What is Bakelite?
Bakelite is the trade name for the phenolic resin patented by Dr. Leo Baekeland in 1907. Today, the term “bakelite” is used to refer both to Dr. Baekeland’s trademarked plastic and to the other phenolic resins produced in the early Twentieth Century, such as “Catalin” and “Marblette”. During its heyday – the 1920s through the 1940s – Bakelite was marketed as ” the material of a thousand uses” with good reason: it was produced in a myriad of guises and used in virtually every aspect of modern Twentieth Century life.
Bakelite is the trade name for phenolic resin, an early form of plastic. Today objects made from Bakelite are considered highly collectible, although in its glory days of the 1930s and 1940s, Bakelite was seen as an inexpensive alternative to high-end jewelry materials such as jade and pearl. A Belgian-born chemist named Leo Baekeland used his profits from the sale of Velox, a film treatment used by newspapers, to set up an independent lab in Yonkers, New York around the year 1901. Dr. Baekeland spent several years working on a durable coating for the lanes of bowling alleys, similar to today’s protective polyurethane floor sealants. He combined carbolic acid and formaldehyde to form phenolic resin. This resin would remain pourable long enough to apply to hardwood flooring, but then become insoluble and impermeable after curing. Dr. Baekeland patented this early form of plastic and started his own Bakelite corporation around 1910 to market it to heavy industry and automobile manufactur
Bakelite is the trade name for plastics produced by Bakelite Ltd. in England and Bakelite Corp. in America. It still refers to these materials but is frequently used as a generic name for phenol formaldehyde (Phenolic). Phenolic is usually reinforced with a filler (inert) material added to a polymer to improve its properties. Usually in powder or fibre form such as wood, pulp, cotton flock and talc) but cast phenolic has no filler and can be translucent. It can be easily coloured and was used decoratively for jewelry, radio cabinets and all kinds of ornaments (3). Bakelite and other plastics during the 1930s have a great effect on most of today’s products. We can no longer work and live without plastics. But why was the era of the depression the best time to conquer the USA and the rest of the world with Bakelite and other kinds of plastics? The plastics that were appearing more widely during the 1930s, from steering wheels and tableware to dice, reflected organized research efforts wi
Bakelite, also known as phenolic plastic, is created from a mixture of formaldehyde and carbolic acid developed by Dr. Leo H. Baekeland circa 1909. Generally manufactured between 1929 and 1941, bakelite, which is inflammable, has a substantial quality, as compared to its predecessor, celluloid. When two objects clunk together, they resonate with an almost musical sound, never flat, dead or tinny-sounding. Bakelite was molded into tubes, rods, and sheets, and then sliced, drilled, and sometimes carved by machinists. Initially, bakelite was used for industrial purposes, replacing celluloid, an older and previously popular synthetic material, which was highly flammable. Many people will remember kitchen items made of cheerfully colored bakelite, including napkin holders shaped like animals, salt and pepper sets, and flatware handles. With the advent of the Depression, skilled craftsmen used tools to carve out individual and sometimes intricate designs on pieces of bakelite, turning it int
Bakelite is the common term for phenolic resin, a primitive type of plastic that is cast or molded, and available in a wide range of colors. Bakelite was also carved on a spinning wheel with razor sharp tools to create original designs. Bakelite was used to make jewelry, radio knobs, portable radios, handles, and other household items during the 1920’s – 1940’s.
