Did you know the Great International Exhibition in London was to
serve as a showcase for the progress achieved in the industrial arts?
The 1862 Great International Exhibition
The Great International Exhibition of 1862
The first man-made plastic was created by Alexander Parkes who publicly demonstrated it at the 1862 Great International Exhibition in London. The material called Parkesine was an organic material derived from cellulose that, once heated, could be molded and retained its shape when cooled. Parkes claimed that this new material could do anything rubber was capable of, but could be manufactured at a lower cost. He had discovered something that could be transparent, as well as molded into thousands of different shapes.