 The Cavalcade of America, presented by Dupont. This evening we bring you the story of an inventor, John Wesley Hyatt. The very history of invention discloses the names of many Americans who, by unswerving faith in their own ideas, have become the founders of great beneficial industries. Samuel Morse and the Telegraph. Alexander Graham Bell and the Telephone. Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin. These and many more have made their inventions the foundations upon which great commercial developments have been built. It is the same unswerving faith in American ideas and American industry that inspired Dupont Chemists to strive continually towards goal expressed in their pledge, better things for better living through chemistry. As an overture, Don Borey's and the Cavalcade Orchestra bring us a selection from Jerome Kern's operetta, Roberta, The Touch of Your Hand. In 1863, at the age of 26, we find him in a print shop in Albany, New York. He and another printer, James Brown, are just finishing their lunch. It's almost time for us to get back to work. Yes, I know it, John, but this is the first chance I've had a day to look at the paper. Printers and typesetters are funny people. We work with type all day and the first thing we do for relaxation is to read something. You ought to know you've been in the printing business ten years yourself. Say, John, look at this. What is it? It's advertisement. Here, read it yourself. A prize of $10,000 for the discovery of a satisfactory substitute for ivory in making billiard balls. Say, that's a lot of money. It certainly is. Well, but I know the reason for it. Hunters have been killing off so many elephants that the makers of billiard balls are afraid. The price of ivory has gone to the skies. And even at the price, there isn't enough to be had. It must be it. The offer is made by Fallon and Collander of New York. They make billiard balls in tables and queues. But $10,000. You're thinking of trying for the prize, John? Why shouldn't I? Well, only that you don't know anything about chemistry. And every real chemist in the country will be trying to win the money. It's true. I don't know anything about chemistry. But, Jim, I've learned more things since I started making my own living. You've learned to be a good typesetter and a good one, yes. I have supported myself in the printing business since I was 16. I never had much schooling, just a preschool and one year at Eddytown Seminary. I've learned this. The things that really matter are the facts you'll find out for yourself. Books are fine, but I never believed that I read or much that people tell me until I've tried it for myself. You're really going to try for this prize? Why not, Jim? I've already invented a knife grinder. I hold a patent on it. Don't think I'll ever make me rich. Well, you never can tell. But, Jim, my father's a country blacksmith, and what's more, he's a good mechanic. Always trying to find a better way of doing things. And I believe I inherited some of his mechanical ability. Oh, yes, but this is chemistry, John. Well, chemistry or mechanics, it's all the same. It's doing something in a new way that interests me, and I'm going to try it. It's going to be a lot of work. Yes, and I'll need all the help I can get. How about it, Jim? Do you want to help me? Well, yes, but I don't know how much help I'll be. I don't know anything about chemistry, either. Well, at least we'll start on an equal basis. But there's no time to lose, Jim. We're going after that $10,000. Oh, John Hyatt and his friends started out to find a satisfactory synthetic ivory. Naturally, the news spread among their fellow workers. Most of them scoffed at Hyatt's belief that he might succeed in competition with learned chemists. But Hyatt kept on with his experiments, nights and Sundays. Every minute he could spare from his work in the print shop was devoted to experiments. A few months later in the print shop, Hyatt is teaching Tommy, the young printer's devil, how to sort type and return each letter to its place in the case. Is it, Tommy? He's doing very well. That's an awful lot to remember, Mr. Hyatt. All these letters and every one of them has to go back into the right place. Well, take it as slowly as you need, Tommy. The point is don't make any mistakes. There's nothing that makes a type setter so mad as to find a wrong letter in the case. I know that all right. Didn't the old man jump all over me? You'll find that if you go slowly enough, sorting type will gradually become automatic. You won't have to think about it at all. Then you can speed up. Well, I hope so. Well, I'm trying hard, but I