Table of Contents
Scope and Contents of the Collection
| Ask a question |
| Request a visit |
| Potentially harmful content statement |
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.
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.
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.
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.
Subject Headings
Persons
Corporate Bodies
Associated Titles
Subjects
Genres and Forms
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)
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 | ||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
| 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 | ||||||||||
|
|||||||||||