Some Etsy Sellers Go On Strike With Increase in Fees

Great Boontonware Bread Bowl in White : RetroChalet

What? An Etsy Strike?

Oh no!  Your favorite saved items on Etsy which may include vintage melmac, plastics fantastic and melamine dinnerware sets may have to wait to purchase!  This wait could last a day, a week, or more, as some Etsians are organizing the "Etsy Strike" and will be closing down their shops temporarily!  I had to find out a little more about this..

Here is what we do know. 

I first learned about the strike from on twitter, as they were using a hashtag #EtsyStrike.   They have taken it a step further to create a discord channel, and their own twitter @EtsyStrike account, Even one step more, they now have a website called EtsyStrike.org, and so it seems more than serious.   The slotted "shut down" of shops is scheduled to directly impact the date of April 11, with possible a one to two week shutdown, which has not been confirmed. 

Maybe don't put all your apples in one bowl, unless it's Boonton.  For Sale in My Etsy shop

I had to get hold of one of the shops who were participating, to find out just why the proposed strike.  I spoke in length on my podcast with Harry Burger, from Deer Park, New York (who ironically also ran for a green party congress in 2020.)

I connected with Harry to get his thoughts on the issues. Harry is an engineer by trade but also shop owner of Lightbringer Designs on Etsy, a shop that makes super cute wax seals. Being a small business owner, Harry explains how a 30 percent hike can hurt the small mom and pop. Harry also explains ultimately this increase will impact Etsy buyers are Etsy shops may have to raise prices to offset Etsy's fees. On initial inspection, I was thinking the 1.5 percent increase in sales fees wouldn't be so bad, until I really revisited all the fees that sellers pay on Etsy, which include listing fees, sales fees, offsite ad fees, etc.   

What will the scales of Justice do about the Etsy Strike?  This wax seal from LightbringerDesigns

Etsy's Fee Hike

So why did all this transpire?  Etsy recently announced they would be hiking fees from a 5 percent sales fee to a 6.5 percent fee, You can read the official announcement here, and Etsy sellers can take the survey at the bottom of the page to give feedback.  A Message from Etsy’s CEO Josh Silverman on our Co... - Welcome to the Etsy Community

It should be noted they have not raised these particular type fees since 2018, yet there are other fees involved with being an Etsy seller such as listing / relisting fees and offsite ads (which small shops have a way to opt out of) .  After a record 4th quarter in 2021 they wanted to keep on track, the forum post explains....how was this announced?  .  Sellers received an email from Etsy, as well as finding out about it on the website, and in forums.   Sources such as MSN NEWS quickly explained how people were upset.  Reference:  Sellers on This Site Are Livid After Another Rate Hike    Also appeared in The Street:  Etsy Sellers Are Livid After Another Rate Hike - TheStreet  and the Verge:  Etsy hits sellers with 30 percent transaction fee increase - The Verge

Listen to my podcast to hear the details on the price hikes and as for the strike, I guess we will see how that plays out., as it's developing now.  

Additional Reading Official Etsy Strike Site:  Why Discord? « Etsy Strike 

Forum Post Announcing the Etsy Strike: A Message from Etsy’s CEO Josh Silverman on our Co... - Welcome to the Etsy Community

Boonton Boontonware Melmac Rare Orange Bowl

Orange Melmac Bowl for sale @RetroChalet

Information Wanted. Have you seen this? 

Sometimes I see things and wonder how they are what they are, or why they are what they are.   Even I, after collecting so many years have no idea how this can be possible. 

It's no secret that this Boontonware melmac bowl's shape and thickness should actually date it to the 40's or 50's to the earlier lines of plain BOONTON (marked as such) used in restaurants and institutions, yet the design is slightly different. 

However, there is a hallmark was used for a short number of years "for industry standards" giving it an even smaller window of production.

The problem? The color.  This color technically should be later, perhaps even 60's.  There is evidence of this orange in some lines, mainly SOMERSET, but the items are not molded as thick, with as much melmac.  They are thin and not as bulky.

