The substance he abused: Bakelite, a phenolic resin invented in 1909 and often used as an electrical insulator.

FORBES: They've Gotta Have It

The higher-quality Bakelite pieces were produced in limited numbers, making them hot collectibles today.

FORBES: They've Gotta Have It

Predictions of robots, popular space travel and personal helicopters now seem as dated as Bakelite and brilliantine.

ECONOMIST: The millennium-bug muddle

You've got to grab the fist-sized Bakelite knob of the 1960s-era machine and put some muscle into it.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Masellis' specialty was Bakelite costume jewelry, in vogue during the 1930s and 1940s.

FORBES: They've Gotta Have It

It was all done to feed his uncontrollable Bakelite habit.

FORBES: They've Gotta Have It

The plotters would hear information through their headphones and instantly start placing Bakelite arrows on the map, adding to it at a rate of about one a second.

BBC: Remembering the Battle of Britain

During a recent Sunday brunch on a patio in the East Village, they dressed in designer vintage, thrift store and sample sale finds with jewelry courtesy of Bakelite and Pylones.

CNN: Aging stylishly, online and in the streets

It's not well-known or even thought about but ever since Leo Hendricks unveiled the first fully synthetic moldable hard plastic called Bakelite to the American Chemical Society in 1909, except for a very small percentage that has been incinerated, every single molecule of plastic ever manufactured still exists somewhere in our environment.

CNN: Opinion: Creating a sea of change