sergio a. salvi, the advent of plastics 1770-1964 (lecture extract)

THE ADVENT OF PLASTICS 1770-1964

Sergio Antonio Salvi

DESIGN FOR PLASTICS

THE ADVENT OF PLASTICS

1770-1964:

Since 1770, Fratelli Guzzini. Horn of ox working

Before the advent of “synthetic” polymers, “artificial” plastics were those who could be transformed “plastically”, by means of both mechanical and thermal action; sometimes they could be little “modified” with chemical substances (the nature of polymers was unknown)

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1770-1964:

Since 1770, Fratelli Guzzini. Horn of ox cooking tools

These objects production already needed of simple moulds

Horn of ox, as many other “natural” materials, is chemically composed by proteins who are kinds of polymers

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1770-1964:

1851, London Great Exhibition, Crystal Palace

A raft, some types of buoys and other articles, all made in rubber (prod. Good Year); natural rubber was –and still is– derived by a substance generated by a plant, then treated by means of the process of “vulcanization” (a type of curing) that transforms it into an elastomeric material

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1770-1964:

1851, London Great Exhibition, Crystal Palace

Rubber is now chemically known as poly isoprene (cis-isomer)

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DESIGN FOR PLASTICS


DESIGN FOR PLASTICS



1770-1964:

1880-1890, Gutta Percha catalog page

This company produced many different household objects, even furniture, made moulding a particular kind of plastic who was derived by a plant, as well as natural rubber, whose molecular structure is very similar


1770-1964:

1880-1890, Toronto, fountain pen made in “Ebanite”, with its case (prod. Swan)

“Ebanite” is a trade name for a type of material derived from natural rubber; poly isoprene becomes rigid when the vulcanization process is over boosted; the term “ebanite” was chosen to evocate the similitude to the widely used wood at that time

DESIGN FOR PLASTICS


DESIGN FOR PLASTICS



1770-1964:

End of IXX cent., France and United Kingdom. Dropper for medical use, pill box whose closure is made by means of “insert moulding” and a neck chain, all made of Ebanite

Notice that the insert is a French coin

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1770-1964:

End of IXX cent., prob. France. Rattles for newborns in thermoformed foil (balls), coupled by means of adhesive, and extruded hot post-curved sticks (handles), all made of celluloid

This material is an “artificial” one; derived from wood cellulose, is the precursor of those resins known as “acetalic”


1770-1964:

End of IXX cent., prob. France. Feminine hair comb, hairpin box and handbag, all made of celluloid

Both the comb material and the box one were compounded to simulate “natural” substances (tortoise shell and briar root respectively)

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1770-1964:

End of IXX cent., prob. France. Feminine hair comb, hairpin box and handbag, all made of celluloid

The plastics incoming has been characterized by this approach: plastics were poor materials, cheap, so that the simulation of other materials was the solution…

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DESIGN FOR PLASTICS



1770-1964:

End of IXX cent. Hand fan made of celluloid in which the material evocates the tortoise shell

This types of textures, at that time exploited to imitate natural materials, in plastics are got by means of plants in which two or more differently pigmented polymers are imperfectly mixed together

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1770-1964:

1901, Paris. Hand propeller fan (hand operated) made of celluloid with inlay of silver and mother pearl (prod. Zephir)

This product –higly artisanal– seems to have been created to make the observer thinking of a material like bone or ivory

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DESIGN FOR PLASTICS



1770-1964:

1901, Paris. Hand propeller fan (hand operated) made of celluloid with inlay of silver and mother pearl (prod. Zephir)

In the first decade of the IXX century this “artisanal” way to conceive the industrial product was debated in the Deutsche Werkbund, who counteracted the “art noveau” approach

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1770-1964:

1910, Germany. Baby doll partially produced in celluloid (prod. Rheinische Gummi und Celluloid Fabrik)

The body was artisanally manufactured working leather of goat kid; this was an innovation for the time because baby dolls were made of rag, wood and porcelain, in order of price

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1770-1964:

1919, Scotland. Fireplace clock made in wood “ebony colour”, with inlay of casein to imitate ivory (des. Mackintosh)

This product confirms how the society of the firsts decades of the century was anchored to the past: everything could be made of every material but traditional…

DESIGN FOR PLASTICS



1770-1964:

1927, United Kingdom. Page of the catalogue Bandalasta

Kitchenware made of urea-formaldehyde resin, a material nowadays disappeared in this application, instead now in use for special ones like for “composite” materials

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1770-1964:

1927-1932, United Kingdom. Pic nic Bandalasta cup with its saucer (prod. Streetly Manufacturing for Brookes and Adams)

Made of urea-formaldehyde resin, it is amazing for the material effect still adopted for this type of products; the surface gloss is due to the “amorphous” state of the material nowadays got by means of polymers like MF, PMMA, SAN etc.

DESIGN FOR PLASTICS



1770-1964:

1927-1932, United Kingdom. Bandalasta urea-formaldehyde pic nic cups with their case (prod. Streetly Manufacturing for Brookes and Adams)

Cups whose material was compounded probably to imitate ivory or bone

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1770-1964:

Thirties, United Kingdom. Coloured urea-formaldehyde cups (prod. Streetly Manufacturing for Stadium)

These cups, whose resin trade name is “Beatl”, for the first time simply appear as if they were made of plastic, without any need to resort to imitation; this is a great step towards the plastics appreciation

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sergio a. salvi, the advent of plastics 1770-1964 (lecture extract)

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