Editing Bakelite (section)

==Applications==
[[File:Wehrmacht Morsetaste WaA 376 1).jpg|thumb|Bakelite cover of a German [[telegraph key]]]]
The characteristics of Bakelite made it particularly suitable as a molding compound, an adhesive or binding agent, a varnish, and a protective coating, as well as for the emerging electrical and automobile industries because of its extraordinarily high resistance to electricity, heat, and chemical action.<ref name="Meikle"/>{{rp|44–45}}

The earliest commercial use of Bakelite in the electrical industry was the molding of tiny insulating bushings, made in 1908 for the Weston Electrical Instrument Corporation by Richard W. Seabury of the Boonton Rubber Company.<ref name="Meikle"/>{{rp|43}}<ref name=OldTimer>{{cite journal|last1=The Old Timer|title=I Remember When|journal=Bakelite Review|date=1935|volume=7|issue=3|pages=24–28}}</ref> Bakelite was soon used for non-conducting parts of telephones, radios, and other electrical devices, including bases and sockets for light bulbs and electron tubes ([[vacuum tubes]]), supports for any type of electrical components, automobile [[distributor cap]]s, and other insulators.<ref name="Meikle"/><ref name="Advertisement">{{Cite magazine |title=Bakelite: The Material of a Thousand Uses |format=Advertisement |date=March 1926 |magazine=[[Popular Science]] |page=105 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2CgDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA105 |access-date=August 5, 2015 }}</ref> By 1912, it was being used to make billiard balls, since its elasticity and the sound it made were similar to ivory.<ref name=Couteur>{{cite book|last1=Le Couteur|first1=Penny|last2=Burreson|first2=Jay|title=Napoleon's buttons : 17 molecules that changed history|url=https://archive.org/details/napoleonsbuttons00cout_029|url-access=limited|date=2003|publisher=Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin|location=New York|isbn=9781585423316|pages=[https://archive.org/details/napoleonsbuttons00cout_029/page/n144 135]–137}}</ref><ref name=Lokensgard>{{cite book|last1=Lokensgard|first1=Erick|title=Industrial plastics : theory and application|date=2010|publisher=Delmar Cengage Learning|location=Clifton Park, NY|isbn=978-1428360709|edition=5th|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5SYEAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA8}}</ref>

During World War I, Bakelite was used widely, particularly in electrical systems. Important projects included the [[Liberty L-12|Liberty airplane engine]],<ref name=Liberty>{{cite book|last1=Navy Department Bureau of Steam Engineering|title=Notes on Liberty engine ignition system|date=1919|publisher=Government Printing Office|location=Washington, D. C.|pages=8, 20|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZAoAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA8|access-date=August 27, 2015}}</ref> the wireless telephone and radio phone,<ref name=Hirsch>{{cite journal|last1=Hirsch|first1=William Crawford|title=Radio Apparatus – What is it made of?|journal=Electrical Record and Buyer's Reference|date=1922|volume=31|pages=392–398|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cm42AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA396|access-date=August 27, 2015}}</ref> and the use of [[micarta]]-bakelite propellers in the [[Martin NBS-1|NBS-1 bomber]] and the [[Airco DH.4|DH-4B aeroplane]].<ref name=Carr>{{cite journal|last1=Carr|first1=Gardner W.|title=Organization and Activities of Engineering Division of the Army Air Service|journal=United States Air Services|date=1922|volume=7|pages=22–27|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1887AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA25}}</ref><ref name=Mumford>{{cite book|last1=Mumford|first1=John Kimberly|title=The story of bakelite|date=1924|publisher=Robert L. Stillson Co.|location=New York|pages=70–80|url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/003913673|access-date=August 27, 2015}}</ref>

