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Bakelite Collection

A description of the collection at Syracuse University

Overview of the Collection

Title: Bakelite Collection
Inclusive Dates: 1912-2010
Quantity: 0.75 linear ft.
Abstract: Collection contains correspondence, printed material, and technical reports related to the Bakelite Corporation.
Language: English
Repository: Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries
222 Waverly Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13244-2010
https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

Bakelite was developed in 1907-1909 by a Belgian, Dr. Leo Baekeland (who also invented Velox photographic paper, bought by Kodak); shortly thereafter Baekeland founded the General Bakelite Company (1910) to produce and distribute his invention. The material's ingredients are phenol and formaldehyde, often with a wood flour filler. Electrically nonconductive and heat-resistant, it has been used in everything from radio and telephone casings and electrical insulators to kitchenware, jewellery, and children's toys. In 1924 Baekeland, then president of the American Chemical Society, appeared on the cover of Time magazine. In 1993 the American Chemical Society named the "Bakelizer," Baekeland's original steam pressure vessel, a National Historical Chemical Landmark as "the world's first completely synthetic plastic."

The Bakelite Corporation was formed in 1922 by a merger of the General Bakelite Company, the Condensite Company, and the Redmanol Chemical Products Company founded by L.V. Redman. The patent on the Bakelite formulas expired in 1927 and numerous companies began manufacturing Bakelite items. Another company, Bakelite Limited, was formed in England in 1926 from three suppliers of phenol formaldehyde materials; in 1939 the company was acquired by the Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Bakelite Collection contains correspondence, printed material, and technical reports.

Correspondence consists of a letter detailing two of the Bakelite Company's standard testing methods.

Printed material includes advertisements, books, clippings, and several issues of two company employee newsletters: The Trefoil, published monthly by "the employees of the Bakelite Division, Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation," and The Wyandotte Peace Pipe, published "by and for the personnel of the Halowax Products Division" of Bakelite.

Technical reports contains printed reports on specific products such as Vinylite.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Related Material

Special Collections Research Center has numerous holdings in the areas of plastics and industrial design. Please refer to the SCRC Subject Index for a complete listing. There are also items made of Bakelite in the artifacts holdings.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Baekeland, L. H. (Leo Hendrik), 1863-1944.

Corporate Bodies

Bakelite Company.
Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation. -- Bakelite Company.

Associated Titles

The Bakelite jewelry book -- Corinne Davidov and Ginny Redington Dawes.
Trefoil.
Wyandotte Peace Pipe.

Subjects

Bakelite -- History.
Plastics industry and trade.

Genres and Forms

Advertisements.
Booklets.
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence.
Newsletters.
Technical reports.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Bakelite Collection,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Original collection, transfer from National Plastics Center and Museum, 11/06/2008.

TIME magazine, gift of Dennis Paradise, 2013.

Advertisements, gift of Plastics Pioneers Association, 2020.

Bakelite Laminated and Bakelite Molded booklets, gift of Mary Holtz, 2022.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: MRC
Date: 2009
Revision history: Feb 2009 - converted to EAD (MRC); July 2012 - added material (SDG); 25 Sep 2013 - adds, M13-086 (MRC); 5 Jun 2017 - bio update (MRC); 6 Feb 2020 - advertisements added, dates corrected, inventory expanded (MRC); 21 Jun 2023 - Bakelite Laminated, Bakelite Molded items added; some items shifted to new Box 2 (MRC)

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Inventory

Correspondence
Box 1 Miscellaneous 1956 - letter to Westinghouse describing the Bakelite Company's testing methods
Printed material
Advertisements
Oversize 1 Miscellaneous 1924-1929
Gift of Plastics Pioneers Association, 2020.
Booklets
Box 1 Bakelite Laminated 1933 - 51-page booklet published by Bakelite Corporation, with information about the product's manufacture, properties, uses, etc.
Gift of Mary Holtz, 2022.
Box 1 Bakelite Molded 1931 - 45-page booklet published by Bakelite Corporation, with information about the product's manufacture, properties, uses, etc.; also includes a brochure listing stock colors
Gift of Mary Holtz, 2022.
Box 1 The Bakelizer 1993 - 8-page booklet published by the American Chemical Society commemoratingthe designation of the original Bakelizer as a National Historic ChemicalLandmark
Box 1 Information No. 2 March 1912 - 44-page illustrated booklet about Bakelite published by the GeneralBakelite Company and printed by Rogers & Company
Books
Box 1 The Bakelite jewelry book, by Corinne Davidov and Ginny Redington Dawes ; photography by Steven Mark Needham 1988
Clippings
Box 1 Miscellaneous 1960, 1995
  • "Fifty Years of Phenolics," BakeliteReview, Nov 1960
  • "Bakelite: The Material of a Thousand Uses," Antique Week, 13 Jul 1995
Magazines
Box 1 Currents 2010
Box 1 TIME, with Leo Baekeland on thecover 22 Sep 1924
Gift of Dennis Paradise, 2013.
Newsletters
Box 1 Trefoil, Bound Brook, New Jersey, by employees of Bakelite Corporation and the Halowax Products Division of Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation 1949-1950
Box 1 Wyandotte Peace Pipe, by employees of the Halowax Products Division of Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation 1944-1945
Technical reports
Box 2 Vinylite, miscellaneous 1942, 1944-1945 - reports printed by Bakelite Corporation and/or Union Carbide and Chemicals Corporation, with information about various products
  • Fabrication of Vinylite plastics byscrew extrusion (Carbide and Carbon Chemicals Corporation, 1942)
  • Vinylite plastics: Screw extrusion of wire and cable compounds (Bakelite Corporation, 1944)
  • Vinylite plastics: Bonding elastomericcompounds (Bakelite Corporation, 1944)
  • Vinylite wire and cable compounds: Technical data (Bakelite Corporation, 1945)
  • Vinylite plastics rigidsheets: Technical data and fabrication (Bakelite Corporation, 1945)

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