So it's a mystery, for sure.

Very odd coloring for such a thick Boontonware bowl.

So I ask you, why is the orange on this bowl?

It could be several reasons and perhaps we will never know why. 

1. An employee could have made the bowl for himself or herself. 
2. A customer wanted some bowls made and asked for test of the color. 
3. Perhaps a line was made with this exact bowl, but if so where is it? 
4. The factory was testing various colors to debut in a new "fall line". 
5. It was something molded for samples to customers or employees. 
6. It is a part of a short lived melmac set by Boonton we have not yet found.

What do you think? 

Stop by and let me know facebook.com/MelmacDinnerware

Boonton Melmac Factory Tour Stop One : This Was The Melamine Factory

This is the ariel tour of the Boonton factory as seen in some old memorabilia , an actual black and white brochure from many moons ago, originally I had inherited from Derek Schultz, a fellow collector.   And so I left a festival in New Jersey I was working with my husband selling BBQ to shoot over to Boonton...

Boonton, the makers of Boontonware melmac, in case you don't know what I'm talking about here are some images: 

This vintage set can be had for $96 at ColorMeNew

So Now I present to you: THE BOONTON FACTORY!

Although hard to see, this door  on left with steps is marked 326 above it, and therefore, the exact address of Scribner's Boonton factory!

Boonton Molding Company
326 Myrtle Avenue
Boonton, NJ


First, I must apologize for the graphics on this page. At the time, I was working in Hunterdon, NJ and decided to take a ride to Boonton. This was possibly 2009-2010 or earlier.  I had a crappy flip phone and originally posted this on an old Verizon site, that is long gone. I barely managed to migrate the old photos in time.  I tried to do some updated in 2018 for you from Google. 



Same building as above, but the small door under the red light, was the entrance to Boontonware Factory.  The building is extremely LONG...

This was basically part of the pictures I took, although easier here to see from Google.

At the time of my visit the buildings in question belonged to Dauphin (326 Myrtle) and Carbone (400 Myrtle).  The way in which the buildings were so close made me wonder if they could have both been used by Boonton at one time, however, I later found reference that Carbone resided at 400 Myrtle back in 1957 so that is unlikely, perhaps further investigation though the Boonton Historical Society or old records would confirm or deny if originally in the 40's Boonton had that building. 

 The first thing I want to explain is that when I originally thought of a big factory, I thought I'd find something like that old plant of the Solvay Factory in upstate New York.  You would assume you'd see big industrial buildings, many stories and chimneys, towers, and industrial looking outsides. Not so, this far all the old sites for melmac factories I've been to have been long warehouses. I was lucky enough to have a paper guide, thanks to the late and great Derek Schultz, who left me a guide to the Boontonware plant, Derek spent many years in Jersey and was privy to many factory tours and behind the scenes time with the people in charge doing research on Boonton. Curiously peaked me to visit, and I did some ride by's of the existing building that compromise now 300 to 400 Myrtle .......

Just to get an idea, (much like the paper brochure) just how large this conglomerate is, you have to see it from the ariel view......
Here is an ariel view of the Boontonware address "326 Myrtle Avenue."
The original factory address says it was at 326 Myrtle Avenue.  I will explain in another post more about the inception of the factory, as George K. Scribner started up the factory in a tiny corner of another factory perhaps "allotment of space" or sharing space.  

From what I've learned, the plastics were an accidental addition and Boontonware dishes date back to 1946 based on my research! By 1955, Boontonware would be turning out 70,000 pieces of dinnerware an hour.  That's a lot of dishes.  Wow!

This would have been the site of the original Boontonware Melmac Factory 

building

At the time of my visit, the Dauphin building, however as of 2018 I see them listed in Montville, so I don't know, I hope to get there again with clearer photos. 

