Hubert D. Bennett took over as president of the Toledo Scale Company in 1926. His challenge was to "reinvent" his company's product as something much lighter than its 163-pound porcelain and iron model. Bennett hired Norman Bel Geddes to create new designs for scales, but he also initiated research to develop a new lightweight material to replace the porcelain enamel used to coat metal scales.

Bennett soon opted for entirely plastic housing for the scales, and developed prototypes in black Bakelite that he tested in stores. Shoppers, however, resisted having food weighed on black scales, preferring the more traditional and clean-looking white enamel. Bennett and engineer Arthur M. Howald therefore tried new experiments using urea formaldehyde as a plastic molding compound. It was identical to Bakelite except that it could be made in any color, including white.

The final modified and tested material was a cellulose-filled urea formaldehyde molding compound named Plaskon. Recognizing the potential of the new material, Bennett formed the Toledo Synthetic Products Company, which began production of Plaskon in 1931.

See:

Bennett, H. D. “Pushing Back Frontiers,” Modern Plastics, 13 (Sept 1935), 25-32.