The Bakelite Museum holds one of the UK’s most significant collections of early plastics and 20th-century domestic design, offering a unique insight into everyday life of the past century.

As the “material of a thousand uses,” Bakelite made quality design accessible through mass production. Established in Greenwich in 1985, and later housed in Somerset, the museum is currently seeking new premises.

The Bakelite Design Trust, registered as a CIO in 2021, aims to re-establish the museum to educate the public on plastics’ history and impact. The collection includes rare items and factory archives linked to Hackney’s industrial heritage, reflecting the area’s past.

Imogen Smith of the Bakelite Design Trust: “Love it or loathe it, plastic in all its many forms is indispensable to modern life, and it all started with the inventor Alexander Parkes in 1862 – in Hackney Wick. The Bakelite Museum is a huge collection of early plastics from the mundane to the marvellous. It reminds us of Hackney’s innovative industrial past and evokes memories, sparks conversations, inspires creativity and stimulates the imagination.”