Back shots of the buildings encompassing 326-400 Myrtle.As we know the 400 block was Carbone, and as of 1957 was not part of Boonton Molding , but perhaps I will include them in case someday I find out they were indeed leased by Boonton back in the day............

Back shots.......
  

Unsure if this was part of Boonton factory in the 50's , but could very well have been a loading area.  



Boonton Factory or Not? 

Behind Carbone, you can see where the old glass windows of an old factory type building still stand and I am unsure which is Carbone's and which belonged to .Boonton Molding.  

More pics of Carbone (the neighbor) at the time of my visit:

Carbone is still housing this area as of November 2018.

   Mind you, this is technically marked 400 Myrtle Avenue.  

Further Information: 

Circa 1970's :  Boontonware was now a division of PYAH INDUSTRIES. 

BOONTON MOLDING CO., INC.,BOONTONWARE DIV. OF PYAH INDUSTRIES 301 Myrtle Ave.

Boonton Historical Society had a "tent sale" celebrating Boonton's presence in the neighborhood for 57 years. See the article here:  daily record


You can continue onto 

Continue to : Boonton Melmac Factory Tour Part 2 Here

Cooper Hewitt Belle Kogan Boontonware Melmac Blueprints @cooperhewitt

The real Belle Kogan creamer post design, Find it at WifeofWhimsy on Etsy.

Hey, this is interesting! If you like Boontonware melmac or Boonton melamine,you can now see some of the original mock up blueprints of some of Belle Kogan's work for Boonton Molding Company .

Cooper Hewitt Museum has great online designs for Boontonware by Belle Kogan. 
To protect their images, you must go there to see full sizes!

You can see different blueprints that she drew which would later turn into some of Boonton patterns.  Showcased are the Belle line and some later thinner patterns perhaps Patrician.... The above is a small sampling of the full size Belle Kogan production blueprint. The one above says it is from 1953, however I want to explain this is not pre-design. This is a revision to the original design. 

Often times manufactuers would have to change a slant, a specification or something that maybe was causing an issue molding.  So it's safe to say this creamer was indeed in production priot to 1953.  I do think I've seen subtle changes to the nose or pouring spout, the mold line is more or less prominent on some examples.

Glad to see Cooper Hewitt is taking notice!

You may enjoy this podcast

Find them at Cooper Hewitt online here. 

Read my Boonton Factory Tours: 

Part One

Part Two  

Please listen to this podcast about Belle Kogan and Boontonware!

Laureline by Belle Kogan for Boonton Boontonware

Plastic tumblers from Etsy are unmarked and  probably resemble Laureline, these available at the DaileyShopper

Laureline By Boonton
I had a reader write in to me about a drinking glass he had growing up with the inscription, "Laureline.". I had never seen that before per se on a plastic cup, but I did a little research and found this was a Belle Kogan design introduced by Boonton in 1956.   This came from the book, "China and Glass in America."   The earliest reference to the word Laureline being used in the plastic industry was 1952 in a Hardware Age magazine, but I'm uncertain if this is the same type plastic used in the tumblers.

BooksShop on Etsy has this 61 pc TexasWare set for sale, note the blue plastic "AKA GLASTIC" drinking vessels up top on either side of the top shelf, this is probably what Laureline looked like!

These "plastic drinking vessels" were very similar to the plastic glasses that were crystallized by TexasWare.    Not sure if you remember them from your younger days eating at the Ponderosa or buffet style restaurants, but they were plastic frosted type glasses that I thought were cheesy. I used to call them GLASTIC, a mix of plastic supposed to look like glass.  They often had stress cracks in them and / or chips on the rim. Ewwww.

If you know anything about Laureline, let me know.

Boonton New Jersey: Not Just Known for Iron Anymore

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what about a picture with words?

Optional styling on the early coffee-tea cups are hard to find. So are the non-swoopy cereal bowls, this lot available at RetroChalet.

