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Plastics Product Literature Collection

A description of the collection at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MM
Date: 2006



Biographical History

Founded in 1982, the National Plastics Center (NPC) was a non-profit institution dedicated to preserving the past, addressing the present and promoting the future of plastics through public education and awareness. The Center, which closed in 2008, had an extensive museum collection of plastic parts, machinery and memorabilia and the archives and library contain numerous books and collections on many subjects, companies and people prominent in the industry. In 2011, much of the NPCM collection was donated to Syracuse University.


Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Plastics Product Literature Collection consists of product literature, catalogs, objects and technical bulletins on plastic products and plastic applications by numerous plastic and chemical companies. Most emanate from American companies but the collection includes some from Japanese companies, as well as a few from France, Germany, Australia and the United Kingdom.


Arrangement of the Collection

Alphabetical by name of company and chronological within each company.


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. In particular, see the Irwin Casper Collection of Brush Product Literature and the Walter R. Kosy Papers.


Subject Headings

Subjects

Manufacturing processes.
Plastics -- Marketing.
Plastics industry and trade -- Australia.
Plastics industry and trade -- Germany.
Plastics industry and trade -- Japan.
Plastics industry and trade -- United Kingdom.
Plastics industry and trade -- United States.
Trade literature.

Genres and Forms

Brochures.
Bulletins.
Catalogs (documents)
Clippings (information artifacts)
Technical manuals.
Technical reports.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Plastics Product Literature Collection,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

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

Rogers Corporation binder on molding materials (1973) and United States Gasket Company book (1952-1953), gift of George Marshall Naul, 2011.

Industrial Plastics Products (IPP) material, gift of Veronika Thorne, 2012.

Plastics Packaging Corp. material, gift of Susan Weiss, 2012.

General Electric publicity material gift of James Albright, 2014.

Spirex material, gift of Timothy Womer, 2018.

Pro Corporation material, gift of Glenn Beall, 2018.

Celanese Celluloid Corporation book (1942), gift of James L. Throne, 2019.


Table of Contents

Company literature


Inventory