Plastic Prospects

One of the by-products of the Wartime boom in the chemical industry was the development of non-inflammable plastics. Until then the plastic business's chief claim to fame was the familiar, fire-hazardous celluloid collar. Since then the world has become accustomed to plastic toothbrushes and fountain pens, automobile steering wheels and gearshift knobs, radio cabinets and poker chips.

Major manufacturers of plastic materials --phenol-formaldehyde, Durez, Plaskon, many another--are Bakelite, General Plastics, American Cyanamid Co., Plaskon Co., Celluloid Corp., Du Pont, Eastman Kodak, Monsanto Chemical and Union Carbide and Carbon.* These manufacturers do no molding, sell their plastics to other companies to be shaped. The molders, in turn--excepting those like Westinghouse and General Electric, which use the products in their own business--sell their finished plastic products to the toothbrush, automobile, radio manufacturers.

Largest and most active of the general market molders is Chicago Molded Products Corp., operated by the four Bachner Brothers. Sons of a Chicago watchmaker, the Brothers Bachner started as diemakers in a dingy Chicago shop in 1919, organized their own plastics company in 1924 to do their own molding on their own dies. That year their net sales were $10,000. Last year their net sales were $1,358,527.

This week, indicative of the plastic industry's continuing pleasant prospects, Chicago Molded is floating a $500,000 debenture issue, $100,000 of which will be used in bonds or in cash to retire its 7% preferred stock. Purpose of the public offering: to retire all outstanding loans, add a modest $120,000 to working capital and plant improvement.

-Another entrant in the field is Henry Ford, who makes his own distributor housings, gearshift knobs and other accessories from soy-beans.

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