Antique Carved Bakelite Bracelets Bought for $22 Sold~$41

This is one of my favorite things to collect! Here are two antique green bakelite twin bracelets heavily carved and in excellent condition. The carving looks like tree branches and leaves and are heavy to the hand yet light on the wrist making an unmistakable clanking bakelite sound when they hit together on your wrist. These are one of a kind beauties! A little history about bakelite: The name of the plastic is polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, quite a mouth full! This was an early plastic thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from an elimination reaction of phenol with formaldehyde, usually with a wood flour filler. It was developed in 1907 by Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland. One of the coolest things about these bracelets is if you rub them vigorously and then smell them immediately where you rubbed, it gives off a formaldahyde odor that cannot be mistaken for anything else but bakelite. Bakelite was the first completely synthetic plastic. Because of its durability and beauty, its uses were limitless. Its popularity grew very quickly, and within 15 years it had taken the world by storm. You could find everything from electrical plugs to ornate jewelry made from Bakelite. Art Deco was the period that bakelite was most popular!