BAKELITE DYSLEXIA RULES KO!
Posted by STEVE M on
I used to marvel at the postings on a vintage radio forum where the inmates would comment with a frenzied, self satisfied, superior scoffing towards anyone who incorrectly spelled the trade name Bakelite.
If you had difficulty in spelling Bakelite then if you were tempted to move away from its trivial name, you would have even more trouble with its chemical name, - Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride,
Bakelite was developed by Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland in 1907 and patented on December 7, 1909. We know it as the material from which many radio cabinets were made, cue Ekco, however, it had many more uses as you can see from the advert below as it went into space in 1964 as satellite heat shields and continues as a space material in Russian ICBM missile heat shields even today.
Imagine my surprise when I came across the following 1928 advertisement for BALKITE marketed by Burndept
Admittedly, not a casing material but rather a battery charger, I wonder what the radio forum brains trust would make of this one......