Plastics puzzle helps put piece of history in place

We reported on the ‘Ten Most Wanted’ project a few weeks ago. It is a research project being undertaken jointly by the Museum of Design in Plastics (MoDiP), the University of Brighton and Adaptive Technologies, to build an online game to encourage people to research objects in MoDiP’s collection and thereby contribute to their documentation.

The game is now being piloted and information is beginning to flow in – one player found that the ‘Byson’ stair carpet clips were patented by an Earnest Harrison in 1932 and another that Byson Appliance were listed at the 1934 White City Industries Fair as producers of ‘Stair-Carpet-Holders (non-metal) Made from Bysonite in Oak, Walnut, Mahogany, Black, Green and Orange Colours’.  Information still required is Earnest Harrison’s role.  He was more likely the MD of the firm than the designer, so who actually designed them? It is these sorts of questions the project is aiming to get answers to.

Or perhaps you know people who worked at British Xylonite? It is believed, but not known for sure, that that is where the two-toned pink deco-styled hairbrush (pictured) was manufactured. MoDiP also wants to know who designed it and when and for how long it was manufactured. 

 “Plastics are somewhat neglected in most museum collections. Whereas it is common practice to specify of which wood or metal an object is made, plastic objects are frequently documented simply as being of plastic. And being less precious than many museum objects, they are often more anonymous, with both the designer and manufacturer unknown,” commented Susan Lambert, Curator at MoDiP.

“MoDiP wants to put that right and has one advantage over more traditional museums: because most of its objects were made in living memory it is likely that someone, somewhere has the answer. ‘Ten Most Wanted’ has been designed to gather this information,” she continued.

There are eight other objects including a Portadyne radio, a Midwinter tea set, and a Streetly Manufacturing Company dustette. For more information and to contribute, go to: www.10most.org.uk