I really think the best thing that came out of Boonton, New Jersey, was the melmac.  I remember driving there thinking I was going to some giant large industrial city, on a search to find the old Boontonware factory plant, and sights unseen. Before you knew it, I had drove right through the tiny town and clear on out to the other side.  If you blink, you may just, miss it.  Imagine all those dishes.......coming out of that tiny town.  Check out my other posts on Boontonware here.


Check out this cool link (note my little plastic man)

Boonton Insta-Brewer Boontonware Coffee Pot Mystery and Mayhem Berkay Industries

WHY WAS BOONTONWARE INVENTING COFFEE POTS?
Photo Credit: Worthpoint via Ebay.

For once, I am melmac mystified and melamine tongue tied. This is a strange little mystery and addition to the Boonton Molding Company file!  I received some correspondence from Richard Douglass, who is a coffee pot collector. He was wondering why Boonton Molding Company of Boonton, NJ had ties to the Insta-Brewer Coffee Pots. Now you may see old models associated with a "Berkay Industries of New York" or hear them referred to as "Corningware Glass Coffee Pots."  Oddly, all of this is somehow true.  In fact, the coffee pot was made famous in the Ipcress File, a movie featuring Michael Caine. Thanks to Richard Douglass, I have learned a lot on this strange mystery.


Old Add, Circa 1964 "Berkay Industries NY" courtesy of Miss Pack Ratz.

That is what the pot looks like, but to see an actual one, you can ZOOM the photos of one with paperwork housed on Worthpoint by clicking here.  This looks like a French Press coffee pot, whose glassware is made from Corning.   Richard has two models of this with paperwork. 

Note the lack of references to Boonton:

1964 - Ad for InstaBrewer in Esqure Magazine vol 61 (like the one above) indicates, "All must agree that the Insta Brewer makes the best cup of coffee you ever tasted, faster than you ever thought possible, or yet your money back ! , Berkay Industries, Inc., Dept. ES 6 23 West 47th St., New York 36, NY "indicates "Berkay Industries, NY" is selling for $9.95.

1964 - Newsweek Volume 64, part 2 indicates what's selling well. They include the  "Berkay Insta-Brewer coffeemaker $10"

 October 1964 - There appears to be a Trademark applied for by Berkay Industries dating back to  October 12, 1964.

April 1965  Charles Kasher, NY files this Boonton Molding Company Patent of Coffee Pot (above) which took until March 1967 to have it granted.


1965 -  The pot is about to become "famous." The Film Daily Volume 127 talks about the Coffee Maker being in the 'Ipcress File' Movie. "Stunt Universal and Berkay Industries Inc. have arranged a national tie- up built around Michael Caine's use of Berkay's Insta-Brewer Coffee Maker in Universal's "The Ipcress File"....

1965- Consumer Reports volume #30 indicates the Insta-Brewer's pot's manufacturer is Berkay Industries.

1965 - A model Richard Douglass owns indicates it's from "Berkay Industries, NY".



Michael Caine used the Insta-Brewer in the IPCRESS FILE movie. Credit: Sparks In Electrical Jelly


August 1965- The Ipcress File movie (above) is released with Michael Caine and the Insta-Brewer!

March 1966 - A model Richard Douglass owns indicates "Insta-Brewer is registered trade mark of Boonton Molding Company, Inc. and lists an address of 300 Myrtle Ave., Boonton." Richard explains, "The glass beaker of my 1966 coffee press has different markings, too, calling itself a Boontonware Insta-Brewer. It is made of Corning heat proof glass. There is no part of the Insta-Brewer that is made of Melmac. The top, press top and handle are all made out of hard, shiny black plastic, but not Bakelite."

1966- Society of Plastics Engineers talks about Boonton Molding Company in Booth 4530 of a plastics show with their Insta-Brewer!

March 1967 - Patent filed in 1964 is finally granted to Boonton Molding Company. 

1968 - Standard Directory of Advertising Agencies have Berkay Industries listed in association with the InstaBrewer.

