Parkesine

Description

A brand name for the first synthetic plastic composed of cellulose nitrate plasticized with camphor. Parkesine was patented in England in 1855 by Alexander Parkes and marketed as a substitute for ivory. It was used for small objects, such as jewelery, buttons, fountain pens, and brush handles. The Parkesine Company failed after a few years and was acquired by the British Xylonite company in 1875, which produced pyroxylin.

Synonyms and Related Terms

parquesina (Esp.); cellulose nitrate; pyroxylin; Xylonite; Zylonite; Ivoride

Authority

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 172

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Website address 1 Comment: www.me.umist.ac.uk/historyp/history.htm -- 1865

• Website address 2 Comment: History of Plastics at www.nswpmith.com.au/historyofplastics.html - by 1855

• The Dictionary of Art, Grove's Dictionaries Inc., New York, 1996 Comment: "Plastic"

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkesine (Accessed Jan. 15, 2006) - invented in 1862; company formed in 1866