don't seem to learn very fast. Well, just keep at it, Tommy. That's the only way to succeed at anything. See, Mr. Hyatt, and there's something I ought to tell you. What does it tell me? Well, some of the other men are laughing about you behind your back. That makes me pretty mad. What are they? What about? It's about you trying to make a billet ball. They say you're a little crazy cooking up all kinds of chemicals and all. I suppose Pearson is one of them. He's the main one, yes. I thought you ought to know. Well, thanks for telling me, Tommy. But I don't mind what they say. Say, Mr. Hyatt, here comes Mr. Pearson now. Keep on sorting that type, Tommy. I am. Well, Hyatt, how's this part of your work coming on? I managed to get my work done all right. Haven't heard any complaints, have you? No, not yet. Well, you stick to your press work, Pearson. I'll stick to my type setting. No, Hyatt, you ought to stick to your type setting. You're good at that. What do you mean? I mean that you're silly to think you can find an imitation, a ivory. You're wasting a lot of time. It can't be done. Is it any of your business what I do with my spare time? What you're trying to do? Impossible. I've got a friend named Green who knows quite a bit about chemistry. You ought to. He's assistant to fellows at the apothecary shop around the corner. He says a lot of famous chemists have been trying for years to find something to take the place of ivory. Well, it's time somebody found it then. What chance do you think you've got if those other men haven't found it? Do you remember any of the names? No, I think so. One is Alexander Parks and another is Daniel Spill. Englishman they are. Thanks. Well, they didn't thank me. I'm just trying to tell you that you're wasting your time. Well, the men are laughing at you. Well, let them laugh. But look here, Pearson. Speaking of wasting time, my time is valuable. And so is Tommy's. So instead of spending it talking to you, I think we'll get on with this job. All right, my $10,000 friend, if that's the way you feel about it. I won't take any more of your valuable time. I mean, I won't waste any more of my time on you. How are you coming with the tight, Tommy? All right, Mr. Hyatt. Say, I don't like that, Mr. Pearson. Neither do I. What right is he to tell me I can't make a new material for a billiard ball? None at all. He's always bothering other people at their work. You see, Tommy, the strange part about it is that I have made billiard balls. Have you really? Yeah. Not very good ones, I'll admit. They wrinkle when they dry. We haven't found the right process yet. Perhaps we'll have to start all over again from the beginning. Well, that'd be too bad. But even if we do, we'll keep at it. And you mock my words, Tommy. Some day soon I'm going to surprise Pearson and his friends with an imitation ivory. John Hyatt and Jim Brown kept working at their experiments. At first, they tried mixing polarized wood with a solvent and compressing it. As a material for billiard balls, it was unsuccessful. But Hyatt later used the process and setting up a business for making checkers and dominoes. The basic idea he was groping for to produce an artificial ivory had not presented itself. Still, he kept on experimenting, believing only the results of his own piles with different materials. One night, he and Jim Brown were heating some ingredients in an open pot in the kitchen of the boarding house where Hyatt lived. Well, I hope we get something this time, John. Not getting discouraged, are you, Jim? Oh, no. We've put in a lot of time so far. What have we to show for it? Well, we've had a lot of fun and we haven't spent any more money than we would have hanging around a saloon. It's been interesting, hasn't it? Well, of course. But I wish I could feel we were getting some place with our experiments. Well, wait until this mix. You cook so well, Jim. The fumes are getting pretty heavy. I think I'll open the door. I can hardly breathe. Yeah, well, that is better. I was so interested in watching the mixture that I hadn't noticed how stuffy the place was. Nice of Mrs. Mack to let us use her kitchen. Oh, say, Jim, she's been sort of hinting lately that we ought to find another laboratory. Why, nobody else uses the kitchen at this time of night. How's that mixture coming along, John? Boiling nicely. Well, from the fumes it's giving off, I'd say it was really something new. I've never smelled anything like it before. Well, I never want to smell it again. Good evening, Mrs. Mack. Good evening, Mrs. Mack. Good evening to you, Mr. Brown. To you, Mr. Hyatt. What in the world is that terrible odor coming