1970- Hardware Age volumes 206-208 gives credit to Boonton in regards to the Insta-Brewer.

1971 - The Whole Earth Catalog (Sears Roebuck) is selling the Insta-Brewer.

1973 - Chilton's Jeweler's Guides actually list the Insta-Brewer part of "Boonton Welding" what on earth is this, a typo?

1974- The Insta-Brewer is advertised in Juris Doctor, Vol 4 (a law publication) for only $15.

October, 1981 Gillies of NY is selling the Insta-Brewer for a sale price of $19.99 even though the list is $22.50.

April 25, 1983 - New York Magazine lists the Insta-Brewer priced at  $27.50 is on sale for $19.99......but who is making it now?

So , why would Berkay trademark it six months earlier ( Oct 1964) than Boonton's patent (April 1965) . If they were working together, why would Boonton only be mentioned half of the time?  Was Berkay the manufacturer or distributor and Boonton only the inventor? How did this work?

Can anyone help us solve this mystery ? If you have the answers , write me! If you have an old Insta-Brewer to sell, you can also email Richard Douglass whom may be interested in purchasing it for his collection.

You may like:

My Boontonware Tour , Stop #2 here

Boontonware Tour Stop #1 is Coming Soon!!!

All my posts on Boontonware.
If you would like to read more on Boonton, visit these pages of my site.

The Derek Schultz Collection Melmac Galore

Derek W. Schultz & myself. 

Today I was thinking about Derek, and found this picture Renee had framed for me. After all, he was just as nuts about plastics as I am.  Originally I met Derek because he has posted an ad to sell his plastics collection in it's entirety, and I went down to buy select pieces.  I figured he had a few boxes of this or that.  When I got there I was truly in shock at the loads of plastic he had.

That day I spent a lot of money with him;  but what was worth more to me than the rare Russel Wright I bought from him was the instant relationship I formed with him.  For someone I didn't know all too well, and didn't get a chance to visit nearly enough, it was sort of an instant connection. I cannot really explain it other than I thought the world of him, and his lovely wife Renee. They were the types of people you don't get to meet often.  Just downright nice people, good people.

Rare Brookpark Black Cups from the Derek Schultz Collection.

Derek and I were certainly two plastic gurus, exchanging emails just about anything over the next few years. Sadly it would only be the course of a few years unbeknowngst to me. Though he wanted me to buy that huge plastic collection he had, and I so would have loved to, I had a basement full of my own.  Then came the call.   "Come and get it", he said.   Originally citing the storage fees were just too much for him, he said he was just giving it to me.  I made arrangements to get some helpers and load it up as soon as I could so that he wouldn't have to pay any more storage fees.

Harmony House Melmac Mixed Set from the Derek Schultz Collection.

The photo was taken as I was just about finished loading it up, all sweaty and dirty, it was hot that day.  Renee took it minutes before he told me the truth about his situation. Derek had lost some weight for which I commended him that day.  If you look closely you may notice a small bandage on his throat. He was in the early stages of cancer--and just minutes after this photo I was bawling when I found out the reasons for the weight loss and the sudden donation of plastics. Although Derek was hopeful, I knew in my heart this would be the last time I got to see him.

Rare Boonton Grill Plates, Thick and Heavy from the Derek Schultz Collection.

Cancer is something I know all too well. It's taken most of my loved ones from me as it runs rapid in my own family. So here was Derek, my kindred plastic spirit buddy, and now I would be losing him too.
I kept in touch with him on the email, but that would be the last time I saw Derek in person. Suffice to say, I haven't made it very far rummaging thru his boxes.  At first after he passed I couldn't even open them.  It was as if had I opened them, I would be reminded Derek was not here anymore.  There was somewhere around 130 boxes in all, and well, I've only made it through maybe 10 total, over the past few years. I should say the boxes were HUGE about 3 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet.   It took me almost a year to go and visit his wife, and learn more about the man I wish I'd had the opportunity to know much longer.

