Celluloid or French Ivory

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The Invention of Celluloid

During the 19th century many scientists were experimenting with synthetic plastics in order to replace the expensive natural plastics such as horn, ivory, and tortoiseshell. French Ivory was the world’s first thermoplastic, which meant it could be moulded under heat and retained its shape once cooled. It was invented by John Wesley Hyatt in 1868 to simulate ivory which was in short supply and needed for such items as billiard balls.

Soon the new plastic was being produced all over Europe and Asia, much to the relief of millions of elephants, tortoises and horned animals! It was also known "Ivorine" or “French Ivory”, a name which was patented and produced in Rockford, Illinois.
Many pieces survive, especially little brooches in the form of flowers, birds and animals. Dog brooches, especially terriers were very popular, I had one a while back which was a really cute Scottie dog with a nodding head. But it had one important flaw - it was highly flammable.

One of the earliest uses was famously for movie and photographic film. Soon it was used for pretty much anything. It was very popular during the Art Deco period for dolls, hair ornaments and combs, dressing table sets, hat pins, buckles and buttons, frames for pictures and mirrors, toys, novelty charms, knife handles and other utensils.

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The later non-flammable form found even more uses in radio knobs, telephones, all kinds of novelties and loud costume jewellery.

Cotton fibres were treated with nitric and sulphuric acids, treated with camphor and dyes added. Colours included ivory, tortoise shell, green, gold, red, black, blue, and many transparent shades. It was forced into rods, or sliced into sheets, so often pieces are seen with different coloured layers. French Ivory, or Ivorine was lighter and thinner than the Bakelite which followed, and was inexpensive to produce but it could crack or burn up completely when heated. So it's always advisable to keep items away from heat and sunlight. Other damage can be stains, fading and yellowing. It is slightly flexible (don't try bending it!) and can smell or taste slightly of camphor.

Lumarith

A non flammable formula (cellulose acetate), was introduced in 1927 by the Celluloid Corporation under the trade name "Lumarith". New injection molding technology led to mass production of this plastic in the late 1920s and 1930s. It was now produced in wild, loud colours and big bold designs of jewellery were made in the forms of fruit and flowers and quirky objects.

Lumarith tended to be shiny, thicker and have a flexible transparency. It was almost always dyed in shocking bright colours such as pink, fuschia, plum, salmon, orange, red, or turquoise.

Although it was more heat resistant than cellulose nitrate, its weakness was water - it would become disastrously warped when immersed in water for any length of time.