Bakelite!!!!! Bakelite!!!!! Bakelite!!!!!

OVER A MONTH since I've been here! Sorry gang! It's been one of those!

I'm going to make it a fast stop today. I'm going to make a concerted effort to get over here and talk about Bakelite a lot.

I see every plastic known to mankind being called Bakelite on the net. For some reason people seem to think that the keyword spamming of that term in their listing is going to attract the type of attention that is going to cause someone who really only collects Bakelite to buy their obviously inaccurately described item. It's a huge bur under the saddle blanket to all of us who are very passionate and deeply in love with this incredible material.

Quite a number of years ago I was more active in a lot of discussion groups online. One of my favorite things besides jewelry is buttons. This passion dates back to my childhood when things were much simpler. If a child was bored with their toys, a parent often gave them some household item to entertain and occupy them. My mother utilized any number of things such as her button box (a big colorful bread tin), her old costume jewelry, or her old clothes in which I could play dress-up.

But I digressed, as usual.

One day on the button list, someone came in and showed some photos of some wonderful hand-carved buttons. Seems like the first things I saw were something like this:
Or this:

Or this:



Now, those are NOT Bakelite but the workmanship is intriguing, eh? The attention to detail. The interesting subject matter.

Next thing I know, I've got a link to this seller's button listings on eBay. Somewhere in there - I am a little fuzzy on when this began - this fine gentleman started using Bakelite and a new love affair began.

All of you who know me know I'm a total Bakelite freak and that it really makes little difference to me what form it takes.

Buttons: Great!

Pins: Great!

Bracelets: REALLY GREAT!!!!!!!!!!

Who am I talking about, you ask? In case you did not figure it out from the website watermark on the photos above, it's Brad Elfrink!


I could spend the rest of today picking out my personal favorites in Brad's incredible work but I'm going to just give you this link (again) to his website where he has massive quantities of great photographs of his fantastic work. And this is the link to his eBay listings. You will not be disappointed.

Brad is a fine gentleman. I know he's going to be embarrassed a bit by my gushing adoration for him and his work but he SO totally and absolutely deserves all of the kudos and nods he gets. He's The Best!

Please do yourself a favor: set aside an hour or so to look at all of the incredible photos of his work on his website and on his eBay listings. Bid on eBay, buy from his website or commission a special, one of a kind piece. You won't be disappointed but if for some reason you are not happy, he's going to make it right. Trust me.

Dress Clips-The Dilemma of HOW TO WEAR THEM!!!

Recently I have listed quite a few Bakelite items at STUFF. This time I included some authentic vintage-made earrings including a very rare pair of true End of Day Bakelite ones, a few dress clips and some newly created from vintage stock earrings as well.

Very rare True End of Day Bakelite Earrings
True End of Day Bakelite = a minimum of THREE DISTINCT COLORS

As I list dress clips I am all too painfully aware of how difficult many people find dress clips to be: to sell and to figure out appropriate ways to wear them.

Unsigned Bakelite Dress Clip

If you will go back and take a peek at some photos from the glamorous old days of the movies - 1930's, early 40's - you may notice that there are an awful lot of dress clips being worn in various ways.

For example - you can clip one onto a sash at your waist - or even onto a regular belt if it's not too thick.


You can clip one onto an Omega and wear it as a pendant.

Rare, Resin-washed Bakelite Palm Trees Dress Clip

Or try clipping it on the pocket of your jeans.

Pocket of a blazer? Check!

Apple Juice Carved Bakelite Dress Clip w/Plastic & Metal Embellishments

Tie a pretty ribbon around your neck, tie a pretty bow and clip one on at the center of the box as a pendant - or turn the bow around to the back and clip over the center front and wear it at almost any length your little heart desires!

And here's one of my personal favorites that most people never think about - you can use a safety pin from the back side of your jacket or blouse or dress, slide it in and out with enough of the pin showing on the front that you can slip that clip portion through and clip it on there - just wear it like a brooch! Then, of course, close the safety pin on the back side and no one will know that it's not a "regular brooch".

Got a pocket on your skirt? Another good place to clamp a dress clip down.

Worried about losing your dress clips? I know a lot of people worry that they are not secure enough. Well, just get out a little tiny safety pin and pin the back securely where the safety pin can not be seen and there you go!

If you have any other suggestions on how to wear dress clips please drop me a line either through my blog or via my shop: Stuff on Bonanzle!

Bakelite Testing Redux: Primum non nocere aka: First, Not To Harm!

Good Saturday Morning to all!

This morning I was listing a few small Bakelite items in my booth "stuff" on Bonanzle

There are a lot of people who consider me to be quite the expert on the subject of Bakelite. I do know more than many but I'm certainly not on the same level as some true experts. I've simply got a lot of experience - good and bad - in having learned how to tell what is and what is not Bakelite. It's been well over 25 years since I bought my first piece of Bakelite. Once I got hold of my first pieces, I was hooked.

During my foray on the net this morning looking around for one of those very clever lists of cutesy names that we love to employ in our descriptions of vintage Bakelite colors, I discovered, quite to my chagrin, that there are an awful lot of blogs, personal and purportedly professional web pages and discussions in various forums that are dispersing a whole lot of downright mis-information on this subject.

The thing to remember whenever you are going about research as to what material you have, always remember: Primum non nocere or First, Not to Harm.

That alone - if you will only take the tiniest bit of responsibility for your actions and stop to think for even a moment - should translate quite readily into this:

Do not ever under any circumstances do a Hot Pin Test on any item for any reason.

Ever.

I will elaborate just a tiny bit more: If you think you are very stealth and it does not matter, that you did it on the inside "where no one can see when it's being worn", try to sell it to a serious and knowledgeable Bakelite collector without disclosing it.

When they discover that you sold them a piece of jewelry that has had the dreadful Hot Pin Test done on it, you should expect to be forced to accept a return, give a refund and never have the privilege of doing business with that collector again.

It is a huge deal with collectors. I know none who will buy pieces with HPT marks unless they are priced at about 5¢ on the dollar of their value and it's one they are really desperate to have in their collection - and even then, they will do so with great trepidation.

Very important to understand: That HPT mark devalues the item as much as 90% when it's done and it can never be undone.

Some other points I would like to make to you if you are a relatively new Bakelite collector:

If you are not really an expert, do not buy from anyone who does not offer you a 100% money-back guarantee that they are selling you authentic Vintage Bakelite. If you buy something you think might be Bakelite, contact me if you can't figure it out. I'll be glad to help you try to learn how to make an honest evaluation.

Making purchases from a reputable seller is essential for investment quality items such as better vintage Bakelite items.

We'll talk more later on about some of the things to avoid when shopping for items to add to your Bakelite collection!

And always remember to stop and think before you buy. Learn how to accept personal responsibility for your purchases if you are in too big a hurry to read a description. Ask questions. Read books, talk to other people. Verify your "facts" before accepting them. Keep asking questions if you are not sure.

Just because you read it on the internet does not necessarily make it right. But, please: trust me on this one - the hot pin test is a really bad one. That's a fact!

Newly listed Bakelite at Stuff on Bonanzle:

Bakelite Carved Grape cluster Dress Clip:

True End-of-Day Bakelite Earrings - three colors:



Set of three Bakelite buttons:

Come see me on Bonanzle!

Check out my Squidoo Lens on Testing Bakelite!