Front Case for Proximity Fuse
date: label: Date made
content: 1950-1955
label: Date made
content: early 1950s
name: label: associated subject
content: Plax Corporation
label: associated subject
content: Monsanto Corporation
label: maker
content: Plax Corporation
notes: label: Description
content: A label on this nosecone reads “Front case for proximity fuze / 1948 / Shaw Insulator Co. / Made of Kel-F.” Kel-F is a polychlorotrifluoroethylene, a thermoplastic material discovered in Germany in 1934, and commercialized after World War II. The name Kel-F derived from “Kellogg” and “fluoropolymer.”
label: Description
content: The Shaw Insulator Co. was established in New Jersey in the early 20th century, to manufacture Bakelite and other plastic insulators. In 1940, after developing machinery for manufacturing plastic containers for milk and other liquids, this firm was purchased by the Plax Corp. In 1943, Frank Henry Shaw received the John Wesley Hyatt award for outstanding achievement in the plastics industry, for his work in the development of transfer molding.
label: Description
content: J. Harry Dubois, who became vice president of the Shaw Insulator Co. in 1944, donated this nosecone to the Smithsonian.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Chemistry
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of J. Harry DuBois
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1983.0538.05
label: catalog number
content: 1983.0538.05
label: accession number
content: 1983.0538
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Front Case for Proximity Fuze
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 98 mm x 60 mm; 3 7/8 in x 2 3/8 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 in x 7 1/2 in; 10.16 cm x 19.05 cm