The Big Four and

Ill-fated Fifth

Celluloid, Arlington, Viscoloid, Fiberloid, and American Zylonite

Development of the Pyroxylin Plastic Industry in the U.S.

     Any account of the development of the cellulose nitrate industry in this country must include references to the early work done in England and how it relates to our American effort. A quote from Landmarks of the Plastics Industry states:
     "The history of the plastic industry, like that of many others, consists mainly of long periods of gradual progress, relieved every now and then by a sudden leap forward."
     As we've explored the development of the early pyroxylin plastics industry, this truth has become more obvious. One man's efforts were built upon by the next and after many years of trial and error a successful new material, celluloid, was born.
     It is sometimes difficult to note the year a new material was discovered, developed, or invented. Would the date be that of first experiment, formal announcement, commercial production, or introduction into the market economy? 
     John Eklund, curator of the Department of the History of Science, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution has noted:
     "These dates are somewhat arbitrary since few inventions really occur in a single year. At the least there is a development phase when some form of the polymer product exists but the processes are not yet fully worked out; the formulation is usually not the same as when the product is being made in market quantities" and so it is with celluloid. Therefore, the authors have chosen to date the material by the time of first production and general availability.

Cellulose Nitrate and Parkesine

     Experimentation in the field of nitrocellulose had been conducted by Schonbein, Pelouse, and other Europeans interested in chemistry and invention during the early 1800s. Most of these pioneers directed their efforts toward the use of nitrocellulose as an explosive, or as collodion for use in photography. However during the early 1860s in Birmingham, England, there lived a metallurgist turned inventor whose name was Alexander Parkes.
     Parkes managed to use cellulose nitrate along with various oils and solvents as a moldable plastic substance. He called his invention Parkesine and proceeded to fashion a variety of small novelty items from the material. In 1862 a variety of Parkesine novelties, combs, buttons, boxes, and other products, were displayed at the International Exhibition in London and also at the Paris Universal Exhibition. Parkes was awarded an honorary medal for excellence of product and the Birmingham Daily Mail hailed Parkesine as "Wonderful Substance".� In 1865 Alexander Parkes was granted a patent for his semi-synthetic plastic material.
     Parkes believed that he could produce his plastic substance quickly and at a very low price. Between the years 1864 and 1866 he formed the Parkesine Company Ltd. and proceeded to manufacture his plastic material at the factory of George Spill, a waterproof cloth manufacturer, in Hackney Wick, London. Spill's brother Daniel became an associate of Parkes, learning the art of making pyroxylin compounds and eventually becoming managing director of the firm.
     Unfortunately, in an attempt to exploit Parkesine, production methods at the factory did not include the purest form of raw materials; unrefined cellulose fiber and reclaimed solvents were used in order to manufacture the product as inexpensively and quickly as possible. The result was an uncured finished product that was a commercial failure. Articles made of this cheaply produced Parkesine warped, discolored, and broke easily and by 1868, the Parkesine Company Ltd. was out of business.

Celluloid

     Near the time of the Parkesine failure, John Wesley Hyatt, an Albany, New York printer and inventor, accepted the challenge of the nation's largest billiards supplier, Phelan and Collander, to invent a suitable material for replacing ivory in the manufacture of billiard balls; the company offered the impressive prize of $10,000 for the accomplishment. History does not record that Hyatt ever received any money from Phelan and Collander; however he did invent a method of producing billiard balls and in so doing, introduced a material that had been continuously manufactured for the past 130 years. 
     The material, named Celluloid by John and his older brother Isaiah Smith Hyatt, was the first commercially successful semi-synthetic pyroxylin thermoplastic. In 1870, the Hyatt brothers, at the suggestion of Charles A. Seeley, formed the Albany Dental Plate Company for the purpose of making and marketing celluloid denture blanks.