CIRCA 1870

At the 1862 London International Exhibition, an English chemist, Alexander Parkes, exhibited under the patent name 'Parkesine' small objects of the first man-made plastic. This was derived from cellulose nitrate which had been invented in 1846 but had previoulsy been used as gun cotton. It could be coloured to resemble types of hardstone but was too brittle and production ceased in 1868. From the same material with the addition of camphor, the brothers John and Isaiah Hyatt developed in 1869 a more durable substance patented as celluloid. It was used by a variety of manufacturers with slight differences of formula and under other trade names for the production of cutlery handles, cigarette cases and caskets usually imitative of tortoiseshell, ivory and mother-of-pearl.