Bakelite Collection at the Museum (April-May)

What is Bakelite you may ask?  Bakelite was used widely from the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s for jewelry. Huge quantities of beads, bangles and earrings were produced by the Catalin Company which introduced 15 new colours in 1927, and created marbled and translucent plastics. The jewelry of this era is now highly collectable. It was no longer made after the second world war due to expensive production costs. Jewelry boxes, desk sets, clocks, radios, kitchenware such as canisters and tableware were also made of Bakelite during the 1930s.

Although no longer extensively used as an industrial manufacturing material, Bakelite was used in myriad applications  The thermosetting plastic was at one point considered for the manufacture of coins, due to a shortage of traditional manufacturing material. In 1943, Bakelite and other non-metal materials were tested for usage as a penny in the United States before the Mint settled on zinc coated steel. 

Bangles, necklaces, brooches, earrings, rings, buckles, buttons, game pieces, dice, napkin rings, kitchen utensils, un sliced rods, and more.... We have a passion for Bakelite, always excited to find something we don't have. We are always bringing in new vintage pieces and accepting bakelite donations.

The Museum is located at 15504 Englewood Ave. Allen Park, MI 48101 (At the corner of Englewood and Park Ave.) and open weekly on Wed. from 1:30-4:30 pm.  FREE Admission....Donations Accepted.  Come experience History. 

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