The wider acceptance of plastics as a basic packaging material took a positive step forward in the early 1950s, with the entry
of polyethylene into full commercial use. Until that time the use of plastic in packaging had been mainly limited to certain
thermosetting resins used for closures and a few containers (for menthol cones, shaving sticks, etc.). Reference to the history
of plastics indicates that the knowledge of plastics was much further advanced in those early times than most packaging
people would expect. Even today this state of affairs can still exist. Although specific substances, now recognised under the term
plastics, can be identified as far back as the early nineteenth century, the name ‘plastics’ did not come into general use until the
mid-1920s. These early plastic discoveries were generally scientific in nature without any insight into the possible
applications. Phenol formaldehyde, for example, although a chemical entity in 1840, was not exploited until around 1916
when it became synonymous with the word ‘Bakelite’. Nitrocellulose, which subsequently became known as ‘celluloid’, was
also discovered in the nineteenth century and was exploited far more quickly. It became one of the first commercially
accepted plastics when produced by the Hyatt Brothers in the USA around 1870. Celluloid subsequently found use for
numerous household articles (brush backs, mirror holders, trays, etc.).