Bakelite's availability and ease and speed of molding helped to lower the costs and increase product availability so that telephones and radios became common household consumer goods.<ref name="Meikle"/>{{rp|116–117}}<ref name=AnniversaryMaterials>{{cite journal|title=Bakelite Materials in Industry|journal=Bakelite Review|date=1935|volume=7|issue=3|pages=30–36}}</ref><ref name=Radios>{{cite web|title=Vintage Bakelite and Catalin Radios|url=http://www.collectorsweekly.com/radios/catalin-bakelite|website=Collectors Weekly|access-date=August 6, 2015}}</ref> It was also very important to the developing automobile industry.<ref name=Balinski>{{cite news|last1=Balinski|first1=Brent|title=Manufacturers' Monthly Material of the Month part 1: Bakelite|url=http://www.manmonthly.com.au/features/manufacturers-monthly-material-of-the-month-part-1|access-date=August 6, 2015|work=Manufacturer's Monthly|date=September 12, 2014|archive-date=May 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514043808/http://www.manmonthly.com.au/features/manufacturers-monthly-material-of-the-month-part-1|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was soon found in myriad other consumer products ranging from pipe stems and buttons to saxophone mouthpieces, cameras, early machine guns, and appliance casings. Bakelite was also very commonly used in the pistol grip, hand guard, and buttstock of firearms. Also magazines for Kalashnikov rifles - though components of the [[AKM]], and some early [[AK-74]] rifles are frequently mistakenly identified as using Bakelite, but most were made with [[AG-4S]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kokalis|first1=Peter|title=Weapons Tests And Evaluations: The Best Of Soldier Of Fortune|date=2001|publisher=Paladin Press|pages=45, 49}}</ref>. Other uses through the first half of the 20th century include knife handles and "scales".{{cn|reason=What?|date=March 2025}}<ref name=Franklin>{{cite book|last1=Franklin|first1=Adrian|title=Collecting the 20th Century|date=2010|publisher=UNSW Press|location=Sydney|pages=48–53|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jsmr9T0uIncC&pg=PA53|isbn=9781742230016}}</ref>

Beginning in the 1920s, it became a popular material for jewelry.<ref name=Tortoriello>{{cite book|last1=Tortoriello|first1=Lyn|last2=Lyons|first2=Deborah|title=Bakelite jewelry : the art of the carver|date=2008|publisher=Schiffer Pub.|location=Atglen, PA|isbn=978-0764329142}}</ref> Designer [[Coco Chanel]] included Bakelite bracelets in her costume jewelry collections.<ref name=Jewelry>{{cite book|last1=Davidov|first1=Corinne|last2=Dawes|first2=Ginny Redington|title=The bakelite jewelry book|date=1988|publisher=Abbeville Press|location=New York|isbn=9780896598676|edition=1st}}</ref>{{rp|27–29}} Designers such as [[Elsa Schiaparelli]] used it for jewelry and also for specially designed dress buttons.<ref name=Brandt>{{cite journal|last1=Brandt|first1=Anne|title=Bakelite: The Beautiful Plastic|url=http://www.antiqueshoppefl.com/articles/january07/bakelite.htm|journal=Antique Shoppe Newspaper|date=2007|access-date=August 6, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107054810/http://www.antiqueshoppefl.com/articles/january07/bakelite.htm|archive-date=November 7, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Codina>{{cite book|last1=Codina|first1=Carles|title=The new jewelry : contemporary materials & techniques|date=2005|publisher=Lark Books|location=New York|isbn=978-1579907341|page=11|edition=1st|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sX5ZUxwvYxgC&pg=PA11|access-date=August 6, 2015}}</ref> Later, [[Diana Vreeland]], editor of ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'', was enthusiastic about Bakelite.<ref name=Garcia>{{cite book|last1=Garcia|first1=Nina|title=The one hundred: a guide to the pieces every stylish woman must own|date=2010|publisher=It Books|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0061664632|edition=1st}}</ref> Bakelite was also used to make presentation boxes for [[Breitling SA|Breitling]] watches.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dominik|date=2020-05-13|title=Bak is Beautiful|url=https://www.neold.com/post/bak-is-beautiful|access-date=2021-11-21|website=NEOLD|language=en}}</ref>