from my stone? Why, it's our latest attempt at making artificial ivory. Well, I wish to goodness that you'd leave the ivory to the elephants, Mr. Hyatt. You're a fine sober young man and you'll pay your board promptly. But you must stop using my kitchen. Your work's gonna smell up the plug. But, Mrs. Mack, we're right in the middle of an experiment. And my whole house is in the middle of the worst smell I ever smelled. You must stop now this minute. Well, of course it. You say so, huh? Well, it's not only me that says so, Mr. Hyatt. It's the other boarders. The whole neighborhood. What's more, Mr. Green, down at the apothecary shop, warned me today. He says the way you're going on, you're likely to blow up my house. It's dangerous, he says, mixing up things like you do and putting them over a fire. Oh, that fellow Green ought to mind his own business. But chemistry is his business, Mr. Brown. He knows about it. Well, if you ask me, I don't know half as much as John Hyatt. Oh, I'm not speaking about that. Mr. Hyatt, I hope you'll be staying on as a boarder. But I must forbid you the use of my kitchen. And you must not do your experiments in your room. All right. I suppose I'll have to rent some sort of place. But the experiments Mrs. Mack will go on. Hyatt rented the back part of an empty shop and continued his experiments, trying different materials as he and Brown went ahead. Hyatt insisted upon making an actual trial of each idea. Before he forsook any given experiment, he proved to himself that those materials in that process were not suited to his purposes. One day in the print shop, young Tommy is watching Hyatt set tight. I don't see how you do it so fast, Mr. Hyatt. Just practice, Tommy. Hey, I'm nearly finished. Yes. It's elastic. Two more lines, I'd say. Yeah, certainly be glad when I'm finished. The fingers are sore. I wish I could set tight as fast as that. You'll do it, Tommy, if you stay in this business. Yeah. That's the last. Look at those fingers, though. Yeah, the ends are all north. You ought to fix them. I will, if you give me that bottle of collodion. You know that liquid cuticle in the cabinet? That'll cover them. Sure. I'll have it for you in a second. Fine. Well, Mr. Hyatt. Yeah, what is it, Tommy? Oh, somebody's upset the bottle. Upset the bottle? Yeah, let me see it. Now, this is the way I found it, sir. The bottle lying flat on the shelf. You know, liquid cuticles all run out and dried up. I have to go to the apothecaries for more. Oh, wait, Tommy. Let me see this stuff. Hmm. This is interesting. What are you doing, Mr. Hyatt? Picking off a piece of this film. Dried collodion. Look at it, Tommy. Smooth and hard. That's the way it always dries. I know, but I never thought about it before. Let's see. This is nitrocellulose dissolved in ether and alcohol. Why are you so interested in that? Well, you see it every day. What's on your mind? Why, this bit of film has given me an idea. And the idea, Tommy, might be worth $10,000. From this idea, John Hyatt arted an entirely new line of experiments using nitrated cotton or nitrocellulose. He knew that this material, cotton treated with nitric and other acids, was explosive. For this reason, he chose a shop that stood by itself apart from other buildings in which to carry on his experiments at night. We find Hyatt and Jim Brown at work in their new shop tinkering with a powerful press. I'd say, Jim, you can get plenty of pressure from it now. Yes, the heating arrangement's all fixed too. Yes. Hey, press plenty hot. Put your hand over it. Fine. Well, let's get busy with our mixture. All right. Here's the nitrocellulose. Yeah. Here's the camper. Good. Say, John, where'd you get the idea of using camper anyway? Well, I thought it was my own idea, but just lately, I found out that Alexander Parks and Daniel Spill used it too. But they mixed this up cold. Yes, they've probably been afraid to try heating nitrocellulose. You're not afraid, are you, Jim? Of course not. We've got this wooden shield to stand behind. Wouldn't we put the mixture into the press? Yes. Oh, company. Just when we're ready to try our new experiment. Come in. Well. Well, Pearson, what do you want? Oh, I just thought I'd drop in to see what you were doing. You brought Mr. Green with me from the apothecary shop. So I see. Good evening, Mr. Green. No, Jim Brown, don't you? How do you do this? How are you, Mr. Green? Come over to learn something about chemistry? Not exactly, Mr. Brown. Mr. Pearson has been telling me about your experiments. He says you're trying to combine nitrocellulose and camper to make some sort of synthetic ivory. Yes, that's right. But you'd