Plaskon Color Samples

1953 Plaskon Melmac Samples from my Collection

The colors of the rainbow, are sure to brighten any day. I often think that choosing a color palette or to limit my collection seems unlikely. I am going for the sunny and bright look and have still yet to unpack my melmac from my move from Baltimore to West Virginia. I have downsized my space from a 4 bedroom Victorian style home to a 1 bedroom cabin. It seems unlikely I will ever get room for my melmac unless I build an addition. Also, the heat in the West Virginia summer is not ideal for any plastics collection. I have decided recently to get rid of my Fiesta (urgh, this is great in the microwave, oven, and I make the best casseroles and pies in it) to redoing my kitchen in Italian dinnerware.  I guess after time your tastes change and / or you get tired of the same old same old.

These are some plastic discs I acquired in my travels and are plastic Plaskon Melamine samples. If you note they are large discs about 6" around and flat, each labeled with the 1953 color name to them. They came in a box that says "House and Garden" and features the stacking colors you see in my banner.   Ironically many of these colors strike me as basic colors of the rainbow.

Note the Meladur seems to match in dark green, but not in yellow...

Not all melmac coloration is the same....for instance when I first started collecting I remember assembling a set of pink at the thrift store. I would pick up this pink cup or that pink bowl here and there in my travels. None of the pinks matched and I started to think I was crazy or that someone washed them in the dishwasher a bit much. Unfortunately, some were just a teeny tiny shade or hue off.   I later realized when in Syracuse studying Russel Wright that the plastic designers (and yes there were designers for the major melamine vintage lines) used to make custom colors, so their colors were just a bit off of the competitor. For instance Russel Wright used to add this or change that just to get that special turquoise color.  As you can see from the photo above, some of the Meladur (Lapcor and General American) samples match the 1953 House and Garden colors but some are just a bit off.

I suppose you need to look for the rainbow.

Vintage Rainbow Kitchen Set Salt Pepper Shakers Trivet Utensil Holder Toothpick or Creamer 6pc 1970s   $32 here at RetroChalet

Pretty Rainbow of Plaskon Plastics : 1930's to the 1950's

Plaskon : Molded Color

1940 ad

How I wish I was alive in the 1940's and 1950's to see all this beautiful plastic.  Plaskon, a urea-formaldehyde molding compound (essentially a would-be rival to Cyanamid's Melmac), was used to mold coffee pot handles, stove knobs, beauty and cosmetic containers, industrial plastics, electrical channels, switches, socket plate components, picnic plastics, toys, advertising premiums, displays, and perhaps the most popular two of all in my opinion, radio covers and clock housings.   (Both of which certainly hold their place in value among collectors today!)  Take special note the old time service-ticket writing pad you see in the upper right of the ad above.  Probably when you went to get your car serviced, or ordered something special at the hardware store.  

Before the 1940's

RYDER offers this great 1937 ad for only $6.99.

Plaskon's use of urea dates back to 1931.  The company originated from the inner workings of the Toledo Scale Company , (Toledo Synthetic Products Company.) By 1934 their "molded color" brochures were everywhere, although I find it odd to see so much off white and ivory plaskon pieces floating around.  Is this because people are coveting the colors?  By 1937 Plaskon was making housings and specialty boxes for the Gruen watch company and even ring boxes (see ad above).  I have some old packaging Encyclopedias, and they were always proud to show off their new housings.

Gorgeous Plaskon Radio Courtesy of DecorRadios, which is unknown origin circa 1938. You really must visit this site to see all the gorgeous Plaskon radios and learn about them.

In 1939, they produced this strange oddity:

Guess what this is?

Dab-Ette Plaskon Perfume Bottle from RareTodd

This item is a real steal in RareTodd's shop, it's actually an art deco bullet style vintage perfume bottle.  It soaked up the perfume via the cord and you could "dab" it on (hence the Dab-ette name.)  I did ample research* and here's what I found:  This was distributed in chain stores in 1939. (Note chain store, and not dime store!) One of the distributors "B AND F SPECIALTIES" of  Cleveland, Ohio, proudly announced: 

Miss Dab-Ette, a purse size perfume applicator, which is a non-leakable non-breakable plastic cartridge. It can be filled with the purchaser's favorite odor. "

1939, Colors of handles and knobs and industrial parts!

Plaskon : Lives On
Much past the glorious forties and fun fifties, Plaskon would live on. In fact in melmac dish land, Plaskon was being used as an alternative to Cyanamid's Melmac molding powders, but that is another story.

 
Plaskon Info: 

Gorgeous Plaskon Radios on Deco Radio's Plaskon Page here.

Complete Plaskon History and early Toledo Scale Pictures in this book preview of American Plastic: A Cultural History by Jefferey Meikle.

You can see old radios and learn how to "test for Plaskon" (?)  here.


*Chain Store Age, Volume 15, 1939