loading image
Bakelite was the first molded plastic used to make radio housings, produced in unfinished brown Bakelite, or with painted coatings that were prone to scratches and paint loss. Invented in 1907 by Belgian-born chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland (1863-1944) at his home laboratory in Yonkers, New York, Bakelite was the tradename for a molded plastic, thermosetting phenolic resin. While the color of Bakelite was initially a translucent amber, the addition of fillers and heat in the manufacturing process changed the plastic into its characteristically opaque, dark brown color. This radio, painted a fantastic shade of green, was produced by Crosley Radio Corporation in 1951. Radio is courtesy of California Historical Radio Society. "On the Radio" is on display, post-security, in Terminal 3. http://bit.ly/RadioSFO
This image was posted on October 11, 2018.