Technology Apple Products Plastic Power for Mankind

If you have almost $26,000 or more,  you could own this fully functional Apple Lisa computer. Rare and hard to find. This one and this photo belongs to tmarentic on Ebay.

Plastic Fantastic

The problem with my environmental consciousness and living green is the struggle I have on a daily basis with plastics.  I use the cloth grocery bags and recycle every day.  I realize not all plastics over time have been made using safe practices, perhaps pollution hurting our environment, but I do weigh this out with the way in which stricter standards have been enforced today.

I sleep at night by thinking of what plastics have done for mankind. Case in point, right now I'm typing on my plastic keyboard sitting in the comfort of my home only cooled by the quiet hum of my plastic GE air conditioner watching my plastic Element Television sending the occasional text on my plastic HTC Android phone to my husband at work; while I find a few stolen moments in time to write this.  Yes we can live in unison with plastics. In fact, I doubt we can live without them.



Technology: Apple Products Paving the Way for the Future Still

Before you join the anti-plastic coalition, ask yourself where would we be without the plastic used to make the first Apple computer, or eventually the plastic housing on our iPhones?   Plastic has been the key component in making computer housings and cellphones. My how these things have changed over time as has the technology.

I remember fondly working at MCI back in the day, (MCI Telecommunications at that time was the 2nd largest long distance phone provider, with AT&T/Bell first and Sprint 3rd).  The first huge plastic desktop phone came out with a screen where you could video call your friends, to the tune of $1100.00 each to employees with their discount. It was grainy, garbley, but it had a camera in it and I could see my folks in Maine and they could see me. Back then, this was priceless. Today, you have web cams and Skype and it's free.  In my lifetime from the 80s to 2000's, within 20 years alone, I have seen technology grow by leaps and bounds.  I credit much of this to the Steve Jobs era, the "you can do it think outside the box and make it happen" even if everyone doing it doubted it could be done. But it was. And it is. And so it shall still be.

After the dinosaur computers of yesterday morphed into the laptops and tablets of today, then came the add-ons and accessories for your favorite gadgets. Fast forward to now.

The Kribbitt  is by far the best ipad and tablet stand for the kitchen as it is fully adjustable, sticks to granite and hangs from most cupboards, not to mention does a million other things. Love this thing!

Think of the Economy Growth thanks to Technology: Enter the Spinoffs

Look at products like the kribbitt.  This stand is a must have for teachers, office workers, and at home.  This great invention would have never cropped up if it wasn't for the iPad or tablets.....for there would not have been a need. In a nutshell the these innovative inventions such as iPads, iPhones and laptops have spun off other economy growth.

I just went to Five and Below and bought a ton of iPod compatible earplugs in fashion colors.   I was tired of people stealing my cell phone chargers so I bought pink and yellow ones, and I should add all are made of molded plastic.  Think of all the people who make vinyl computer skins to decorate up your keyboard or front of your laptop.  What about those who design and make hard or soft gel cases to protect your phone.  The list of accessories goes on and one, and most have plastic in them.  Woot woot. Plastic fantastic.
 

Rita and Rob of TecoArt have found functional ways to upcycle those old Apple keyboards and puck mouses. Wow, a working functional clock only $59 on Etsy.

Old Computers Bring Big Bucks for Collectors and Recyclers

As the world becomes more eco concious so do the recyclers.  Old bulky computers are either upcycled into fish tanks, clocks, or jewelry.  Even old keyboards have been turned into something fashion worthy.

Keyboard earrings found on Etsy at ElectricWear

There are those old computers that are collected and coveted among the technology geeks such as the Lisa shown above in this post.

On the other hand, I have to admit, my most coveted item is a vintage clamshell iBook which I love. It functions, it works, and although the internet is slow on these old computers,  the fact of the matter is it came loaded with a word bundle and photoshop that if I were to purchase individually, would have cost more than the computer itself. For word processing, it's great, and not only do I love it from a design standpoint, but it completes the realm of plastic history in my office.

I bought this for under $190 shippped, which beat the cost of the software that came with it. What a way to up cycle!  find these at MHD59.com

Bessemer Modern Australian Melmac Made in Australia

FoxandThomas offers this straight from Austrailia!

I love the designs of Mod Australian Bessemer.  This was a line of plastics and melamine items produced there but much of it landed in the states.  I am completely unsure if the Bessemer of these products is the same of the Bessemer cookware products of today, but their website does indicate they've been around since the 1960's, and that most of their items used to be sold through in-home-party-plans.  Can you imagine having an in-home-melmac party?

