Comb, yellow with brass, late 19th century, detail of crystallization

Late 19th century. Yellow celluloid hair comb with a cast brass scrollwork decoration and four teeth. Celluloid is an early plastic that mixed cellulose nitrate with a plasticizer, which is now leaching out and degrading the material, breaking it down into crystals and corroding the brass.

The Irma G. Bowen Historic Clothing Collection digital catalog was produced by the UNH Library Digital Collection Initiative, supported in part by a grant from the Mooseplate program and New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. Additional funding provided by the E. Ruth Buxton Stephenson Memorial Fund. Photography copyright, Astrida Schaeffer.