Thread: Date Ranges of Manufacture

Thanks, Voidmonster. I should have thought of buffalo horn or other horn before Bakelite. Makes much more sense. Thanks so much for the information.

Originally Posted by tsarnold

Thanks, Voidmonster. I should have thought of buffalo horn or other horn before Bakelite. Makes much more sense. Thanks so much for the information.

I'm glad to help! It sounds like what you've got is vulcanized rubber, which went by many, many names. It was extremely popular in late Victorian times, even being used for jewelry and furniture. Though horn definitely isn't out of the question. When it's well cared for, it can be as smooth as glass.

And of course, I spend so little time with Bakelite that I don't know that much about it, so I missed that it wasn't manufactured until after the turn of the century, which would've let me completely rule it out!

A razor like that -- passed down through the family -- is basically begging to be honed and used, and while shaving with a straight razor is absolutely not for everyone, even trying it once with something of that kind of connection could be very rewarding. Professional honing isn't expensive, barely more than a package of replacement cartridges, and there are great learning resources on this forum.

The scales could also be made from xylonite, an improved form of Parkesine which was really a form of celluloid. Xylonite was very popular as a scale material in England, and razors were frequently advertised as being available scaled in ivory, horn or xylonite. Marketed by the British Xylonite Co from the last quarter of the 1800s right up to the takeover by the Distillers Group in the 1960s (and probably still available) it saw many uses as diverse as disposable collars and cuffs for shirts, hair brush bases, combs, pots, etc, etc. Interestingly, the Union Carbide Co and Distillers merged in 1963 to form the 'Bakelite Xylonite Co'. It was availabe in as many colours as you like, just like celluloid and took a deep, glossy shine.

Vulcanite (the 1840s product discovered by Goodyear, not the mineral!) was also quite popular, but available in a restricted colour pallette, browns and blacks being most popular. Sulphur was used to cross link the polymers in natural rubber and the products were cast in a mould. It didn't take as high a shine as many alternatives, but was fairly glossy. Simply called 'hard rubber' by some, it is also called 'ebonite'. Bowling balls, pipe mouthpieces, etc, were made from it and it was extensively used as an electrical insulator. Goodyear's patent ran out in the 1870s, but plenty was still made by other companies, one of which was the American Hard Rubber Co, producing up to the end of WW1.

Vulcanite quite often oxydises. This can be a light yellowish or brownish patina on the surface that is often removable with metal polish, or it can be more extensive - black pieces can go brown, particularly where exposed to sunlight, or a kind of pea-soup green.

Bakelite, patented 1907, 'General Bakelite Co' formed in 1910, has the same tendency to become brownish on exposure to sunlight. If you rub a tissue on it very fast it often discolours the tissue.


There are various rough rule-of thumb tests for various plastic-like materials:

Celluloid acetate - often smells vinegary (smell might not be noticed until material breaks down and releases corrosive acetic acid). Trade name 'Bexoid'.
Celluloid nitrate - often smells of moth-balls, Vick or camphor when rubbed (this variety is xylonite - smell might not be particularly noticed unless object has been kept in a confined space)
Bakelite - can smell 'fishy' particularly if very hot or of camphor due to phenol and formaldehyde content. Can also smell of carbolic.
Catalin - another form of bakelite sharing the same basic features as bakelite.
Casein - (aka 'Galalith', 'Erinoid') produced since shortly before 1900 by mixing casein and formaldehyde - slight formaldehyde smell if placed in hot water.

Horn, of course, will smell like burnt hair if touched with a red hot needle (somewhere inconspicuous, like on the inner surface). This test will not harm bakelite/hard rubber significantly, but it will melt vinyls, acetates and celluloid and may make some forms of early celluloid burst into flame.

Regards,
Neil