Hobart Collectables, probably the largest vintage seller from Australia on Etsy, has this great Ashtray which can bring us some clues if we look close enough. There's a great article on Hobart  Collectables on Vintage Chalet that you may find interesting. 

Clues :  Nylex Corporation made this Melmac Ashtray for Bessemer products.

Now other than great plastic serving items, Bessemer did make melmac dinnerware. I don't know how popular it was in Australia, but it did exist. Here are a few designs.

The above and below designs are available at Vintage Twists.

If you are thinking the platter looks very similar in style to some American designs you've seen, you are absolutely right. I think as far as modern styling goes, they were on the same page as American designers. Now perhaps the best thing I've found recently by Bessemer was on Ebay, by Ridgefield Estate Treasures.  and I am unsure if this Bessemer Plastics is different than the Aussie Bessemer. I was thinking how modern in design it looks, and how lovely it is.

Bessemer Plastics made this mod chafing dish and is available at Ridgefield Estate Treasures, User Id BGilliam

The point is it seems like anything marked Bessemer here and there makes for a good modern home.

Raffiaware Thermo Temp Mallory Randall Melmac History

Ice Cream Bowl by ThermoTemp pic at CheMichele

Themo-Temp , Raffiaware and Mallory Randall Corporation

I first wrote this post in 2011 when I ran into Etsy shop Modern Plastics owner Kailani Burke Nakanaela who helped me fill in some blanks and use her photos. At the time she was listing and cleaning out a huge collection of Thermo Temp / Raffiaware by the Mallory Randall Corporation.  This same corporation made Melmac in Classic, Malloware and Mallo-Belle lines.  However, widely popular was this super-duper insulated plastic ware set featuring burlap and straw in their lines.   

Note:  Not to be confused with THERMO-SERV,  find the post here. 

First of all, for those of you who maybe haven't seen all the wonderful items in the Themoware collection, I will break it down into several popular styles for you. Perhaps you have seen them unmarked, or didn't even know what they were. 

I like to break them down into five distinct easy to spot groupings, although more I'm sure exist.   First know they made tall tumblers, coffee sized mugs, tall mugs, ice buckets, pitchers, snack sets, salad sets, ice cream bowls, salad serving tongs, and more. 

Group #1 The ribbed Thermo Temp cream ribbing and pastel insides

Shown here at CalliCatVintage

Group #2 The ribbed Thermo Temp whitish ribbing and green insides

Find them and more at CheMichele

Group #3 The smooth looking embedded burlap sets 

Thermo Temp Salad Set serves six!  Sold at Modern Plastics, $45.99

Group # 4:  Straw outside of gorgeous pastels 

pic: Modern Plastics note the rare serving tray and different style ice cream cups.


Group # 5:  White inside of colorful burlap

These available at 7Trafalgar on Etsy.

So, when I picked the brain of Modern Plastics shop owner from Kailua, O'Ahu, Hawaii I had to find out what her story was, back then unleashing hundreds of hard to find Mallory items. 

Hard to find Mallory, in a breakfast sold quick at only $10 at Modern Plastics.

Shop owner Kailani Burke Nakanaela explained, "The story begins when my Husband and I decided to renovate his Parent's beach house. We have over fifty years of memories there, we actually met on the beach in Kailua as kids. We've been married 30+ years and now that the house has been passed on to us, we need more space for our children and grandchildren when they come to visit. I have been removing Melmac from the attic space for a couple of weeks now, the boxes are all deteriorated from the humidity and sea air, so bringing them down a rickety ladder has proven tricky. As I peel away the layers of cardboard I am just amazed at how wonderful everything looks. Yesterday my Husband tried to convince me that we could put these in the dishwasher .... I just smiled and banished him from the kitchen. This is probably the first time I have actually enjoyed washing dishes."

This is what she found....I'm gasping...how rare is this to find in the original box?

Kailani explains "I will be listing more items soon, there are over 200 Mallo-Ware plates and cups and saucers that I have not gotten to yet. This picture is one of ten Mallory mail-order boxes. Each box has service for four and the 1960 First Class Postage to Hawaii was a whopping $2.11."   So just what is Kailani doing with all that melmac and thermal plastic ware?   She says, "I am keeping a few pieces for myself, and for my children and grandchildren since they never really knew my Husband's Mom. I think I will be busy for the rest of the Winter cleaning and cataloging Melmac."

Let's talk Thermo Temp and Raffiaware. 

