Plastics Collection - Manuscripts

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The plastics manuscript collections include personal papers and company records related to the development of the plastics industry, mostly in the United States. The collections contain product and process designs and patents; printed company advertising and published catalogues; technical specifications and reports; and papers, articles and other writings by a variety of notable individuals.



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A

Alan Griffiths Soap Box Collection

Collection of plastic containers for soap.

American Plastics History Association Collection

Newsletters and miscellaneous material related to the American Plastics History Association.

Amorosi Family Collection

Collection contains pencil drawings of comb designs presumably drawn by George and/or Samuel Amorosi; bound volume of photopies of sketches; and 2 photographs, of George Amorosi and Samuel Amorosi.

Antique Comb Collectors Club (AC3) Collection

Index to club newsletters, bibliography of publications of interest, history of the club, more.

Antique Comb Collectors Club (AC3) Records

Correspondence, publicity, board materials, membership lists, etc. for the Antique Comb Collectors Club (U.S.).

Armand G. Winfield Papers

Collection contains the professional and personal papers of Armand G. Winfield. It focuses on the client files of Winfield's consulting company, which he formed in 1964.

B

Bakelite Collection

Collection contains correspondence, printed material, and technical reports related to the Bakelite Corporation.

Bakelite Museum Collection

Printed material and a photograph from the Bakelite Museum in England.

Barbie Photograph Collection

Color photographs showing Barbie and Francie dolls in various outfits.

Belva Green Papers

Papers of the author, editor and comb collector.

Betty Miller Papers

Files, correspondence, photographs, printed material, posters, and artifacts (hair combs) relating to Betty Miller and the Miller Comb Museum.

Bolta Products Collection

Collection includes product literature and advertisements for Boltaware, and blueprints for pieces of Boltaware.

British Celanese Ltd. Letter

Letter from H. W. Walsh describing visit to British Celanese Ltd.

Bruce H. Maddock Papers

Personal patents, writings, and schematics from Union Carbide Plastics Division employee Bruce H. Maddock.

C

Claude Hill Image Collection

Collection consists largely of slides, and three filmstrips, of plastic applications and industrial processes related to plastics collected by Claude Hill during his career as a professor of Plastics Engineering Technology, 1965-1995.

D

David Firestone PCP Feeding Study Notebook

Research notes connected with the US FDA's study documenting the effects of pentachlorophenol (PCP) on dairy cattle and dairy products.

E

Ed Michaels Papers

Collection contains papers, reports and newspaper articles on resin transfer molding, including the renovation of the Truman balcony at the White House; photographs and slides from Michaels' career and the products he created; and videotapes.

Edward Hellmich Papers

Photographs, company documents, memorabilia and artifacts relating to Edward J. Hellmich, co-founder of The Branchell Company and Hellmich Manufacturing Corp, which designed, manufactured, and sold melamine dinnerware.

Edwin F. Bushman Papers

Collection contains correspondence, technical reports, product literature, photographs, hand drawings, technical drawings and blueprints that relate to acrylic and fiberglass production.

Erik Furholmen Papers

Patent information, technical reports, publicity, company data, product data; bulk relates to Chicago Molded Plastics Corporation and some of its products.

Eugene F. Phillips Papers

American mechanical engineer; collection includes papers, research files, samples of plastic and plastic products, and memorabilia.

Evarts G. Loomis Company Collection of Hydraulic Sheeter Drawings

Collection consists of copies of 16 drawings, a materials list, and instructions for installation, operations and maintenance related to a hydraulic sheeter.

F

F. Reed Estabrook Papers

Contains the personal and professional papers of F. Reed Estabrook, businessman in the plastics field.

F. W. Gray Comb Designs

Collection consists of two scrapbooks containing templates of designs for plastic hair combs. The templates are pasted onto the pages of printed books.

Foster Grant Collection

Foster Grant was an American plastics molding and manufacturing firm specializing in eyewear. Originally founded in 1919 by Sam Foster to produce ladies hair accessories, the first piece of eyewear sold in 1929 at the Woolworth in Atlantic City. Collection contains company publications and sales materials including a training binder from the 1970s containing photographs and handwritten directions on how to create an epoxy mold; and photographs of die molds, Foster Grant products from World War II and sales displays.

Fred Conley Collection

Clippings, memorabilia, photographs of the American plastics pioneer.

G

George Friese Collection of Plastics Union Ephemera

Collection consists of union-related pieces of ephemera from George Friese’s career in the plastics industry in the Leominster, Massachusetts area.

