Between 1907 and 1909, Dr. Leo H. Baekeland was conducting experiments to create a varnish. He was using phenol and formaldehyde, generally with a wood flour filler, and put the mixture under heat and pressure. He accidentally discovered bakelite. It was the first plastic made from synthetic polymers.

Bakelite's properties were its hardness, durability, nonconductiveness, and heat resistence. Once it was molded and cast, it -Could Not- be melted. It was often called "The Material of a Thousand Uses."

Little known fact about bakelite, is that in 1942, it was considered by the US Mint to make pennies due to copper's use during World War II. Several designs were even made, but the bakelite penny stepped aside for the Steel penny of 1943. The mint returned to recycled copper shell casings for the 1944 and 1945 pennies.

As costume jewelry, bakelite had its biggest boom in the 1930's during the Great Depression. It was used to imitate tortoiseshell, coral, amber, ivory and other costly materials. It was attractive to all levels of incomes, including the very rich.

Some designer bakelite pieces were made to sell to fine department stores in the $5-$10 price range. In the time of the Great Depression, this was a phenomenal price for a piece of jewelry. Those pieces were generally the brightest, most massive, and most highly carved items. Due to their scarceness, they are the pieces that command the highest prices - in Today's World -