E-PlasticsManual-Comingsoon!.doc

Make the most of your plastics: an e-manual Words this colour contain the basic information about the subject Words this colour can click through to the same words/phrases in red  HOME PAGE Is this site for you? This site aims to help people with plastics in their care make the most of them. It is intended for those with little or no prior knowledge of plastics and as a starting point for further exploration. It will help you identify and look after objects made of plastics whatever the subject of your museum. It also demonstrates how plastics have increasingly become significant for how life is lived with the intention of suggesting stories about plastics relevant to museums of widely different subject areas. Menu: Plastics stories Plastics identification Plastics care Sources of information Contact us Contributors PLASTICS STORIES Plastics have infiltrated almost everything to do with life and living from aviation to zip fasteners. They are found in art and design, social history and technological collections and are also among the ethnographic materials of the 20th century. They are a significant part of our cultural heritage. The stories that can be told about plastics are infinite. The Plastics timeline introduces different plastics in a way that it is hoped will make clear the relevance of plastics to museums of diverse subject matter and suggest themes for research and display about plastics. Plastics timeline Plastics Timeline 1712 John O’Brisset moulds snuff boxes from horn. 1823 Macintosh uses rubber gum to waterproof cotton and the ‘mac’ is born. 1839 First deliberate chemical modification of a natural polymer produces vulcanised rubber, see vulcanite. 1851 Gutta percha used to insulate submarine telegraph cables between England and France. 1854 Shellac mixed with wood flour patented in USA as moulding material for making ‘union cases’, protective frames for daguerreotypes and ambrotypes, early forms of photographs on glass. 1855 Soccer ball