"THE PERILS OF IVORY.
Celluloid, the new imitation of Ivory, is charming, but combustible."
"Caution, Charlie! By Jove, the balls have exploded!"
(Still image from the documentary 'New Hidden Killers of the Victorian Home', clip here)
With so many items made from plastic in this day and age, one might be surprised to know that some plastics have become collectible and valuable. I for one would not have guessed that my vintage journey would lead to me becoming a collector of something that seems so modern as plastic, but I was surely wrong.
One of the oldest plastics, and the first man-made, is celluloid. First patented as Parkesine by Alexander Parkes in 1862, then Xylonite by Daniel Spill in 1869, before finally being registered as Celluloid by John W. Hyatt in 1870, celluloid is a thermoplastic whose main ingredients are nitrocellulose and camphor, both extracted from plants. It grew in popularity because of its ability to be easily molded and carved, and was used in everything from jewelry, billiard balls, men's collars and cuffs, and the photography and film industry.
Advertising card showing the innovation of plastic in clothing.
Celluloid can be recognized in a few forms. The most common and earliest was a faux ivory, originally called French Ivory. French Ivory, which later was called 'grained celluloid', is of a distinctive ivory to beige color with parallel lines running vertically through it, an attempt to mimic the striations seen in true ivory.
Sears & Roebuck Co. catalog from 1918 shows a plethora of faux ivory celluloid accessories.
Photoplay magazine from 1925 advertising DuPont's Pyralin products.
Celluloid also took on some solid colors as well as mother of pearl finishes used extensively in dresser sets and some jewelry.
DuPont Pyralin in 'Shell' from the early 1920s, showing off the imitation properties of celluloid, this time tortoiseshell instead of ivory.
One of my favorite types of celluloid, Pearl-on-Amber, yet another line of Pyralin products from DuPont from the 1920s.
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John W. Hyatt founded the Celluloid Manufacturing Company and several subsidiaries in the 1880s to produce this variety of items, but from the 1910s-1930s their competitor, DuPont, thrived in the celluloid business with their brand, Pyralin. Arch Amerith was the Celluloid Man. Co.'s line of toiletry products from the 1920s to rival DuPont's Pyralin, but I have yet to find advertisements or much else on those products, which clearly speaks to DuPont's popularity.
The downfall of celluloid came from its two main ingredients. First, the nitrocellulose is known to be extremely flammable, and not just flammable, but explosive. There have been a number of factory accidents where celluloid was produced, as well as fatalities of people who were unaware of its combustibility.
Article from the New London, CT newspaper 'The Day', dated November 8, 1909.
Photograph of the ruins from the celluloid comb factory fire mentioned in the article above, December 1909.
Article from the Pittsburgh, PA newspaper 'Post-Gazette', dated December 18, 1910.
Second, the camphor can become unstable within the plastic and essentially evaporate, which causes a chemical breakdown known as 'celluloid rot' (this is more so a problem for current collectors, but if not stored properly, the rot can quickly advance and even spread to other celluloid items).
Various stages of celluloid rot on a piece of my own - a learning experience for sure.
That being said, as long as the celluloid doesn't come in contact with any source of direct heat, there's no reason to be afraid of it. It has become quite collectible in many of its forms since being mostly discontinued in the 1950s, and is now only being produced in China to make ping pong balls, guitar picks, and as a covering for some musical instruments.
I came upon celluloid through my love of antique decorative hair combs, which taught me the ins and outs of collecting it(see my blog post here about my comb collection). Since then I've acquired a variety of celluloid items, all of which I will detail in a coming post.
Further Research:
Wikipedia: Celluloid
Timeline of Plastic History
The Celluloid Industries (a 1885 catalog of the Celluloid Manufacturing Co. products and their factories)
Celluloid Corporation Records (the only digital record I could find mentioning the Arch Amerith toiletry line)
DuPont Plastic History
Cleopatra's Boudoir: Celluloid Dresser Sets (another blog post with in-depth information and some beautiful advertisements)
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