Working on it, slowly...

I've managed to group things together better and gave some old scratchy undesirable things to Goodwill.   Though I try to list items on Etsy regularly, it's taken me a lot longer than expected as I have my own things to sell leftover from an old antique stand I used to have.  I can say that I'm not scared anymore to go through them.  Smiles come to my face when I think of how much Derek must have loved the piece to buy it, and when I come across something I've never seen before I wonder did he feel that same excitement then as I do now when viewing a "new discovery?"

Rare Carleton for Gracious Living Covered Sugar from the Derek Schultz Collection, however, Mr. Melmac had debunked the fact this may in actuality be a Harmony House Lid, perhaps not the right lid after all?

I can only hope Derek is looking down happy that someone is still loving his plastic.  Please know anything you purchase from the Derek Schultz collection does help Renee.  These items are labeled such in my shop!

What now?

Read more about Derek. 
View Melmac in My Shop.

Boontonware Melmac Go With Tumblers : Frosted Glasses by Boonton Rare Jewels of Melamine Collectors

Becoming harder to find is the Boontonware Frosted Tumblers that were sold as go-withs for melmac and melamine dinnerware by the Factory.  They offered many sizes, the most popular would be the full sized iced tea tumbler, but here you will see some rare "highball" style tumblers.

Rare highballs, almost non existent now.

You may remember seeing frosted cups just like these at restaurants, (the all you can eat buffet style restaurants) because Texas Ware had a set that strongly resembled these. In my opinion, theirs were made better.  The problem with Boonton's is they were for styling and not practicality.

Heavy bases accounted for more chips when dropped.

These cups are not melamine, but a much harder plastic, which made them susceptible to stress cracks, chipping, and scratching.   The heavy bases (I bet the bases weighed as much as the cups themselves) made them easy targets for dropping and as you can see, chipped quite easily.

I tend to think they later redesigned them as the other set I have listed in my store is somewhat lighter in design, maybe over time the company lightened up on their plastic composition or design, and although the bases are not as heavy as the blue ones, they still chipped...

One will never know how long these actually "lasted" in the population.    Acquiring a set of pristine glasses is going to be very hard, and if you have them covet them like they were rare jewels.  The ones I have listed on Etsy are from the Derek Schultz Collection and can be used for everyday drinking vessels. 

Welcome to Boonton New Jersey: Melmac Tour Stop 2 In Search of Boontonware Dishes by Ira Mency

Welcome to Boonton, New Jersey!

Home of the Boontonware dishes, these available at OurVintageHouse

I'm slowly copying my old site archives over from my old melmac site,so if you have not read part one of my Boonton melamine factory tour. If you have not taken part one of the tour, you should CLICK HERE TO TAKE BOONTON FACTORY TOUR PART ONE OF THIS TOUR NOW, and don't worry you can come back here soon.  Anyhow, I found these old photos I took several years back when I went to Boonton, New Jersey. I was on a quest to find answers about the Boontonware Melmac Factory and history in the town--after I found this card left to me in the Derek Schultz estate.

A clue left to me from Derek Schultz, a  formerNew Jersian. 

I went on a cold, rainy, August day as I was in the middle of Hunterdon, NJ and took the ride. As fate would have it the rain got into my camera and I was forced to snap grainy photos from my cellphone, so bear with me as I have tried to "spice up" the photos for your viewing pleasure.  My goal was to track down the last known place that the "Sales Offices" were for Boonton, ie: The English and English Distributor.

I was expecting a giant and huge industrial town, but instead found this quaint picturesque town on the top of a mountain, surrounded by valleys, whose official town website states that it is about 2.45 square miles.  I was shocked when I arrived.  You can tell this town has a lot of character, and history buried here. It once had a rubber factory, iron works / foundry, and booming businesses. At the time of my visit, it was home to an Allstate office and Salvage Company.  Bits and snippets of history indicate this building served many purposes over the years....like a hardware store way back when.... 

