Page 1 - tmp

FREE

AUGUST 2018 • Volume 31 No. 12 www.antiqueshoppefl.com TAKE ONE
Bakelite Bangles

By Larry LeMasters
LeMasters’ Antique News Service

moldable material that could be used, according to on its October 1925 cover, asking the question,
Baekeland, to mold 1,001 things. “Bakelite — What Is It?” The article put Bakelite
Bakelite was first used to produce electrical on a collision path with jewelers across America
insulators and radio and telephone casings due to since, for the first time, jewelers became aware of
its heat-resistant and non-conductivity properties, Bakelite’s extensive color range, including “black,
and Bakelite’s lower production costs made brown, red, yellow, green, gray, blue, orange,
telephones and radios common household items. cream, maroon, and blends of two or more of
Soon Bakelite was being used for kitchenware, these” colors.
pipe stems, firearms, games, and toys. But it was By the late 1920s, jewelry designers and
most visibly used to make inexpensive, yet colorful manufacturers, such as Coco Chanel, Elsa
jewelry. Schiaparelli, and Diana Vreeland, used Bakelite
In 1910, Baekeland formed the General Bakelite for dress buttons and costume jewelry. Designer
Company, which Paul T. Frankl, in 1930, considered
ovice collectors would do well to read concentrated its Bakelite a “Materia Nova” or new
N“Gale’s Bakelite Guide” on Angelfire. business on the material that was an expression of its
com. On this site, Gale gives a good introduction
to collecting Bakelite along with some useful more lucrative time.
Bakelite quickly became the
information on Asian Fakelite, which she says rips molded plastics “darling” material for costume
than the cast solid
consumers off “by the bucket load!” resins necessary jewelry making. Jewelry designers
Gale offers this fun field test for Bakelite bangle for jewelry were attracted
bracelets: wear your bangle while relaxing in your
hot tub. “If the bangle smells like formaldehyde, making. to Bakelite
The premier
it’s Bakelite. If it smells like Vicks VapoRub issue of Plastics because it was
hard enough to
(camphor), it is Celluloid. If it smells like burnt magazine cut and polish,
milk, it’s Galalith (from 1920s), and if it has no featured Bakelite also saw, thread,
smell, it is Lucite or acrylic.”
Leo Baekeland invented Bakelite (also known as drill, slice, and
Baekelite) in 1907. Baekeland was experimenting Shown: Top- Three Bakelite sand, and it
quickly became
with controlling the temperature and pressure bangle bracelets from the 1930s. the “go to”
applied to phenol and formaldehyde, trying to Center Top- Gumdrop Bakelite bangle material for
find a replacement for shellac. Mixing the two bracelet offered on eBay for $2,500.
chemicals, Baekeland produced the first synthetic Center Bottom- This carved diamond bracelets and
thermosetting plastic ever made, which he named designed red prystal, completely transparent, bangles.
“Bakelite” after himself. Bakelite was a hard, Bakelite bangle bracelet is valued at $2,500. Continued on Page 3

Florida’s Largest Monthly Antique Event!

300 South Florida Fairgrounds AUGUST
9067 Southern Blvd.
VENDORS West Palm Beach, FL 33411 3-5

www.wpbaf.com info@wpbaf.com
EARLY BUYERS: “1st Pick” Friday 12-5PM • Admission $10 - Good All 3 Days • GEN. ADMISSION: SAT 9AM-5PM, SUN 10AM-4:30PM • Admission $8