By 1930, designer [[Paul T. Frankl]] considered Bakelite a "Materia Nova", "expressive of our own age".<ref name="Meikle"/>{{rp|107}} By the 1930s, Bakelite was used for game pieces like [[chess piece]]s, [[poker chips]],<ref name=Clark>{{cite book|last1=Clark|first1=Tessa|title=Bakelite style|date=1997|publisher=Apple|location=London|isbn=978-1850768630}}</ref> [[dominoes]],<ref name=Kelley>{{cite book|last1=Kelley|first1=Jennifer A.|title=Great book of domino games|date=1999|publisher=Sterling Pub.|location=New York|isbn=978-0806942599|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/greatbookofdomin00jenn}}</ref> and [[mahjong]] sets.<ref name=Israel>{{cite book|last1=Israel|first1=Ann|last2=Swain|first2=Greg|title=Mah Jong: The Art & History of the Game|date=2014|publisher=Tuttle Pub|chapter=Chapter 5: Bakelite and Catalin|isbn=9784805313237}}</ref><ref name=Rep>{{cite book|last1=Rep|first1=Jelte|title=The great mahjong book: history, lore and play|date=2007|publisher=Tuttle Pub|location=North Clarendon, VT|isbn=978-0804837194|edition=1st|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RfjEMn0rz4oC&pg=PA23}}</ref> Kitchenware made with Bakelite, including canisters and tableware, was promoted for its resistance to heat and to chipping.<ref name=Mauzy>{{cite book|last1=Mauzy|first1=Barbara E.|title=Bakelite in the kitchen|date=2001|publisher=Schiffer Pub.|location=Atglen, PA|isbn=978-0764313790|edition=2nd}}</ref><ref name=Daniels>{{cite news|last1=Daniels|first1=Mary|title=Once Touted As 'Kitchen Jewelry', Bakelite Flatware Is Making A Comeback|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/09/19/once-touted-as-kitchen-jewelry-bakelite-flatware-is-making-a-comeback/|access-date=August 6, 2015|work=Chicago Tribune|date=September 19, 1993}}</ref> In the mid-1930s, Northland marketed a line of skis with a black "Ebonite" base, a coating of Bakelite.<ref name=Masia>{{cite journal|last1=Masia|first1=Seth|title=Milestones and detours in ski design|journal=Skiing Heritage Journal|date=2004|volume=March|pages=18–22, 36|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_7YDcDEqBcEC&pg=PA20|access-date=August 5, 2015}}</ref><ref name=Bryden>{{cite book|last1=Bryden|first1=Allison|title=From tip to tail|date=1999|publisher=Aspen Historical Society|location=Aspen, CO.|url=http://archiveaspen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/FromTiptoTailsearchable.pdf#page=20&zoom=auto,-73,680 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://archiveaspen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/FromTiptoTailsearchable.pdf#page=20&zoom=auto,-73,680 |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}} pg 15</ref> By 1935, it was used in [[Rickenbacker|solid-body electric guitars]]. Performers such as [[Jerry Byrd]] loved the tone of Bakelite guitars but found them difficult to keep in tune.<ref name=Bacon>{{cite book|last1=Bacon|first1=Tony|last2=Day|first2=Paul|title=The Rickenbacker book : [a complete history of Rickenbacker electric guitars]|date=1994|publisher=GPI Books|location=San Francisco|isbn=978-0879303297|pages=31–36|edition=1st American|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NlscjoFVcs0C&pg=PA31}}</ref>

Charles Plimpton patented BAYKO in 1933 and rushed out his first construction sets for Christmas 1934. He called the toy [[Bayko|Bayko Light Constructional Sets]], the words "Bayko Light" being a pun on the word "Bakelite".<ref>{{Cite web|title=BAYKO Toys {{!}} BAYKO Shop|url=https://www.baykoshop.com/ |access-date=2021-03-13|website=www.baykoshop.com}}</ref>

During World War II, Bakelite was used in a variety of wartime equipment including pilots' goggles and field telephones.<ref name=Graf>{{cite book|last1=Graf|first1=John Adams|title=Warman's World War II Collectibles Identification and Price Guide.|date=2014|publisher=Krause Pubns Inc|isbn=978-1440240706|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6zp3Crxzp50C&q=Bakelite&pg=PA101}}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> It was also used for patriotic wartime jewelry.<ref name=WWII>{{cite web|title=Home Front Friday: Bakelite for the Fight|url=http://www.nww2m.com/2015/04/bakelite-for-the-fight/|website=The National WWII Museum|access-date=August 6, 2015|date=2015-04-17}}</ref><ref name=Tanenbaum>{{cite book|last1=Tanenbaum|first1=Carole|title=Fabulous fakes : a passion for vintage of costume jewelry|date=2006|publisher=Artisan|location=New York|isbn=978-1579652920|page=70|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sM1hoi9RHegC&pg=PA70|access-date=August 6, 2015}}</ref> In 1943, the thermosetting phenolic resin was even considered for the manufacture of coins, due to a shortage of traditional material. Bakelite and other non-metal materials were tested for usage for the [[Penny (United States coin)|one cent coin]] in the US before the [[United States Mint|Mint]] settled on [[1943 steel cent|zinc-coated steel]].<ref>[http://uspatterns.com/p2073.html J2051/P2073] USPatterns.com. Retrieved July 28, 2006</ref><ref>''[[The New Yorker]]''. [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/31/080331fa_fact_owen Penny Dreadful]. David Owen. March 31, 2008.</ref>

