Inventive Minds: Endangered Species - Seeking An Ivory Substitute Sparks the Plastics Revolution

Ivory was the preferred material for billiard balls in the 19th century and the search for substitutes, whether motivated by economics or ethics, informed the invention of early plastics.

- Ivory billiard ball, late 1800s.

John Wesley Hyatt created a successful business making billiard balls with his invention of Celluloid in 1868.

- Celluloid billiard ball, 1868.

Bakelite, announced by inventor Leo Baekeland in 1909, found many uses, from billiard balls and jewelry to electrical insulators.

- Bakelite billiard balls, after 1910.

Vitalite billiard balls, made of a cast resin originally invented in Germany in the 1930s by chemist Max Koebner, were popular during the 1930s–1950s.

- Vitalite billiard balls, about 1935.

Celluloid billiard ball manufacture, 1920s.

"The balls next go to the polishing lathes illustrated in photograph 75, where they are sanded and polished."

- From "Manufacture of Celluloid Billiard Balls," Albany Billiard Ball Co. Records.

"The manufacture of the celluloid balls is completed by a final polishing with wax in the polishing lathe."

- From "Manufacture of Celluloid Billiard Balls," Albany Billiard Ball Co. Records.

Celluloid billiard ball manufacture, 1920s.

- Albany Billiard Ball Co. Records.Celluloid billiard ball manufacture, 1920s

"After their final turning, the balls are ground in a merry-go-round illustrated in photograph 81."

- From "Manufacture of Celluloid Billiard Balls," Albany Billiard Ball Co. Records.

"The balls are ground by being made to roll in a race between oppositely revolving surfaces in contact with water and fine abrasive."

"The manufacture of the synthetic balls is completed by buffing on a special buffing wheel, illustrated in photograph 84, where the final polishing is applied."

- From "Manufacture of Celluloid Billiard Balls," Albany Billiard Ball Co. Records.

Celluloid billiard ball manufacture, 1920s. Albany

- Billiard Ball Co. Records.