $150-300.)

Bakelite Bracelets

Bracelets were stretchy, cuff, charm, wrap or tank-track styles. Stretchy bracelets consisted of beads or lozenges strung on elastic. Cuff styles could be wide and deeply carved, or narrower bands intended to be stacked together. The band could be smooth, molded (usually in a geometric pattern), carved, or pierced. Wrap bracelets were beads strung on wire, and tank-track bracelets featured overlapping semi-circular links. A quick check on eBay turned up bracelets on offer in prices ranging from $50-300. Deeply carved, wide red cuffs seem to fetch the highest prices, followed by amber, then green.

Bakelite Pins

A variety of pins were produced, either whimsical figurals or geometrics. The Art Deco love affair with the Scottie Dog was evident in the jewelry on offer. Horses also had a strong presence, but pins of elephants, penguins, marlins, and cherries are also available. Pins range in price from $118 for a lovely carved leaf, $130 for a carrot, $102 for a red horse head, and an almost shockingly low $18 for a classic Scottie in red.

Bakelite Jewelry Affordable (Again)!

Prices reached almost ludicrous levels in the early 1990s, and the jewelry became so popular that other Bakelite pieces such as poker chips, Tootsie Toys and Mah Jong tiles were frequently fashioned into jewelry. The market seems to have cooled, meaning that it’s once again possible to buy a fine Bakelite cuff bracelet for less than a gold one.

Reference note by p4A Contributing Editor Susan Cramer, August, 2011

Bakelite

Bakelite is named after its inventor, Belgian-born chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland (1863-1944). After emigrating to the United States in 1889, Baekeland dabbled in photography. In the late nineteenth century, photographic paper was so insensitive to light that prints had to be exposed outdoors in sunlight. Baekeland invented a more sensitive paper that he called Velox. He sold the rights to George Eastman in 1899 for a million dollars.

Now independently wealthy, Baekeland bought a farm near Yonkers, New York and set up a laboratory in the barn. He wanted to develop an insulating coating for copper wire, the kind of wire used to wind solenoids and motors. In those days wire was coated with shellac, which was laboriously made from the shells of the lacca beetle that inhabited southeast Asia. Shellac was expensive and in short supply. Could Baekeland develop a synthetic substitute?

In 1907, he prepared a mixture of phenol, formaldehyde and lye which had the color and the consistency of honey. Unexpectedly, the mixture hardened in its container, producing a solid whose surface faithfully duplicated the shape and the texture of its container.

It occurred to Baekeland that his mixture could be heated in molds to create objects of any desired shape. Thus was born Bakelite, the world’s first synthetic plastic. Baekeland founded The Bakelite Corporation to manufacture his material.

Bakelite is known by several generic names. It is referred to as phenolic because phenol (C6H5OH) is the main ingredient. Phenol is the preservative that is responsible for the “mediciney” smell of preschoolers’ paste and is the “mediciney” ingredient in antiseptic mouthwash.

It is also known as thermosetting because the chemical reaction that creates the solid actually occurs while the molding compound is being heated in the mold. Once the solid object has been formed, it cannot be softened again, unlike thermoplastics such as polystyrene that can be melted and re-used. This property makes thermosets useful for objects that might become warm, such as housings for electrical devices or even handles for kitchen pots and pans.

A Manning-Bowman coffee pot with bakelite handle, base and spigot handle. (p4A item # D9810832)

Baekeland’s competitors also made thermosets, and the word “bakelite” (small b) became a generic term denoting phenolic from any manufacturer. To further complicate things, The Bakelite Corporation later became a distributor of polystyrene, which was sold under the trade name Bakelite.

The original lump of Bakelite was a transparent amber-colored solid whose appearance Baekeland described as “frozen beer”. A few products were actually molded that color, notably ladies’ combs that were meant to simulate hand-carved tortoise shell.

Most Bakelite was made with additives that altered its appearance or mechanical properties.

Flock (short cotton threads) was often mixed with molding compound so that the threads would become embedded in the finished product. The fibers improved Bakelite’s mechanical strength, much as steel reinforcing rods strengthen concrete.

The most common appearance for a Bakelite object was opaque black, which was produced by incorporating carbon black into the molding compound. The ubiquitous black rotary-dial telephone was manufactured of black Bakelite.

