Imperial Valley press., 1940-01-18
War Of Substitutes in
u. S. Told by Bobson

:, durable, good insulators. excellent
molders You use them every time
YOU pick up the phone. plug in
| your bridge lamp, vac" the living
room rug.
3. GAS AND AIR PLASTTICS:
Urea is their base. They are
| combination of four common gases.
Some are translucent. Most have
bright and gay or soft and delicate
colors. Newest of the ureas-Lucite
and Pleyiglas are wholly transpar-
ent-clearer than glass! Unbreak-
able eyeglasses. super-safety glass,
covers for bomber cockpits are the
uses of these new concoctions.
/. ANIMAL PLATES: Casehn
extracted from sour cows milk is
the base. These are old plastics
but they are finding new uses
every day. Every time you button
your vest or take off your over
coat. you're using this old stand
by Lanital is the newest casein
plastic. It's an artificial wool that
much resembles the real thing.
Rubbing Aladdin's Lamp
There are literally thousands of
these plastics being used now. They
are popular because they combine
advantages of their own in addition
to those of the natural material.
It's like rubbing Aladdin's Lamp. If
your material isn't resistant to |
electricity, for example, add a pinch |
of this and a dash of that, and |
the resulting plastic is positively |
shock-proof. II you want your new
material to repell moisture, you
take slightly different rule" out
of the recipe book and your new
substance is waterproof. No wonder
this is the Chemical Age!
Here are just handful of rea-
sons why the plastics are crowding
out the natural materials in this
War OF the Substitutes:
/. Easy to mold.
2. Light and strong.
3. Warm and smooth
1. Good insulators.
5. Easy to clean.
8. Durable and non-corrosiye.
Z. Low manufacturing cost.
"Ersatz" are children of adversity.
Plastics rooted themselves in the
shade and darkness of the worst
depression years. They have grown
by leaps and bounds since then. But
they have only scratched the sur
face of their possibilities. Technical
progress is rushing ahead. When
the plastics finally come to grips
with the Maginot Line of the ma
tural materials-automob bodies
the war will enter its final stage.
it is not being too opti-
mistic to think of all-plastic auto
mobiles and all-plastic airplanes.
Possibilities of Plastic Planes
Americas plane capacity could be
speeded tremendously if "duramold'
"a plastic made of hardwood ve-
neers pressed with phenolic resin)
proves successful. One of the big
time-takers in plane building is the /
driving of as many as 100000 rivets
in some planes. In contrast. the
shell of the plastic plane" comes
in only three parts-wings, and
body. Success of this process means
stronger, lighter, faster, and far
more economical methods of build
ing and operating. From plastic air.
planes to plastic terraplanes (auto-
mobiles) would be the next step.
This War of the Substitutes
means more than a battle between
materials. 1t means vast social
changes. For instance, a town built
around a factory whose metal pro-
duct is captured by "Ersatz" must
find new article to make or lay
off its workers. Metal miners, ore
railroads, cabinet shops. silk mills,
may all be caught in the backwash
Of this epoch-making war. Big ben
eficiaries will be the farmers. The
plastic army carries bright beacon
of hope for them-settlement OF
their two-decade old problem of
price-busting surpluses. Remember,
the basis of two of the four plastic
groups is farm products!