She had explained to me that she had original ephemera in some of the boxes, showing evidence up through 1966 (Spring.) She said that the term "Raffiaware" was no where to be seen in the promo pamphlet, which was odd, as some cups are marked Thermo-Temp and others Raffiaware.  Why?  Not only did she take note that some items were exclusively offered via a dairy service as a way of promoting dairy products, but that Sears had the exclusive right to market "THERMO WARE" tumblers (which by 1963 they were sold in 8 colorful tumblers.)

After talking with her I did some more research and surmised that means Mallory gave certain rights to certain retailers, and no doubt by Sears selling the colorful ribbed cups that's why there are so many that exist today.  I researched and found an ad dating back to 1959 mentioning the Thermo Temp double walled insulated tumblers.

Circa 7/59 Billboard Magazine.

Mallory's History has been sketchy. Luckily, I pieced this together.

Not much in my travels has been found on the web or in print about the late and great Mallory-Randall company.  I often thought they were somehow connected to P.R. Mallory, the battery company but I have no proof of that. Back in 2011 there was a Mallory USA still in existence, but as of 2018 I lost them. They had been in business circa 1900 proves that either all minds have the last name Mallory (and mold plastics) or something is missing to the history.  I suppose I don't have enough facts, so I will write what I have found.

Here is an ad from a 1956 Life Magazine (above) showing Mallow-ware (left, coming in ten colors at that time) and Classic (right.)  We know the company was producing melamine.

Furthermore, I found and sold an old open stock order form, according to the print code on the lower right, was printed in 1956.   The address for ordering was Mallo-Ware, 456 N. Parkside, Chicago, 44 Illinois although the dishes themselves often are backstamped Chicago, 41, Illinois.  This could mean the offices and factories were in two different places. 

To confirm this, an old Mallo-Ware brochure (in with warranty information, below) confirms the two different addresses, as shown below, lists the company Mallo-Ware at 3760 Milwaukee Avenue Chicago, 41 Illinois.  

Milwaukee Avenue Address is printed on this ephemera.

Mallory Sites: Parkside & Milwaukee Avenue Debunked 

So thanks to old paperwork, we know there were two addresses.  I used my trust snooping skills to do a Google Earth flight from the comfort of my chair.  The 456 N. Parkside Address proves defunct, there is a large apartment type building there, which according to property records was a 5+ unit facility that sold in 2005 for $800,000.  Could this have once been office buildings and housed the corporate offices of Mallory?  Probably not considering the dwelling doesn't look as old, and the same lot sold years early for 1/4 of that value.  Being there's a lot of new growth in the neighborhood; it is probably a more recent structure.

456 Parkside leaves us no clues.

So then I was off to the other location on Milwaukee Avenue. I used Google Maps and found an empty space at 3730 Milwaukee Avenue, and smaller empty space on 3760 Milwaukee Avenue with only the tiny brick faced Grayland Pub at 3734 Milwaukee Avenue still standing in between.  The area boasts residential housing across the street.  It appears the old buildings are long gone, but I find this hard to believe a factory was once here, hardly not enough room.

Only the skinny pub remains circa 2011 at the Milwaukee street address...

So, this begs the question, will we ever know what happened to Mallory Randall? Perhaps they only were in fact a distributor of wares and had another molding company doing the dirty work.  The only thing we will know is when we find wonderful snippets of history as marked on the bottom of the boxes, "Raffiaware by Thermo-Temp, Mallory Randall Corp., Made in USA,"  Even then, when we think we may be close to the answers, specimens pop up that surely puzzle us. 

Here are some more clues from Modern Plastic's finds: 

Courtesy Modern Plastics

What I learned from this photo? It doesn't say America's FIRST insulated, it says America's finest. I'm thinking that Thermo-Serv came before, read my article here.

Thank you to Modern Plastics.

We may never know just what these are, indeed a form of Raffiaware as listed in Jherrmann's shop quite possibly a knockoff or a spectaculr unfound Mallory design......

BUT WAIT!  Thanks to a great reader we have more information:  They write:  The footed cups at the end of this post are "continental coffee mugs" by Better-Maid brand from the J.P. Gits Molding Company of Chicago (also makers of Gits ware and, later, Roselle ware). They used the prefix Thermi- for their insulated plastic ware (Thermi-cups, Thermi-fashion, Thermi-ware). See here: https://www.pinterest.com/magria7484/better-maid/ads/

If you have information on the company that produced these items, please drop me a line. 

Mallory - Randall

ThermoTemp

Raffiaware

Malloware

MalloBelle

Classic

Mallory

♥

You can find me on Facebook, or in my Etsy shop.  I strive  to write accurate information but unfortunately more and more information is harder and harder to find.