Bakelite Corporation Advertising Booklet, "Procedure For Research in the Use of Bakelite Materials," 1934

A robust promotional campaign launched in the mid-1920s helped make Bakelite a household name. The Bakelite Corporation marketed its processes and products -- variations on the first chemically synthetic plastic, developed by Leo Baekeland in 1907 -- with the slogan, "The Material of a Thousand Uses." The company's trademark, the letter 'B' above the infinity symbol, reflected Bakelite's seemingly limitless applications.