Celluloid is the name of a class of compounds created from nitrocellulose and camphor, plus dyes and other agents. Generally
regarded to be the first thermoplastic, it was first created as Parkesine in 1856 and as Xylonite in 1869 before being registered as
Celluloid in 1870. Celluloid is easily molded and shaped, and it was first
widely used as an ivory replacement. Celluloid is highly flammable and also easily decomposes, and
is no longer widely used. Its most common uses today are the table tennis ball and
guitar pick.
Nitrocellulose
Nitrocellulose-based plastics slightly predate celluloid: collodion, invented in 1848 and
used as a wound dressing and emulsion for photographic plates, dried to a celluloid-like film.
Alexander Parkes
The first celluloid as a bulk material for forming objects was made in 1856 in Birmingham, England, by Alexander Parkes, who was never able to see his invention reach full fruition. Parkes patented his
discovery after realising that a solid residue remained after evaporation of the solvent from photographic collodion, he
described it as a "hard, horny elastic and waterproof substance".
Parkes patented it as a clothing waterproof for woven fabrics in the same year. Later in 1862,
Parkes showcased Parkesine at the Great Exhibition in London where he was awarded a bronze
medal for his efforts. Cellulose nitrate was dissolved in a small measure of solvent, this was then heated and rolled on a
purpose built machine which extracted a proportion of the solvent. Finally, the use of pressure or dyes completed the manufacturing process. In 1866, Parkes tried again with his
invention and he created a company to manufacture and market Parkesine but this failed in 1868 after trying to cut costs to
enable further manufacture.
Daniel Spill
One year after Parkesine failed, Daniel Spill created the Xylonite Company, to design and market a similar product to Parkesine. This failed and in 1874 Spill went
bankrupt. Spill then reorganized and set up the Daniel Spill Company to continue production. He later pursued the Hyatt brothers
over their patenting of celluloid.
John Wesley and Isaiah Hyatt
In the 1860s, an American by the name of John Wesley Hyatt began experimenting with
cellulose nitrate, with the intention of manufacturing billiard balls, which until that time were made from ivory. He used
cloth, ivory dust, and shellac and in 1869 patented a method of covering billiard balls with the important addition of
collodion, and formed the Albany Billiard Ball Company in Albany NY to manufacture the
product. In 1870 John, and his brother Isaiah, patented a process of making a "horn-like material" with the inclusion of
cellulose nitrate and camphor. Alexander Parkes and Spill listed camphor during their earlier
experiments, but it was the Hyatt brothers who recognized the value of camphor and its use as a plasticizer for cellulose
nitrate. Isaiah coined the commercially viable material “celluloid” in 1872 as a specifically Hyatt product.
English inventor Daniel Spill took exception to the Hyatt's claim and pursued the
brothers in a number of court cases between 1877 and 1884. The outcome was that Spill held no claim to the Hyatts' patents and
that the true inventor of celluloid was in fact Alexander Parkes, due to his mentioning of camphor in his earlier experiments and
patents. The judge ruled that all manufacturing of celluloid could continue, including the Hyatts' Celluloid Manufacturing
Company. Celluloid was later used as the base for photographic film.
The name Celluloid actually began as a trademark of the Celluloid Manufacturing
Company of Newark, New Jersey, which manufactured the celluloids patented by
John Wesley Hyatt. Hyatt used heat and pressure to simplify the manufacture of these
compounds. The name was registered in 1870 but after a long court battle between Spill and the Hyatt brothers a judge later ruled
that the true inventor of celluloid (by process, not name) was Alexander Parkes.
Photography
English photographer John Carbutt intended to sell gelatin dry plates when, in 1879, he
founded the Keystone Dry Plate Works. The Celluloid Manufacturing Company was contracted for this work by means of thinly slicing
layers out of celluloid blocks and then removing the slice marks with heated pressure plates. After this, the celluloid strips
were coated with a photosensitive gelatin emulsion. It is not certain exactly how long it took for Carbutt to standardize his
process, but it occurred no later than 1888. A 15 inch-wide sheet of Carbutt's film was used by William Dickson for the early Edison motion picture experiments on a cylinder drum Kinetograph. However, the celluloid film
base produced by this means was still considered too stiff for the needs of motion picture photography.
In the 1889, more flexible celluloids for photographic film were developed.
Hannibal Goodwin and the Eastman Company both
obtained patents for a film product; but Goodwin, and the interests he later sold his patents to, were eventually successful in a
patent infringement suit against the Eastman Kodak Company. Nevertheless, the groundwork
in these products was set for a photographic film, as opposed to a photographic plate,
with all the implications that has for motion pictures.
Discontinuation
As thermoplastics, celluloids found a wide variety of uses in the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. Things like
knife handles, fountain pen bodies, collars and cuffs, toys, etc were made of this material. However, it burned easily and
suffered from spontaneous decomposition, and was largely replaced by cellulose acetate
plastics and later polyesters by the middle of the 20th century. The use of celluloid for
early film however has caused large problems in film preservation because the nitrate
film gradually turns brown then crumbles to powder.
In the 21st century, cured celluloid is used in luxury pens produced by Montegrappa,
OMAS, and other high-end pen manufacturers.
Formulation
A typical formulation of celluloid might contain 70 to 80 parts nitrocellulose,
nitrated to 11% nitrogen, 30 parts camphor, 0 to 14 parts
dye, 1 to 5 parts ethyl alcohol, plus stabilizers and other agents
to increase stability and reduce flammability.
Products still made from celluloid include the table tennis ball, and some musical
instrument accessories and parts: guitar picks and pickguards.
See also
External links
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