Parkesine
A showcase of colourful plastics
was displayed at the 1862 London International
Exhibition. Although Vulcanite had been shown by
both Hancock and Goodyear at the 1851 Great
Exhibition, this was the first time that a
colourful material that did not rely on a surface
finish or dye had been put on public display. The
exhibitor and patentee, Alexander Parkes showed great optimism
for his new material
and, more significantly, anticipated many of the
uses for which plastics have been employed in the
subsequent 140 years. The pictures show
perhaps some of those original exhibits and
justify Parkes' optimism and the award of a bronze
medal "for excellence of product".
In 1866, the Parkesine Company
was established at Hackney Wick, now in East
London. The factory was opened with high hopes
but within two years it was in liquidation. Most
of the problems may be attributed to a desire to
keep the price below a shilling a pound,
accordingly the product quality was not up to the
standard of those displayed at the 1862
exhibition.
Daniel Spill who was
works manager at the Parkesine Company took over most of
the stock and formed the Xylonite Co. in
1869 to carry on the business but that did not fare much better
and was wound up in 1874.
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