During World War II, Bakelite buttons were part of British uniforms. These included brown buttons for the Army and black buttons for the [[RAF]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Froom |first= Phil |oclc= 1061720454 |title= Evasion and Escape Devices: Produced by MI9, MIS-X and SOE in World War II |year= 2015 |page= 228 |isbn= 9780764348396 |publisher= Schiffer Publishing }}</ref>

In 1947, Dutch art forger [[Han van Meegeren]] was convicted of forgery, after chemist and curator [[Paul B. Coremans]] proved that a purported [[Johannes Vermeer|Vermeer]] contained Bakelite, which van Meegeren had used as a paint hardener.<ref name=Williams>{{cite book|last1=Williams|first1=Robert C.|title=The forensic historian : using science to reexamine the past|date=2013|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|location=Armonk, N.Y.|isbn=978-0765636621|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CG6sBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT27|access-date=August 27, 2015}}</ref>

By the late 1940s, newer materials were superseding Bakelite in many areas.<ref name=Balinski/> [[Phenolic resin|Phenolics]] are less frequently used in general consumer products today due to their cost and complexity of production, and brittle nature. They still appear in some applications where their specific properties are required, such as small precision-shaped components, molded disc brake cylinders, saucepan handles, electrical plugs, switches and parts for electrical irons, [[FR-2|printed circuit boards]], as well as in the area of inexpensive board and tabletop games produced in China, Hong Kong, and India. Items such as billiard balls, dominoes and pieces for board games such as chess, checkers, and backgammon are constructed of Bakelite for its look, durability, fine polish, weight, and sound.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}} Common dice are sometimes made of Bakelite for weight and sound, but the majority are made of a thermoplastic polymer such as [[acrylonitrile butadiene styrene]] (ABS).
Bakelite continues to be used for wire insulation, brake pads and related automotive components, and industrial electrical-related applications. Bakelite stock is still manufactured and produced in sheet, rod, and tube form for industrial applications in the electronics, power generation, and aerospace industries, and under a variety of commercial brand names.<ref name=Balinski/>

Phenolic resins have been commonly used in [[ablative heat shield]]s.<ref name=Ellis>{{cite book|last1=Ellis|first1=Bryan|last2=Smith|first2=Ray|title=Polymers a property database|date=2009|publisher=CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group|location=Boca Raton|isbn=978-1420005707|page=372|edition=2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S-TKBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA372}}</ref> Soviet heatshields for ICBM warheads and spacecraft reentry consisted of asbestos textolite, impregnated with Bakelite.<ref>''Roads to Space: an oral history of the Soviet space program''. Aviation Week Group (1995) {{ISBN|0076070956}}</ref> Bakelite is also used in the mounting of metal samples in [[metallography]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/StructuresMaterials/ASG/MetLab/mounting.html |title=Metallographic Preparation Mounting |publisher=NASA |date=May 13, 2008 |access-date=May 2, 2009 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924040850/http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/StructuresMaterials/ASG/MetLab/mounting.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<gallery widths="120px" class="center">
File:Ericsson bakelittelefon 1931.jpg|[[Ericsson DBH 1001 telephone|Ericsson Bakelite telephone]], {{circa|1931}}
File:Bakelite letter opener.jpg|Bakelite letter opener {{circa|1920}}
File:Bakelite radio.jpg|Bakelite radio at Bakelite museum
File:Old Bakelit light switches and socket.jpg|Old tumbler switch composed of Bakelite
File:Bakelite Domino (5467420994).jpg|A Bakelite [[domino]]
File:AK74andAKS74U.jpg|[[AK-74|AK74]] and [[AKS74]] with Bakelite magazines and grips
</gallery>