Where It All Began: Bakelite in Yonkers

I was most impressed by the variety of objects on display, about 300 in all – the majority made of Bakelite, of course. Common and uncommon items as portable radios, kitchen utensils, dinnerware, children’s miniature toy cars, adult gaming accessories (who knew that pool table balls were also made of Bakelite?), mechanical equipment, jewelry, cameras, and other gadgets all stacked high in the glass cases. I can go on and on but I still will not be able to mention all the objects that are part of this impressive display. In other words, you name it, and it was made out of Bakelite. The reason for this overabundance of objects is that a part of the exponents come from the Amsterdam Bakelite Collection, a treasure trove of 4,000 objects owned by Reindert Groot, a Dutch photographer, who has been collecting Bakelite since 1990 and some from Baekeland’s great-grandson Hugh Karraker.

Since this exhibition is not limited to a time period, it is a wonderful treat for design historians. One can identify all different styles in the objects on display. The severe edges of an Art Deco weather station “Barometer and Thermometer” can be compared to the streamlined curves of the Tesla Talisman radio. And we are reminded with some of the more recent designs, like those of Phillipe Stark’s, that Bakelite is still in use today.

Some of the designs are humorous and neat to look at. Sometimes trying to figure out their purpose is also a treat (a beer warmer? really?). My favorite were the smoking accessories: a cigar cutter, “Gibus”, is in the shape of a clown (the cigar goes into the clown’s mouth and is cut by a simple tap on the hat) but this does not compare to the Art Deco elephant ashtray which also has a slot for a matchbox and cigarettes from the 1930s or a “Razzia” cigarette lighter, in the shape of a gun, from the 1950’s. Some designers are unknown while others boast famous names. Another favorite was a Gio Ponti designed Desk Intercom, “dufono” ca. 1940s, for the Ducati Corporation.

Prior to Bakeland’s discovery, other materials were developed and used, in the nineteenth-century, in much the same way that Bakelite was. Vulcanite, Shellac, Bois Durci (this particular material was a discovery for me- invented in France in 1885 it is based on cellulose and is made from blood found in Parisian slaughter houses, powdered wood and coloring agents), and Celluloid were also used to imitate more expensive materials such as ivory and tortoise shell. A jewelry historian recently told me that she believes that much of Bakelite is used to imitate jasper- this was after I proudly showed-off my new Bakelite dome ring.