Celluloid
Celuloide
- Date
- 1862-1870 · confidence high
- Place
- Albany, New York, United States; London (Parkesine, 1862)
- Credited to
- John Wesley Hyatt (celluloid, 1869-1870); Alexander Parkes (Parkesine, London, 1862)
- People
- 👤 Alexander Parkes1813–1890👤 John Wesley Hyatt1837–1920
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Nitrocellulose plasticised with camphor, mouldable when heated, developed by Hyatt to replace the ivory used in billiard balls. The first commercial synthetic plastic.
Parkes presented Parkesine at the 1862 London Exhibition, but his company went bankrupt; Hyatt (Albany) patented the use of camphor in 1870 and registered the Celluloid trademark in 1872.
What it led to
- The plastics industry and the replacement of ivory, tortoiseshell and horn
- Flexible photographic film (1889) and cinema
- Detachable collars, combs, dentures, toys
- Fires caused by its flammability and the search for substitutes (Bakelite, acetate)
Built on
- Cellulose1838
- Wet collodion process1851
- Parkesine (Parkes, 1862)
Made possible
- Bakelite1907
- Cinema film
- Roll photographic film (Kodak)
- Synthetic plastics