Flippin' Through: Ideas About Hair Dressing by Pro-phy-lac-tic c.1923

  Today's 'Flipping Through' is a little bit different.  Instead of a traditional magazine I found a small booklet titled Ideas About Hair Dressing, which is a sort of advertisement and instructional book in one by the brand Pro-phy-lac-tic.  There is no date in the book, but based on this brand's advertisements in archived magazines and the hairstyles shown it appears to be circa 1923*.

Mansir Printing Company

Holyoke, Mass.

Further Research:
McCall's, January 1923: Pro-phy-lac-tic Brush Advertisement
*This book is shown in the advertisement above, which I didn't notice at first!

For The Love Of Vintage Plastics: Bakelite

  I should have known that my growing interest in all things vintage and antique would lead me to one of the most popular collectibles among men and women alike - Bakelite.  Bakelite is the candy of the plastic world, from its bright rainbow bangles to psychedelic swirled radios, anything and everything was once made from Bakelite.

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  With the decreased use of celluloid because of its explosive nature, there was room for improvement as well as the need for a plastic that was not dependent on natural resources.  The miracle came from chemist Leo Baekeland in 1907, who was successful in creating the first completely synthetic plastic, a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin to which he named Bakelite.  Not only was it completely man-made, it was cheap and heat resistant, much unlike its predecessor celluloid.  These properties made Bakelite the primary plastic from 1909-1950s.  Its heat resistance made it popular in electrical devices like telephones, radios, switches, and sewing machine feet, as well as gaining favor in the fashion world for its versatility as Art Deco jewelry, buttons, and belt buckles. It was used in plates, cutlery, children's toys, cameras, smoking paraphernalia, the list goes on.

Advertisement, 1938.
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Advertising booklet showing the variety of Bakelite products from 1941.

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  Bakelite is known as a type of plastic, but it is also a brand(that later branched out into other plastics as is seen in the photo above).  Another brand called Catalin from the American Catalin Corporation acquired the patent for Baekeland's formaldehyde resin in 1927 and made their own version with less and differing fillers.  The belief is widely held that true Bakelite was only made in dark colors like brown, black, and deep red, and that any other color is actually Catalin.  Some advertisements from the time seem to suggest otherwise, but it is safe to say that both Bakelite and Catalin are formaldehyde resins that hold their value as well as their collectible status, and both terms are now mostly used interchangeably.

 Bakelite color chart.  From Gifts to Treasure, Embed Art Company catalog, 1924.

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Another Bakelite color chart, unknown date and source. 

  Even though Bakelite seemed like a miracle, it too had its downfall.  Unlike the obvious problems that came from celluloid, Bakelite's issue was subtle but just as dangerous, that being the formaldehyde used in its production.  Formaldehyde, the same chemical used in the embalming process, has cancer causing properties.  These cancer causing agents can leech from the Bakelite through repeated exposure(as well as affecting those in the production of the material), and seeing that this was used in items like crib toys and kitchen utensils, the Bakelite boom only lasted until around the 1950s-1960s when safer plastics were created.  Bakelite is still used in some industries today, but the household items are a thing of the past.

  I have been familiar with Bakelite almost as long as I've been familiar with celluloid, but it was only when I became interested in Art Deco and the 1930s did I want to add some pieces to my collection.  Of the vintage plastics, Bakelite and Catalin are the most popular and valuable, which means I haven't been able to afford many pieces, but the pieces I do own I treasure, and I will detail them in a coming post.


Further Research:
Wikipedia: Bakelite
Wikipedia: Catalin
Hexion: Bakelite-Resins (uses today)

Making a c.1923 Butterick Dress: The Reveal

  And here it is!  After two and a half weeks of work I finished Butterick 6962 circa 1923 open front dress with slip.

View of the front with all the accessories(including a matching band for my hat with a buckle).

View of the back - the belt slipped a bit so the spot where I tacked the pleats is visible.  I was so worried the pleats would just disappear when I took out the basting stitches, but was pleasantly surprised to see they still mostly hold their shape.

Color details.

Back collar detail.

Sleeve and front detail.

Front of slip neckline detail with brooch.

The things I've learned:

1) Tailor's tacks are both good and bad - they mark both pieces of fabric without needing to be washed out or risking staining the fabric, and using multiple colors instantly tells me what mark means what, but they are somewhat time consuming to put in and have the potential to fall out which can be annoying.
2) Pleats are only good in small doses - I used to prefer pleats to gathers, but these dress-length pleats were the devil to get even and to stay in place, hence all the basting.
3) Perforated patterns aren't nearly as hard as they seem - I'm sure in a pattern that comes with minimal instructions it would be difficult to translate what all the holes mean, so I'm glad my first attempt had a Deltor to hold my hand through the process, but I feel that the next vintage pattern I work on will not seem so scary now that I know a bit more about the use of perforations.

  Would I undertake a vintage pattern again?  Absolutely, and I hope I can find some more, perhaps 1930s, patterns to make in the future.



Shoes: American Duchess 'Mae'
Gloves/parasol: Amazon
Purse: not vintage, but from an antique store
Hat: Target
Buckle on hat: vintage
Brooch: vintage, circa 1920s-1930s
Sunglasses: Zenni, prescription

Flipping Through: The Woman's Weekly, November 1904

Today's 'Flipping Through' is The Woman's Weekly from November 1904.

 Beautiful Art Nouveau detailing on the table of contents.

Ladies sporting fur scarves and stoles.

Sears & Roebuck Co. sewing machine in cabinet - if only they were $5 now!

Advertisement to send in your hair, then receive a real hair piece that matches your own.

A time when anything could be ordered from a catalog.

About tapeworms - during the late Victorian and Edwardian era there was a rumor that women used tapeworms to lose weight, taken in 'tapeworm pills' which housed the worm's eggs.  Once the weight was lost, the woman would want to shed her tapeworm, since there are nasty side effects to having one living in the body.  I have found no conclusive evidence to this diet trend, but I couldn't help but be reminded of it when seeing these advertisements to remove tapeworms. 

I thought there was some irony to the juxtaposition of these two advertisements.  (note the name Kellogg - not the same Kellogg of cereal fame it seems)

Copyrighted October, 1901,

By the Lewis Publishing Co.,

St. Louis, MO.