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On new technology to the 1860s-
I was looking-up the history of plastic online. I wanted to know when the earliest plastics were developed. Seems like Alexander Parkes invented it in 1855, patented it in 1861 invented it and won a Bronze Medal for the idea at the 1862 International Exhibition in London.
This is what I found that you might be interested in:
Great pictures of these Parkesine items too.
Click on the website a bit to find other early pre-1860 attempts at polymers- such as "Bois Durci" (1856), Shellac (1856), and Gutta Percha (1843).
Historical timeline of polymers here: http://www.plastiquarian.com/ind3.htm
Question is, did any "Parkesine" items make their way overseas from Britain? I'm sure something had to have. This item probably wasn't common as it was most likely expensive and "newfangled"if it did make its way to America.
"Synthetic ivory"- pretty neat, I learned something new today.
An Englishman from Birmingham named Alexander Parkes developed a "synthetic ivory" named "pyroxlin", which he marketed under the trade name "Parkesine", and which won a bronze medal at the 1862 World's fair in London. Parkesine was made from cellulose treated with nitric acid and a solvent. The output of the process hardened into a hard, ivory-like material that could be molded when heated. However, Parkes was not able to scale up the process reliably, and products made from Parkesine quickly warped and cracked after a short period of use.- From the History of Plastics on Wikipedia
Anyone have any more citations on early synthetics/Parkesine?
Enjoy. - Johnny Lloyd
On new technology to the 1860s-
I was looking-up the history of plastic online. I wanted to know when the earliest plastics were developed. Seems like Alexander Parkes invented it in 1855, patented it in 1861 invented it and won a Bronze Medal for the idea at the 1862 International Exhibition in London.
This is what I found that you might be interested in:
Great pictures of these Parkesine items too.
Click on the website a bit to find other early pre-1860 attempts at polymers- such as "Bois Durci" (1856), Shellac (1856), and Gutta Percha (1843).
Historical timeline of polymers here: http://www.plastiquarian.com/ind3.htm
Question is, did any "Parkesine" items make their way overseas from Britain? I'm sure something had to have. This item probably wasn't common as it was most likely expensive and "newfangled"if it did make its way to America.
"Synthetic ivory"- pretty neat, I learned something new today.
An Englishman from Birmingham named Alexander Parkes developed a "synthetic ivory" named "pyroxlin", which he marketed under the trade name "Parkesine", and which won a bronze medal at the 1862 World's fair in London. Parkesine was made from cellulose treated with nitric acid and a solvent. The output of the process hardened into a hard, ivory-like material that could be molded when heated. However, Parkes was not able to scale up the process reliably, and products made from Parkesine quickly warped and cracked after a short period of use.- From the History of Plastics on Wikipedia
Anyone have any more citations on early synthetics/Parkesine?
Enjoy. - Johnny Lloyd