A Henry Dreyfuss bakelite telephone. (p4A item # B126428)

A bakelite “bow tie” pattern bangle bracelet. (p4A item # D9769092)

Bakelite’s popularity began to decline in the 1940s as thermoplastics became more readily available. The first major thermoplastic was cellulose acetate, which was made from a byproduct of the cotton gin. Intricately-shaped objects can be fabricated by injection molding. Molten plastic is forced into a mold under high pressure, where it cools and solidifies. Since cellulose acetate was derived from an agricultural product, supply could not keep pace with the growth of demand. After World War II, polystyrene (made from petroleum) quickly became the most popular thermoplastic.

The days of manufacturing collectible jewelry from Bakelite are over, but phenolics continue to be used for applications where heat resistance is required, such as electrical equipment or cookware.

Reference note by p4A Contributing Editor Joseph H. Lechner, Ph.D.

Baleen comes from a suborder of whales, Mysticeti, which includes, among others, humpback whales, gray whales, right whales and blue whales. What sets these whales apart is baleen. These whales do not have teeth, but have upper jaws filled with two rows of baleen plates fringed with fine baleen hair. These plates are so closely aligned that they act like a comb or a sieve; whales pull water across them, catching the small plankton they feed on in the baleen ‘hairs’. Baleen varies widely in size, as the sizes of the whales it comes from vary. The individual plates can be as small as 2 feet, but as large as 12 feet long! A single plate can weigh 200 pounds. Baleen is often called whalebone, which is a bit of a misnomer. Baleen is not bone, but rather keratin, the same protein that forms hair and fingernails in humans as well as horns and claws in animals.
Archaeology suggests that hunting whales was crucial to the Inuit way of life as early as 1000 A.D. In a landscape that offers so few materials, every part of a whale was used, including baleen. Because of the lack of wood for fires for boiling water, baleen was softened by soaking it in urine. Baleen had another property that made it valuable in the Arctic environment: it doesn’t not frost. As a result, it was deemed useful for all sorts of utilitarian purposes, such as fishing lines and sled runners.

A baleen sled with hide ties. (p4A item # D9763560)

Baleen’s price was closely linked to the fashion trends of England and Europe, being used for busks, pieces of a rigid material slipped into pockets in the front of a corset to keep it straight and upright. As small decorative objects that could be carved and were placed in a hidden place near the heart, busks were common sweetheart gifts, often beautifully decorated with delicate carvings. Baleen’s flexibility and durability also made it perfect for forming the hoops in hoop skirts. Baleen’s price was roughly at its highest when hoop skirts were at their widest.

Detail of the end of a scrimshaw baleen busk with delicately carved details. (p4A item # D9981258)
D9981258

A baleen basket with ivory finial carved in the shape of a diving whale’s tail. (p4A item # D9777078)

The first commercially successful typwriter was patented in the United States on June 23,1868 by Christopher Latham Sholes, Carlos Glidden and Samuel W. Sole. The invention was eventually called the Sholes and Gliddon Type Writer. Christopher Latham Sholes is most often credited with its invention and is considered the “Father of the Typewriter.” This was the start of what would later become the Remington Typewriter and the beginning of the great typewriter industry which continued for more than a century. The legacy the Sholes & Gliddon Type Writer left behind was the QWERTY keyboard, the same design still in use today in computers and text messaging keyboards. For more information please visit: http://typewritercollector.com.

Reference note by p4A editorial staff; 2010.

Frederick C. Durant III was a key advisor to the U.S. military, intelligence, and civilian space-flight programs of the 1950s and 1960s. He served as president of the American Rocket Society in 1953 and president of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) from 1953 to 1956. During the 1950s he worked for several different aerospace organizations, including: Bell Aircraft Corp., Everett Research Lab, the Naval Air Rocket Test Station, and the Maynard Ordnance Test Station. He later became assistant director of astronautics for the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C., helping to launch the modern facility that millions of visitors tour each year. While at the Smithsonian, he was tapped to serve as the aerospace historian for the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

In the 1950s, he became one of the most respected independent advisors to the U.S. government on aerospace technology. He served on a Central Intelligence Agency panel in 1953 studying the possibility of extraterrestrial spacecraft as a potential threat to national security, co-authoring a report that concluded there was “no evidence that the phenomena indicate a need for the revision of current scientific concepts.” In 1954, he penned an article for Aviation Week magazine titled “Space Flight Needs Only Money, Time.” As president of the IAF, he told delegates at its 1954 convention in Innsbruck, Austria, “The feasibility of space flight is no longer a topic for academic debate but a matter of time, money, and a program.”

