Subject:
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First LEGO Plastic was Cellulose Acetate and....
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Sun, 25 Aug 2013 05:39:57 GMT
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Viewed:
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20016 times
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Well the first LEGO plastic produced for Automatic Binding Bricks (LEGO bricks
from 1949-53) by TLG Billund Denmark were made of Cellulose Acetate. And anyone
who has seen very old LEGO plastic can tell how much it warps.
Just doing some research this week on a company in Sweden by the name of Geas
Konstharts (a plastics maker in Gislaved Sweden). Geas was licensed by TLG to
produce LEGO in Sweden from 1950-circa 1955, but has no records of this. I just
discovered that Geas mainly produced electrical components as their main line of
production... and it has come to light that the plastic they used was not
Cellulose Acetate (which was already known), nor Styrene or Polystyrene (since
the bricks are so very shiny)... but they were likely produced of BAKELITE... a
very high quality plastic used for making Jewelry, old Radios, and other high
quality items in the 1920s-1950s era.
Today Bakelite is rarely used... since it is so expensive to make... but
backgammon and gameboard pieces are still made of them. Most everything else...
was switched over to ABS plastic, much cheaper to produce.
Here is an image of some Geas Automatic Binding Bricks... and a bakelite napkin
ring holder (from Ebay)... notice the shiny similarities and milky transluscent
colors. The little image is from a 1947 Swedish business directory mentioning
Geas Co., and their use of "bakelit" and production of electrical components.
Geas Co. is no longer in business... and TLG has no information on them, nor on
the fact that LEGO was once made of Bakelite...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/82930629@N08/9588941160/sizes/l/
Also... here's the 1950 Geas and LEGO Automatic Binding Bricks front of
catalogs... can't get any more similar...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/82930629@N08/9588941160/sizes/l/
Do a Google search on Bakelite radios to see some of the stunning collectibles
that were made out of Bakelite in the mid 20th century. Bakelite is likely the
most sought after plastic collectible.
For more info on this new discovery (I'll be talking with the TLG Archives folks
next week about this discovery, since they have no records of the Geas
company)... you can find it in my updated Chapter 2 of my Unofficial LEGO
Sets/Parts Collectors Guide... now only available as a download... with free
yearly updates.
Cheers,
Gary Istok
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