Material Gallery

Bakelite telephone

Bakelite telephone. Dial telephone with bakelite casing. Bakelite, the first plastic to be used for widespread commercial purposes, was discovered in the 1920s while the Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland was researching synthetic varnishes in the USA. It is a thermosetting plastic (one that does not melt once it has been heated and set) and it is a good insulator. This made it the ideal material to use in electrical devices like telephones and radios

© VICTOR DE SCHWANBERG/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Bristol Aeronautical Corporation XLRQ-1 11652

Bristol Aeronautical Corporation XLRQ-1 11652, the 2nd prototype amphibious assault transport glider at the Naval Air Material Centre (NAMC) Philadelphia. Four prototypes were ordered: 11651 to 11654, but 11653 and 11654 were cancelled. Background: In April 1941 Captain Marc A. Mitscher, then the Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Naval Aeronautics, directed the production of a personnel and equipment carrying glider for the Navy. Five amphibious glider Types were contracted for: The Bristol XLRQ-1 (single fuselage 12-seat), Bristol XLR2Q-1 (twin fuselage 24-seat), Allied XLRA-1 and AGA XLRG-1 and Snead XLRH-1. Only the XLRQ-1, XLRA-1 and a 40% scale flying model of the AGA XLRG-1 were Built. Flight tests were satisfactory but the requirement and feasibility of using them in the Pacific theatre evaporated, so development was abandoned in 1943. Date: circa 1943

© The Peter Butt Aviation Collection / Mary Evans

Moroccan Woman of the Mountains

A Moroccan Woman of the Mountains with her young son asleep in a sling made out of the same material as her sarong-style skirt. She wears a wide-brimmed straw hat, popular in this part of North Africa during this period

© Mary Evans Picture Library 2015 - https://copyrighthub.org/s0/hub1/creation/maryevans/MaryEvansPictureID/10285588

Africa, African, Asleep, Brim, Brimmed, Hat, Historical, History, Material, Moroccan, Morocco, Mountains, North, Sling, Son, Straw, Wide, Woman, Young