Do You Remember Bakelite?

This post not for the young pups,
but for the old fossils of collecting.

The 1950's 1960's I recall Bakelite, that funny brown plastic
material as........

knobs on my crystal radio set,
One of me mum's jewellery boxes.
The gear knob on the Ford Prefect
(we called it the Ford Defect)

The slotted radio cover in the Morris
The distributor cap and points rotor in the Morris Minor.
(it would often crack)
Fancy but boring brown chassis's of mantel Radios

Well, did Philately escape?
Not on your life.

I give you the "Philanite" wmk detector / hinge box /
and perf gauge.
Circa 1960?

If you have one, I'd suggest it be very collectible.

Produced by XLCR (Excelsior)

My exposure to bakelite has been limited, but what a great piece of philatelic advertising.

Does it also smell odd when exposed to hot water?

I'm too young (I think) to have had much exposure to this early plastic material, although I have seen it in some "retro" pieces. For those who don't know what we're talking about, here's a brief history:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakelite

By the way, that desk compact for stamp collectors is a classic (antique) piece. I have never seen that one before.

Nice post.

Interesting item. I may be a young pup, but I find pieces of bakelite in roadside archaeology projects. I also find asbestos too, but that's a different story.

The stuff was great. Lasts forever. We still have a Bakelite black rotary phone that we keep at fishing camp, weighs about 8lbs. It was funny first time the kids saw it and asked why no buttons.

G'Day Rodney,

I had the impression that you weren't an 'old geezer'. If you remember Bakelite then I guess I was wrong and you are in my generation.

The stuff smelled terrible when it got warm. What is amazing to me is that the bakelite jewerly your mum bought because it was cheap isn't any more. At an antique store I saw the same jewelry going for hundreds of dollars. My mum threw out her bakelite jewelry when my parents moved because it smelled and it was out of style. Sorry I didn't go dumpster diving for it.

Jerry B

Wow! so many people know Bakelite, that's surprising.
roadside architecture?

Yep, an old geezer Jerry, but I did 50km
last wednesday on the roadbike, and went up Mount Latham this morning.
I'm not giving up without a fight


BTW. Phialnite brochure gift from stampgal.

Rod: Roadside archaeology - tested for cultural materials underground before a water/sewer line is laid, road expansion, bridge replacement or similar project. We find a lot of 19th-20th Century trash as a result.
Will

I know of Bakelite but that is because I frequent Antique stores and watch collectible type of shows. I am too young to know much about it firsthand. The rotary phone in our basement could be bakelight, but I have a feeling it is plastic (I'll have to get it wet;).

I remember the old bakelite distributor caps and art deco ash trays (which tended to stain and blister).

Way way too many cracked distributor caps, can't start the car in the rain, sputters and stutters the car.

Well I'm not too young. Mack, same thing happened with my kids at Oma's cottage. They wanted to call me to tell me they arrived safely, put their fingers in the holes and looked at oma with a puzled look. Apparently it was priceless. They did the same thing with the TV when they asked for the remote and were told there wasn't one. Of course these are the same kids that asked if dinosaurs were still around when I was "Little"
Dianne

rod, yes I remember bakelite and in several cases not fondly. Like others, cracked distributor caps caused my family many frustrations on wet, damp days. I also remember a radio that had a couple of chips from being dropped. Sometimes we old dinosaurs yearn for bygone days but not the bakelite days.

I remember it too, Rod --- mostly in the context of old radio and electronics parts.

My favorite part of the ad is "Big Production and Efficient Methods" ... sounds like my honeymoon

KirkS

Just curious - are all bakelite items collectable?