Leap Day

It's a leap year this year, and a great excuse to show you some leaping frogs and rabbits in the MoDiP collection.

AIBDC : 005708

AIBDC : 006713

AIBDC : 006396sa

AIBDC : 006664

AIBDC : 006667

AIBDC : 006690

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Guess the object

MoDiP has the kind of collection that you may think you are very familiar with. We have objects which we all use every day, and some pieces which are more unusual.

By looking at this distorted image are you able to guess what the object is? What do you think it could be used for?

Post your answer in the comments below or to find the answer click here and you will be taken to the MoDiP catalogue.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

BXL photographic archive #0099

In 2010, MoDiP was donated a large archive of images relating to a single company. Bakelite Xylonite Ltd, also known as British Xylonite Ltd or BXL, was possibly one of the first British firms to successfully manufacture a plastics material in commercial quantities. The company was established in 1875 and after a long history went into liquidation in the late 2000s. The images we have in the collection are concentrated around the 1960s through to the 1980s and show us glimpses of the manufacturing process, products and the company’s employees during this time. We plan to share an image each week to give a flavour of the archive. If you want to see more you can view the whole collection on our website.

This week’s image shows a semi-air-spaced co-ax cable being extruded.

To get a better view of the image and find out more have a look at it on our website http://www.modip.ac.uk/artefact/bxl--0392

We are still working on the documentation of the archive, some of the images we know more about than others. It would be fantastic if we could fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge, if you know anything about the company or specific images it would be good to hear from you.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Did you know? #37

Did you know that plastics are used throughout the building industry?  Plastics materials can provide the right amount of strength required yet be light in weight and water proof.

Below I have highlights a small selection of building related objects from the MoDiP collection:

Loft insulation - AIBDC : 005906

Roof 'slates' - AIBDC : 006037.1

Drainage pipe - AIBDC : 006532.2

Damp proof membrane - AIBDC : 006741

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

A different view #29

There are many ways to look at the objects in the MoDiP collection.  With this series of posts I want to highlight the interesting views of objects that we may ordinarily miss.  These include the underside of an object, the surface pattern, or traces of manufacturing processes.

Title: nB Ware orange squeezer
Designer: Unknown
Manufacturer: NB Products
Object number: AIBDC : 0_6456

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Guess the object

MoDiP has the kind of collection that you may think you are very familiar with. We have objects which we all use every day, and some pieces which are more unusual.

By looking at this distorted image are you able to guess what the object is? What do you think it could be used for?

Post your answer in the comments below or to find the answer click here and you will be taken to the MoDiP catalogue.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

BXL photographic archive #0098

In 2010, MoDiP was donated a large archive of images relating to a single company. Bakelite Xylonite Ltd, also known as British Xylonite Ltd or BXL, was possibly one of the first British firms to successfully manufacture a plastics material in commercial quantities. The company was established in 1875 and after a long history went into liquidation in the late 2000s. The images we have in the collection are concentrated around the 1960s through to the 1980s and show us glimpses of the manufacturing process, products and the company’s employees during this time. We plan to share an image each week to give a flavour of the archive. If you want to see more you can view the whole collection on our website.

This week’s image shows bags made of Hy-perion XS film.

To get a better view of the image and find out more have a look at it on our website http://www.modip.ac.uk/artefact/bxl--0017

We are still working on the documentation of the archive, some of the images we know more about than others. It would be fantastic if we could fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge, if you know anything about the company or specific images it would be good to hear from you.
Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Did you know? #36

Did you know that different plastics have different properties?

Polypropylene is valued for its ability to make offer a 'living hinge'.Living hinges are integrally moulded to provide a flexible link between two or more rigid parts in a single process, thus reducing production costs and enhancing user convenience. They are known as living hinges because they can be flexed over a million times without failing. The phenomenon was discovered by engineers at Enjay (now ExxonMobil) and made its first appearance on the market in 1963.  More information can be found in our You can do it with plastics exhibition.

Here are some examples of the living hinge from the MoDiP collection.

Egg box - AIBDC : 0_6610

Razor - AIBDC : 003485.1

Colander - AIBDC : 006870

You can find out more about the properties of different plastics by looking at the MoDiP Curator's Guide to Plastics.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

A different view #28

There are many ways to look at the objects in the MoDiP collection.  With this series of posts I want to highlight the interesting views of objects that we may ordinarily miss.  These include the underside of an object, the surface pattern, or traces of manufacturing processes.

Title: Dandy Duck
Designer: Unknown
Manufacturer: Versabrush
Object number: AIBDC : 0_6486

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)