LUCITE & BAKELITE PURSES
& OLD PLASTICS ( HELPFUL TIPS for Purse Collectors, by purplejammy)

' MUST KNOWS ' ABOUT LUCITES, BAKELITES, THERMOSET, CELLULOIDS, ETC

(NOTE : this guide belongs solely to its owner/writer, purplejammy)

After 40+ years of collecting, researching, studying, buying, selling, appraising & admiring 'the Old Plastics', & plastics generally (celluloid, cellophane, PVC, rayon, thermoset, bakelite, polyethylene, lucite, nylon, teflon, etc) we've determined some important bullet points to educate you so you won't experience the pain of possibly having your lovely purses made of old plastics (as well as your other treasures made of the old plastics) breaking down into nothing but a smelly pile of particles (yes, this happens more than you know - and what was once a gorgeous vintage bakelite purse or some other old plastics treasure can be reduced to nothing that even resembles what it was). Embalming fluids & other base chemicals used to create some of the early plastics can (over time & with improper care, storage/environment, etc etc) reduce your lovely bakelites etc to 'strong vinegary' smelly sticky piles/pieces & remember......the 'diseased' smelly dying bakelite item can ruin your other bakelites/early plastics stored near it...so you should immediately separate all your other bakelite articles from the smelly one & toss the diseased purse or whatever the article may be, out into the rubbish pile.....(in order to save your other bakelites just remember it's critical to always discard the dying bakelite purse or other bakelite article to get it away from your other old bakelites!).

When buying the very early plastics, the major focus of your questions to sellers should be on the bakelite items or items that a seller might think are bakelite. Remember that it's your own responsibility to know what you're doing/buying if you're going to invest your cash in vintage plastic purses (or any other item made of the early plastics). Don't rely on sellers, because when it comes to early plastics, many times they don't know what they have (of course some do). Sellers might not intentionally mislead a buyer....but you have to know for yourself what to look for & what questions to ask of sellers of the old plastics (even if seller is not expert & does not really know what their item is made of, their answers to your strategic questions will be your guide to determining if their auction item is what you're looking for). And, even if the seller does not say their old plastic purse (or other item) is bakelite you should still ask the standard 'bakelite questions' (again, most sellers don't know the differences but they can smell the item for you & answer your questions by examining their item & getting back to you with answers to your valid inquiries & most legitimate, honest sellers are happy to do it).

Many of us know that the early plastics from the beginning of the 1900's, and of course even farther back, were used to create everything from feminine dresser boxes to kitchenware, toys, mirror handles, gorgeous purses, jewelry to hair decoration, to industrial insulators, radio & telephone components, and the list seems un-ending. Bakelites & other plastics are typically hard & durable.

Further down below are some critical bullet points - you'll behoove yourself to memorize these tips if you really want to know what you're doing when buying the vintage plastic purses ( the purses made 'back in the day' from some of the most popular old plastics).

We do NOT claim expert status, yet we know a lot. We own over 500 vintage purses (lucites & bakelites). We know secrets about them you will need. Through trial & error, & via many disappointments over the years, & through asking experts, attending shows & seminars over years-past, reading, researching, studying, etc, we share some of our knowledge with you here (and, of course, some of these tips apply to old plastics generally so they should certainly help you with bakelite which always seems to be ever-so-popular & collectible).

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TIPS * TIPS * TIPS

* ' THE ' DISEASE ' : We've found through experience, that the OLD PLASTICS WITH any of the old synthetic resins/plastics that have formaldehyde based preservatives, and formaldehyde synthesized compounds or resins such as polymerized methyl methacrylates, can break down over time when exposed to negative elements such as high temperatures at either extremes, humidity, etc....and eventually your wonderful old purses can turn into a pile of smelly particles not recognizable as what used to be a gorgeous piece that you cherished. Yes, it's termed ' THE DISEASE' in inner circles.

* Bakelite pieces, if genuine, should not have any smells until you test
them - if they smell vinegary or of strong chemicals anyway, they are probably diseased & will/could eventually be broken down to smelly gooey piles. The old bakelites should really only 'smell' when being tested ( we like the old simple tried & true test of holding the item under hot water for approx. 60 seconds - if smells of shellac or lacquer or chemicals it's more than likely genuine bakelite) - most times, we do not use the standard simichrome or 409 tests because if improperly tested they can degrade the beautiful finishes on the old bakelites and although the hot water also slightly risks the integrity of bakelite, it works best for us, and we feel it's less damaging to the piece. (simichrome is famed for use for polishing chrome parts on motorcycles etc). Also - Novus Polish is supposed to work really well on repairing scratches on lucite purses as well as many other uses.

* If collecting plastic purses, know as much as you can about the old purse manufacturers, designer names & their company histories (Kahn, Elsa, Patricia of Miami, Lewis Lucid Llewellyn, Wilardy, Dorset-Rex, etc - there were many).   

* Don't let anybody 'rub' on your bakelite items. And, do the plastics tests yourself (we get really perturbed by the many people who don't know what they're doing, & when they grab our old plastics items & start 'rubbing' them we have been known to become most irritated although we always share the real deal with the person & go from there ( & no, simply rubbing & creating heat is typically not what we regard as a valid bakelite testing process).

* Bakelites get a vinegar smell & strong odors that are quickly & easily recognized by your nose when they are 'dying' from " the disease '.

* It was thought that once the early bakelite was firmly set, it would never change (early bakelites were then thought to be chemically stable, yet we wonder).

* Bakelite was used in weapons during WWII.

* Yes, bakelite is a thermoset plastic.

* IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER - one 'diseased' purse can give the disease to other purses stored near or beside the sick one. If you have determined that a purse in your collection has the 'disease' then immediately remove it from the environment where your other purses are stored. Might be sad for you to do so, but always best to totally discard the diseased purse, do not try to salvage the handles, the lid - just simply toss it all in the rubbish.

* We were not present during the manufacture of our collected treasures, but we know that Bakelite is basically a thermoset phenol formaldehyde resin olyoxybenzylmethylnglycolanhydride (or something near that, excuse spelling errors if any) & was created by Dr. Baekeland during the period of 1907 to approx. 1909. In the creation of his phenomenal material (bakelite) a filler was used along with heat & pressure. Baekeland was a chemist (we think he was from New York). The Bakelite Corp of the 1940's eventually was later acquired by Union Carbide & there's a lot more to that story.

* If you are going to use simichrome or 409 etc to test for bakelite make sure you know how to use those products (again, we suggest you learn how to test without abrasives & chemicals because if you ruin your item you might have to have it refinished).

* Know your terms & what they mean (phenolics, micarta, synthetic resin, etc).

* Bakelite is still produced today but is called by other names.

* Bakelite was the very first completely synthetic material and was made on an apparatus / machine called a Bakelizer that looked like a pot.
 
* To our knowledge the 1st. actual man-made plastic was termed Parkesine (introduced in 1862 in London) - it was composed of organics from cellulose that was heated, shaped, and kept its shape once cooled. It was hoped it could do anything rubber could do but at a lower cost. It ended up being a flop because it quickly lost its luster & investors thought the raw materials needed to produce it were too expensive.

* In today's world, space-age plastics ( the modern-day offshoots of early plastics) are widely used in most every industry including medical supplies & devices / prosthetics, child safety products, food storage, automotive, garden, & the list of uses for wonderful plastics still goes on & on.

(NOTE : this guide belongs solely to its owner/writer, purplejammy)