That same year, he was recruited to participate in the first civilian-oriented effort to put a satellite into orbit. Led by Wernher von Braun, the team developed a concept called Project Orbiter, which later served as the foundation of the successful Explorer I mission launched on 31 January 1958.

Durant was a long-time friend, confidant and supporter of Clarke’s. They corresponded and spoke by telephone frequently. The warmth of the friendship between Clarke and the Durant family is evident in the content of the inscriptions of these books. These books offer important associations between two dear friends, each a leader in his field.

Reference: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers website.

Information courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries, March 2009.

Patent models are unique to a brief period of American history, when U.S. patent law required that all inventors submit a scale model of their invention in order to be granted a patent. With the recision of those laws in the late 1800s, models were no longer required, and the collections of the Patent Office’s 19th century models were placed in storage until budget constraints eventually forced the government to dispose of them, pursuant to an Act of Congress.

Electric stock tickers were invented in the 1860′s as an extension of existing telegraph services. The early models were much improved by Thomas Edison but continued to be manufactured by several different companies. Typically the tickers were provided to subscribers who paid approximately $6.00 per week to receive updated quotes on the stock and gold markets. The tickers were widely used, with over one thousand at the New York Stock Exchange alone by 1880. The usefulness of stock tickers declined as other forms of communication were developed, but they remained fixtures of the investment world until the World War II era.

Reference note by p4A editors, 2011.

After visiting William Morris’s Kelmscott community of artisans, charismatic businessman and writer Elbert Hubbard (1856 to 1915) embarked on his own version in East Aurora, New York. His Roycroft community, America’s only Arts & Crafts campus, began in 1895 as a high quality leather bookbindery and publishing house. The name came from two 17th century London printers. The community’s large and prominently displayed mark, the orb and cross with a capital R in the bottom of the orb, was derived from a group of 14th century monks devoted to illuminating manuscripts. From its inception, Roycroft emphasized handwork, innovative design, the finest materials and low production.

Hubbard expanded his Roycroft community from leatherwork to furniture (1896), iron (1899), copper (1902), lighting (1905) and jewelry (1908). After Hubbard perished when the Germans sank the ocean liner Lusitania in 1915, the community remained together under his son, Elbert “Bert” Hubbard II. Bert’s 1919 catalog showed an impressive array of leather goods, lighting and metal accessories, but quality suffered after 1925. Roycroft was bankrupt by 1938.

Roycroft furniture in quartersawn oak, ash or mahogany, was massive and austere. Or as Elbert Hubbard described it: “Simple, solid, substantial and rarely beautiful.” Among its distinctive features was the tapered leg ending in a bulbous foot (the Mackmurdo foot). Compared to other Arts & Crafts manufacturers, Roycroft’s furniture production was quite small. Collectors seem to prefer furniture marked “Roycroft ” in script.

Metalwork creativity peaked from 1909 through 1911 with the collaboration of designer Dard Hunter (1883 to 1966) and metals artisan Karl Kipp (1881 to 1954). Their copper and German silver work is especially desirable. Although vases and other forms came in a variety of metals and finishes, collectors prefer Aurora Brown copper.

Collectors have long noted the unity of design among Roycroft books, leather, glass and metals. That consistency and recognizable style was an important contribution of Dard Hunter.

Hunter’s stained glass and oak table lamps and Karl Kipp’s classic metal lamps, especially the popular “helmet lamp”, are the shining stars of Roycroft lighting. Whether from Hunter, Kipp or another Roycroft designer, all intact Roycroft lighting should be regarded as a rare commodity.

Roycroft produced a large inventory of leather: desk sets, bookends, circular plant mats, wallets, handbags, even clocks. Because leather was considered utilitarian, more like shoes than art, many of these items have been discarded.

Reference note by p4A Contributing Editor Pete Prunkl.