Table of Contents
Scope and Contents of the Collection
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Overview of the Collection |
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| Creator: | Griffiths, Alan (Plastics engineer and designer) |
| Title: | Alan Griffiths Soap Box Collection |
| Inclusive Dates: | circa 1950-2000 |
| Quantity: | 3 linear ft. |
| Abstract: | Collection of plastic containers for soap |
| 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
Alan Griffiths was a British plastics engineer, designer, and consultant. Educated at Enfield Polytechnic, he began his career as a designer of plastic toys, games, and optical products for J&L Randall Ltd. He went on to establish and manage the vacuum forming division of C.F. Taylor Plastics Ltd., worked as a "white goods" product designer for Kenwood Manufacturing, and was product development manager for ITW Ltd., where he was responsible for the design, development, and tooling for thermoformed and injection molded plastics products. For nearly forty years he ran an independent consulting business, Alan Griffiths & Partners, Ltd., which offered services ranging from component design and project management to raw material audits and expert witness testimony.
Griffith was a founding member of the Plastics Historical Society and a Fellow of the Plastics and Rubber Institute (later the Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining). As a Fellow of the Institute of Materials and chair of their Plastics Design Committee he was involved with a number of design competitions in the United Kingdom, which brought him into contact with young engineers and designers just entering the field. He amassed a considerable reference collection of more than 500 soap boxes over the years which were "used to assist young product designers to appreciate all aspects of plastics product design...[and to] learn the fundamentals of design, tooling and manufacture by observing and examining familiar objects." He was an early proponent of recycling, stating that "Recycling is all about energy conservation...We should ask ourselves is consumer packaging necessary in the first place, rather than 'how can it be recycled?'"
[Sources: "Soap story breaks mold," Plastics and Rubber World, 15 Apr 1994; "Man with keen eye on materials of the future -- and of the past," Plastics and Rubber World, 1 Dec 1990]
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The Alan Griffiths Soap Box Collection consists of 40 traveling soap containers collected by Alan Griffith, a British plastics engineer and designer. The boxes are a wide range of sizes and designs -- some are hinged, for example, while others are two separate pieces; some are decorated using various techniques, others are plain. A variety of types of plastic are represented, including celluloid, phenolic, cellulose acetate, polystyrene, and polypropylene -- some are thick and rigid, others rubbery and flexible, while still others are paper-thin and rather fragile. Each item has an identification number on a sticker on the bottom; these were present when donated and correspond to a provided inventory list (see files).
Arrangement of the Collection
Ordered according to the numbered sticker on the bottom of each item.
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.
Subject Headings
Persons
Subjects
Genres and Forms
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Alan Griffiths Soap Box Collection,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries
Acquisition Information
Gift of Glenn Beall, 2018.
Finding Aid Information
Created by: MRC
Date: 7 Sep 2018
Revision history: 21 Sep 2020 - processed (MRC)
Inventory
| Soap boxes | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | Items 1-12 - celluloid, phenoformaldehyde (aka phenolic or Bakelite), cellulose acetate | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Items 13-15 - cellulose acetate, polystyrene | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Items 16-17 - polystyrene | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Items 18 - polystyrene | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Item 19 - polystyrene | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Items 20-25 - polystyrene, polyethylene | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Items 26-29 - polyethylene | ||||||||||
| Box 3 | Items 30-40 - polypropylene | ||||||||||