Bakelite and Early Plastics
Also called catalin, phenolic.
Typical period: 1920–1945
The first fully synthetic plastic, patented in 1907, and a significant collecting field in jewellery, radios and kitchenware. Two simple tests separate it from later plastics.
What you are looking at
Dense, heavy plastic in deep saturated colours — butterscotch, cherry red, marbled greens — usually with a slightly waxy feel and no mould seams on cast pieces.
How to date it
- The hot water test: run the piece under hot water for thirty seconds and smell it. Bakelite smells strongly of phenol or formaldehyde.
- The rub test: rub hard with a thumb until it warms, then smell. The same acrid smell.
- Simichrome or Formula 409 on a cotton bud turns yellow on Bakelite. Test on an inconspicuous spot.
- Bakelite is noticeably heavy and dense for its size, and it clunks rather than clicks when two pieces are tapped together.
Spotting a reproduction
- 'Fakelite' — modern resin cast to look like it — is lighter, fails the smell test and often has visible mould seams.
- Laminated or reworked pieces made from old rod stock will pass a chemical test while not being period objects.
- Original Bakelite has usually darkened with age; a bright translucent piece may be Catalin, which is related but a different material.
What it is worth
Colour drives price far more than form. Rare colours and carved or laminated jewellery carry real value; plain brown domestic Bakelite is close to worthless.
Confused with
Much lighter, flammable, and smells of camphor rather than phenol when warmed.
Clear or translucent acrylic, later, and it has no smell when rubbed.
Questions about this
How do you date bakelite and early plastics?
The hot water test: run the piece under hot water for thirty seconds and smell it. Bakelite smells strongly of phenol or formaldehyde. The rub test: rub hard with a thumb until it warms, then smell. The same acrid smell.
How do you spot a reproduction?
'Fakelite' — modern resin cast to look like it — is lighter, fails the smell test and often has visible mould seams.
Are bakelite and early plastics valuable?
Colour drives price far more than form. Rare colours and carved or laminated jewellery carry real value; plain brown domestic Bakelite is close to worthless.