Perhaps, a hardware store?  Courtesy of Derek Schultz Archives. 

(I also found THIS PHOTO housed by the Boonton Historical Society which shows the front of the building.) What you don't know or see is that the magic of this building is actually that it's FIVE STORIES TALL! I was in awe the way the old time buildings had been built "into" the earth.  What you only see here in the above photo is the building on 520 Main Street. Here's the side and back:

I was specifically interested in finding out where the last known sales office of Boonton was as represented by English and English.  Most of the buildings along main street on this side, are teetering on the hillside showing their age, their history, and only hints of their past.  I really thought it was ingenious the way in which these buildings were facing Main Street, but backed up into Plane Street.  I drove down the steep hill of Plane Street and went around the back of the building looking for clues. 

I thought perhaps the old addage, "Backdoor friends are best" may apply to the "R" in "520R" on the card meaning "Rear", or perhaps there was just so many individual offices "R" was just one of the many.  I do want to say the back has a potential loading dock and plenty of capabilities for storage of said dishes. Look at all those steps!  I wouldn't want to carry any heavy Boonton dishes down there!

The town's history goes back to the 1800's.  I wonder just how many different businesses were in this building? At the time of my visit, several years ago, it was home to Allstate Insurance and a Salvage Company. However, I was more intrigued by the tiny brick building that was falling apart out back. I wanted someone to heist me up to peek inside, but no one was around to help me check for clues.

 

I was not sure what this was, but it intrigued me. Was it ever used for melmac dish storage?

A bunch of different Boonton dishes, well made and very popular at RetroChalet.

Just for clarification, there was evidence in print that a later Boonton Moulding Co. took over offices at 30 Plane Street. This would be the building on the far right corner of Plane and Main Street as circled in red on the map below.  When I saw it, it looked nothing more than a brick office building, and was vacant/for rent. (As you can see in the photo, it was just one block down from the original English and English distributors, and you can see the back of the buildings where I was taking the photos.)  I heard this was an office that handled injection molding of plastics, but most likely outsourced the actual projects.

A new address in the Boonton saga, what is 30 Plane Street?

Perhaps I'll never have the answers to all my questions, but I believe that sooner or later the pieces will fall into place. The town's history in molded plastic goes all the way back to an early Loanda Hard Rubber Company from 1891 (founded by Edwin A. Scribner) and started the town's commitment to plastic molding.

In a nutshell, continuous rubber production, a full fledged rubber company, a growing knowledge in bakelite and plastics molding ended up keeping the town's plastic industry spreading like wildfire. This teeny tiny town was turning out world famous Boontonware years later-thanks to Edwin's son George Scribner's  Boonton Molding Company.

Boonton Things You May Like :





My Boonton, NJ  (Factory) Tour Part One 

Read this site for all other Boontonware Posts!


Read more on this evolution of the rubber and plastics industry can be read in a great article by Tammy Scully found HERE. 

View the Official Town History as per Official Town Website HERE. 


View the town though years of interesting postcards at Boonton Postcards!

View some photos from  the Boonton Historical Society !

View all of the Boonton Photos from the Community!

Shout Out to Three Old Keys on Etsy, Thanks for Featuring Retro Chalet's Plastic Blog

We've been featured! Here at Retro Chalet's Vintage Plastic Blog we appreciate the "hype" of being featured somewhere, and in turn like to "properly thank" LAURIE of  Three Old Keys for featuring us on her blog!

We just love the fact Laurie sent us some love on her awesome blog!

She did a great write up on our plastic blog and coverage of Boontonware Melmac!  In turn we noticed she's offering a bit of Melmac herself in her  Etsy shop ..among some Colorflyte I found this Boontonware!

Lovely Jadite Boontonware at Three Old Keys, we love the fact they are amidst the plastic buttons!

Great use of photography and plastics!

Thanks again Laurie and keep stocking your store with Melmac!