George Marshall Papers

Collection contains correspondence from Wasco Chemical from 1959, photographs of plastics manufacturing facilities, plastics industry-related publications, and piping diagrams for a factory for Great American Plastics in Fitchburg, MA.

Gerard Designs Collection of Mold Drawings

Collection consists of drawings of molds created by Gerard Designs for various companies in the plastics and other industries. Most drawings contain initials of Robert McGee.

Glenn Beall Comb Collection

Collection of antique and modern plastic hair combs.

H

Harry G. Chinn Papers

Papers of plastics engineer Harry G. Chinn.

I

Irvin I. Rubin Papers

Professional papers related to the career of Plastics Hall of Fame member Irvin I. Rubin; including correspondence, company records, illustrations and other materials related to injection molding companies Robinson Plastics Corp. and Irvin I. Rubin Plastics Corp.; texts and illustrations used in Rubin's writing about injection molding; and copies of many of his publications.

Irwin Casper Collection of Brush Product Literature

Collection contains catalogs and product literature on various brands of hair brushes, combs, toothbrushes, household brushes, and industrial brushes from American and international companies.

J

J. Harry DuBois Papers

Collection consists of the personal and professional papers of J. Harry DuBois, covering his long career in the plastics industry. It includes scrapbooks and photograph albums of his family and world-wide travel for business, photographs and slides, and audio and film reels.

Jack E. Hill Papers

Correspondence, technical reports, biographical material of the American plastics engineer.

Jack Milgrom Papers

Collection consists largely of published material and reports collected and written by Jack Milgrom on the subjects of plastics in general, and specifically on the use of plastics in packaging and the recycling of plastics, as well as utility scrap and recycling in the auto industry.

James A. E. Halkett Papers

Artifacts and a few papers related to plastics engineer James A. E. Halkett.

Jen Cruse Antique Comb Collection

Collection of plastic hair combs.

John Kretzschmar Papers

Clippings, correspondence, printed material relating to American engineer and to plastics generally.

John M. DeBell Papers

Professional papers related to the career of Plastics Hall of Fame member John M. DeBell; including biographical material and memorabilia, correspondence, company records,technical reports, and other materials related to DeBell's work for the U.S. military and DeBell and Richardson.

John Morgan Collection of Casein Artifacts

Collection of casein plastic artifacts.

John Wesley Hyatt Collection

Collection consists of the Executive Committee Meeting Minutes of the Celluloid Company, 1890 to 1905, two bound volumes of patents obtained by John Wesley Hyatt, including one for the first celluloid billiard ball and several other patents for billiard ball coatings and knife-handles; a booklet on Hyatt's acceptance of the Perkin Medal, 1914; six photographic portraits; and a relief sculpture of the John Wesley Hyatt commemorative award.

Joseph McDonald Collection of Plastics Patents

Collection contains copies of patents for plastic food and beverage containers collected by Joseph McDonald from 1951 to 1989, in the course of his work for Sweetheart Plastics, Inc. and a selection of technical offprints and reports.

L

Lawrence V. Redman Papers

Collection contains two items related to the career of Lawrence Vincent Redman, a booklet on his phenolic plastic, redmanol, and a certificate of recognition from the American Chemical Society.

Lowell Novelty Company Records

Collection consists of eight documents of the Lowell Novelty Company from 1940 to 1941. The documents include a copy of the official drawings of Waterproof Accessory, and papers related to the Board of Directors and dissolution of the company.

M

Margaret Embree Photograph Album

Compiled by Margaret Embree of Syracuse, NY. Consists of candid shots of family, friends, her work at Iroquois China in Solvay and Thermold Plastics in Canastota; includes a few photos of German POWs.

Margaret Kimball Herlihy Papers

Manuscript of book on hair combs, with related photographs.

Mary Bachman Antique Comb Collection

Hair combs, decorative and functional, dating from the mid-19th to mid-20th century.

Mary Bachman Papers

Files, correspondence, research notes, and other material relating to the American comb collector. Includes photocopies of material dating back to the late 19th and early 20th century.

McDonald's Franchise Collection

N

National Plastics Center and Museum Records

Collection consists of administrative records, financial records, and publicity materials from the Museum in Leominster, Massachusetts.

P

Plasticos Industriales Extrusos, S.A. Collection

Collection consists of photographs of the exterior of the Plasticos Industriales Extrusos plant and product literature in Spanish of the Plinex line manufactured by Plasticos Industriales Extrusos.

