Existing comment:
Celluloid billiard ball, around 1868, and box for Bakelite billiard balls, around 1910
In 1863, a billiard hall owner concerned about the "dreadfully dear" price of ivory balls offered a prize for the invention of an ivory substitute. The competition led to the invention of celluloid, a plastic made in part from natural cellulose. Celluloid proved useful for countless products, but it was not as stable or hard as ivory. Later synthetic plastics such as Bakelite, combined with ivory's climbing price as elephant populations declined, spelled the end of ivory billiard balls. |