Red & white bakelite

Bakelite spice canisters,
made in Australia 1940s

Here is a collection of red and red & white bakelite spice canisters, all Australian made, in the 1940s.

The front six canisters- two with sprinkle tops, are by Sellex; Nutmeg, Cloves, Ginger, Cinnamon, and one [indecipherable] other. The two canisters at the upper left are by Marquis, and the pair of canisters adjacent are by Nally.

All good Australian bakelite canister manufacturers. All the canisters have screw lids – which are all in good order. The labels to the Sellex canisters show vintage wear- after all, they are over 75 years old.

I have a set of matching kitchen canisters by Eon – also red and white- this colour combination is a winner- see posts, below.

The set of ten spice canisters is for sale: $AUD135

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Green & cream bakelite kitchenalia

Green bakelite kitchenalia
made in Australia 1940s

Here we have green & cream bakelite kitchenalia from the 40s – the bread board [with incised ‘BREAD’ script] was made by British Plastics, in Melbourne; the salt canister was made by Industrial Plastics in Adelaide, and the canisters are by Nally, in Sydney.

The large Flour canister houses nested canisters inside – each with that fantastic cursive script; they are ‘Sugar’ and ‘Coffee’. I have waxed lyrical about the olden days when coffee canisters were the smallest – and how nowadays they would be the largest. So, ok, won’t belabour the point.

The salt canister has overt deco styling, despite being made in the 40s – and it is in good vintage condition and ready to hang. The bread board has never been used, and so has no cuts or abrasions – and the Nally canisters- an incomplete set of five – are also in excellent vintage condition.

Unusually I am offering the three for sale separately: although of course if you’d like to purchase the lot we can negotiate a fair price>

The bread board is $AU30, the salt canister is $AU30 and the Nally canisters [3] are for sale: $AU95

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Red & white bakelite

Bakelite spice canisters,
made in Australia 1940s

Here is a collection of red and red & white bakelite spice canisters, all Australian made, in the 1940s.

The front six canisters- two with sprinkle tops, are by Sellex; Nutmeg, Cloves, Ginger, Cinnamon, and one [indecipherable] other. The two canisters at the upper left are by Marquis, and the pair of canisters adjacent are by Nally.

All good Australian bakelite canister manufacturers. All the canisters have screw lids – which are all in good order. The labels to the Sellex canisters show vintage wear- after all, they are over 75 years old.

I have a set of matching kitchen canisters by Eon – also red and white- this colour combination is a winner- see posts, below.

The set of ten spice canisters is for sale: $AUD135

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Red & white Eon canisters

Red & white Eon bakelite canisters
made in Australia, c.1940s

This is an unusual set of bakelite canisters- four are ‘nested canisters : flour, sugar, tea and coffee – and the fifth larger canister is for cake. The nested canisters have transfer labels…somewhat scrapped from long years of service, but the cake canister is unlabelled. Maybe people just knew that the round, squat non-nesting canister was always for cake!

The canisters – and the labelling- have a somewhat deco styling which is somewhat late for the 1940s- but perhaps these canisters were themselves aiming for retro? Either way, the creamy white bakelite contrasts nicely with the vibrant red bakelite of the lids. And it’s nice to have a complete, intact set.

For sale: $AUD145

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Yellow bakelite canisters [sold]

Sellex yellow bakelite canisters
made in Australia c.1940-1950

How about that yellow! I haven’t seen much yellow bakelite and this is startling in its intensity. It puts the banana and pineapple to shame. Inferior in colour AND in plastics!

These nested canisters are part of a set of 5. They are in excellent condition – for yellow bakelite. If you have been following my love [read obsession] with bakelite canisters [see below for evidence] you’ll be aware of  the bakelite colours of the 40s and 50s. This is the one and only yellow example I have come across.

The banana and pineapple were added to the image for a bit of fun…but if you like the ensemble, I am happy to send you the lot.  For sale: $AUD45

Green bakelite

Green bakelite pieces by Marquis and Duperite
made in Australia, c.1940-1950s

And so to the green bakelite. All the pieces in the image are made by Marquis, with the exception of the scoops which were made by Duperite. There were ten companies producing bakelite domestic ware in Australia in the post-war period, and I have examples of them all!

The ten companies [I know you want to know!] were: Nally [see picnic cups, in post below] Eon, Helix [see blue bakelite post below] Sellex, Iplex, Nylex [names ending with ‘ex’ particularly modern!] Tilly, Bristilite and Duperite [‘ite’ endings evoking bakelite.]

I particularly like the salt and pepper shakers – there are three sets in this collection, seen in the middle at the back of the image. The top and bottom of the shakers separate to reveal the two shakers; and you can see that the screw-on bases were often different coloured bakelite.

The green bakelite containers also have screw-on lids. They were originally used to contain spices or condiments, and have a somewhat ‘deco’-styling. These containers are particularly collectable – people like to collect them in every colour possible.      For sale: $AUD165

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