Plastics Artifacts Collection

Collection consists of manufactured objects made of various types of plastic.

Plastics Hall of Fame Records

Records of the Plastics Academy related to the organization of the Plastics Hall of Fame containing correspondence, organizational notes, meeting minutes, member lists, press clippings, nomination forms, biographies, photographs, event information, induction ceremony programs and other materials related to the Plastics Hall of Fame.

Plastics History Collection

Miscellaneous items relating to the history of the plastics industry and notable figures in plastics research, development and manufacturing. Includes printed material, photographs, technical papers, interviews, and audiovisual material.

Plastics Product Literature Collection

Collection consists of product literature, catalogs, objects and technical bulletins on plastic products and plastic applications by numerous plastic and chemical companies. Most emanate from American companies but the collection includes some from Japanese companies, as well as a few from France, Germany, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Polymeric Systems Collection

Collection consists of 36 copy color and black and white photographs of a manufacturing facility; and five 7" plastic sound discs manufactured with polystyrene by Richardson Company Polymeric Systems Division. The use of polystyrene was purported to eliminate surface noise from the discs.

Pro-Brush Image Collection

Contains 1406 slides of machinery and plastic products of the Pro-Brush company, and 45 color transparencies and 20 fading Polaroid snapshots of models posing with Pro-Brush products.

R

Reed-Prentice Corporation Collection

Collection consists of copies of drawings and an instruction book concerning Reed-Prentice Corporation’s 10D-6 & 10D-8 plastic injection molding machine containing parts by Vickers.

Robin Ptacek Collection Relating to Melamine

Collection contains research files written and compiled by Robin Ptacek as they relate to melamine and, most particularly, Melmac; bulk of the materials are advertisements, correspondences, and e-bay communications.

S

Samuel L. Belcher Papers

Biographical material, patent information, and product data related to Samuel Belcher's innovations in blow molding.

Saul Blitz Collection of Plastics Patents

Collection contains copies of patents from the United States Patent Office for processes, materials and machinery used in creating, shaping & molding plastic; also one folder of correspondence from Arthur Cyr to Saul Blitz about blow molding patents.

Seymour Lavitt Collection

Collection consists of copies of the "Fundamentals of Plastics" resource materials; slides from "Injection Molding" and "Fundamentals" (two lectures given by Lavitt); correspondence about Plastics Fair, 1992-1993; and brochures of Plastics Design/Development Associates; film.

Standard Comb Photographs

Three undated photographs of the exterior of the Standard Comb building (later Standard Pyroxoloid).

Standard Pyroxoloid Company Records

Collection contains color formulas and product compositions/formulas in the form of typed reports and on 5 x 8" index cards; records of the Standard Pyroxoloid Company and Stanaloid Corporation; and 38 photographs of an unidentified manufacturing facility, date stamped January 16, 1958 (13 are duplicates).

Standard Tool Records

This collection contains drawings of comb designs created for different companies; publications; and photographic prints and negatives of molds, machinery, factory interiors and building exteriors.

Syracuse Ornamental Company (SYROCO) Collection

Syracuse Ornamental Company (Syroco) American manufacturing company, founded in 1890 and based in Syracuse, New York, was best known for molded wood-pulp interior decorations and gift and novelty items that resembled hand-carving. Later they integrated polymers into their molding process and then moved entirely into plastics production. Collection contains illustrated sales catalogues spanning most of the company’s existence and annual reports from the later period after it was sold to non-Syracuse corporations.

T

Tupperware Collection

Collection is an artificial compilation of pieces donated to the National Plastics Center & Museum. It includes sales material such as brochures and sales receipts, a copy photograph of the founder Earl Tupper with his signature, and a book of poetry published by Tupperware.

V

Viscoloid Company Collection

Collection consists of stencils for hair combs and ornaments, plans of the Viscoloid plant, and papers related to the company and Bernard W. Doyle.

W

Walter R. Kosy Papers

Collection contains personal and professional papers of Walter R. Kosy, as well as his research, product literature, technical literature, and photographs; bulk of material originates from his years at Borg-Warner and his work in the use of plastic in the automotive industry, including ABS and Cycolac.

Wayne I. Pribble Papers

Collection includes the records of Wayne Pribble's companies, Barrier-Pribble and Pribble Plastics Products; mold drawings produced by Barrier-Pribble and Pribble Plastics Products; and drafts and papers related to Pribble and J. Harry DuBois' book, Plastics Mold Engineering.