Page 39 - January1948
P. 39
NATIONAL BUTTON BULLETIN
TRANSPAITENT PLASTIC BUTTONS
(By courtesy of the owner, Fjdith I.Iall)
This grouping includes examples of "Lucite," "Polystrene," "Methyl
Methacrylate," etc. Some examples are molded, others carved and on some
additional hand coloring was added. To present a tray of twenty-five but-
tons of this nature is somewhat of a challenge, but the collector will be
rewarded for a tray of these transparent plastic huttons can fe truly
beautifuL
THE STORY OF LUCITE
Pl'ior to 193?, industry had long been rvaiting for a strong, tough,
lightweight plastic with the clarity of crystal and the beauty of precious
stones. In that year, DuPont introduced a new one-"Lucite" acrylic resin.
Since then, this plastic has been fabricated and molded into hundreds of
products, among them, buttons.
Processing I'echnlque
Starting with simple raw materials, the acrylic nononler-a clear', color-
Iess liquid, is produced by chemical synthesis. Further processing yields the
solid polymerized resin, in the form of transparent, translucent or opaque
colored sheets, rods, tubes or molding powders. In these forms, the material
is shipped to manufacturers who fabricate or nold it into finished articles ol
parts for later assembly.
