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                            Volume 32 No. 11                            JULY 2019                     www.antiqueshoppefl.com               TAKE ONE


                                                        Bakelite “V” Pins


                                                           Helped Win World War II



                                               By Larry LeMasters

                                               LeMasters’ Antique News Service

                                               Bakelite, which could only be        Soon Catalin, generically called
                                             produced in brown and black colors,   Bakelite, was being used to produce
                                             was originally used to produce       kitchenware, pipe stems, firearms, games,               This
                                             electrical insulators and radio and   and toys.  But it was most visibly used         beautiful,
                    Beautiful,               telephone casings, but in 1927 all   to make inexpensive, colorful costume            US Army
                                                                                                                        “Sweetheart”
                 1940s WWII                  of that changed when the American    jewelry.  Catalin proved the perfect material              Victory pin
                          Bakelite           Catalin Corporation developed and    to produce jewelry since it could be filed,             sold on eBay
                  “Victory” pin.
                                             trademarked its most famous plastic   sawed, drilled, ground, sanded,  and                        for $205.
                                             invention-Catalin.  Catalin, also a   polished  to a brilliant sheen.
                                             phenol formaldehyde                                           Jewelry     wear.  Also, Bakelite was one of only
                                             resin, was near                                                designers and   a handful of materials not restricted
                                             colorless, so it could                                    manufacturers,  by rationing and conservation order
               akelite has been called the
           Bplastic that won World War II.    be manufactured in                                                     such as Coco  during WWII, so Bakelite was
        Bakelite’s flexibility in manufacturing   many brilliant colors,                                             Chanel, Elsa         readily available as jewelry material
        led to it being called “the material of   such as red, yellow,                                      Schiaparelli, and  The V sign is a hand gesture in
        1,001 uses,” and if you count each   green, blue, orange,          WWII                            Diana Vreeland began  which the index and middle fingers
                                                                                                        designing and producing
        product manufactured from Bakelite a   maroon, and cream.     patriotic                                        are raised and parted to make a V
                                                                US Air Force
        “use,” then the slogan was, probably,   To add whimsy to           Bakelite                     Bakelite costume jewelry.  shape while the other fingers remain
        no boast, just fact.                 its product, Catalin     Victory” pin                   Designer Paul T. Frankl, in   clenched.  The sign has various
           The war effort produced hundreds   names its Bakelite  valued at $135.              1930, considered Bakelite a  meanings, but during WWII, it
        of Bakelite items, all of which      plastic Butterscotch,                           “Materia Nova” or “new    became the campaign sign, used
                                             Salmon, Chocolate
                                                                                              material” that was an
        contributed to winning the war,                                                                                by the Western Allies, to denote
        but one of the most iconic items     Sundae, Egg Yolk, and other                     expression of its time.   “Victory” against Germany and
        produced for the war effort during   descriptive, fun names.                    While the heyday of Bakelite   Japan. Victor de Laveleye, a Belgian
        WWII was jewelry, specifically “V”     Although the name “Bakelite”       jewelry came in the 1930s before the   politician in exile, first suggested, on
        (victory) pins or brooches.          became the generic name for all      war, Bakelite is still credited for its   a broadcast for the BBC, the V sign,
                                             phenol formaldehyde plastics, most
                                                                                  help on the home front from 1941-
           Leo Baekeland invented Bakelite                                                                             in January 1941, as a rallying symbol
        in 1907 while experimenting to       of the “Bakelite” jewelry, radios, and   1945 for its patriotic jewelry that   for “Victory.”
        find a replacement for shellac.      other so-called “Bakelite” products of   bolstered moral and visibly expressed   In July 1941, Winston Churchill
        Mixing phenol and formaldehyde,      the 1930s and ‘40s, such as Bakelite   American’s desire for “Victory.”  And   began using the V hand sign,
        Baekeland created the first synthetic   “V” pins were actually made from   nothing expressed this desire to win   showing his approval of it as wartime
                                             Catalin since Catalin could be dyed in
                                                                                  the war more than Bakelite “V” pins,
        thermosetting plastic, which he                                                                                propaganda.
        named “Bakelite” after himself.      any color of the rainbow.            which were inexpensive and easy to                   Continued on Page 2

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