better try it. He's the experimenter. I'm only the helper. You realize, Mr. Hyatt, that many experienced chemists have tried to do what you're doing failed. Yes, I know that. And you still think that you can accomplish something when men will know what they're doing failed? They didn't know what they were doing any more than I do. I learn as I go along by trying different materials and processes. And that's all I believe. What I find out for myself. Of course, Mr. Hyatt, if you want to waste your time, that's your own privilege. That's exactly right. Come on, Jim. Let's get busy mixing this stuff. What is that? Nitrocellulose? Yes. And this is powdered camper. Yes, I recognize it. The other ingredients are my own idea to soften the mass. And what are you going to do with it when you get it mixed? Ah, that's Hyatt's secret. Well, there's no secret about it, Jim. We've got a press over here, and it's hot. I'm going to put the mixture in it, under pressure and heat. You mean to say you're going to heat that nitrated cotton and compress it? That's right. Nitrated cotton, camper, and a few other materials. What's the matter, Green? Hey, where are you going? I'm going to here. Get as far away as I can before they start using that press. Come on, Peter. Wait till you buy your life. Hey, wait for me. I'm coming too. I just know it's dangerous. You got rid of them nicely. I'm glad they left. Except that this experiment turns out as I believe it will. I'd like to see Green's face. His face looked like his name when he went out the door. He was really frightened, wasn't he? Say, you know, Jim, if we knew more about these materials, maybe we wouldn't dare try this experiment. I've thought about that. But I'm willing to help you go through with it. We're trying something nobody ever tried before. And that's what makes it interesting. Well, it's ready. Help me put it in the press. How much do you need? Well, about this much. And let's flatten it out a bit, all right? That ought to be about right, considering the size of the press. All right. In it goes. All right, Jim, throw the lever. All right. I'll start tightening up the pressure. Well, let me help you with that. It turns hard, doesn't it? Yeah. Well, listen to that mixture. It's cooking all right. Get down behind that shield, John. You know how frightened Green was. Green would be frightened of his own shadow. There. That's about the maximum pressure we can get. Can't take a chance of breaking the press. Well, nothing has exploded yet. His fumes are pretty bad, though. I'd like to see what's happening inside the press. How long are you going to leave it? Well, not long. The heat will die down anyway. I wonder what we're going to find when we open it up. You know more about it than I do. What's your guess? Well, my hope is that we'll find a brand new material. Something hard and smooth. Let's have a look. All right. Hey, those fumes are bad. Wait. I'll open the window. There, that's better. You ready to open the press, John? Throw the lever. John, what is it? Why don't you speak? What's the matter? Look, Jim. Take the press. Look at it. Jim, it's what I've been trying to find all this time. A material that would take the place of ivory. One of that hot press came the first successful plastic material. John Hyatt, persevering where other men had failed, proved that nitrocellulose and camphor could be molded into a smooth, hard material, provided heat and pressure were present during the process. This was the basis of the patent that was granted him on July 12, 1870 for an improvement in treating and molding peroxin. One day shortly after the United States government had granted his patent, he was leaving the print shop with Jim Brown when Pearson and Green greeted him. Well, Hyatt, all through for the day. Yes. Everything's finished for the time being. I'm happy to see you again, Mr. Hyatt. I never imagined I would when I left your shop that night. Yes, you were in a hurry to get away, Mr. Green. I remember that. Well, heating nitrocellulose under pressure. I couldn't imagine anything but an explosion. Well, Jim and I found more than that when we opened the press. Yes, I know. The first successful plastic material. Hyatt, Green and I thought we might help you in developing your patent. Help me? Well, you've proved your new material, of course, but that's only the first step, you know. You must have heard stories about how many inventors have died poor because they couldn't develop their ideas commercially. Yes. We've talked that over quite a bit. Well, that's why we're here, Green and I. You'll have to manufacture this new material yourself if you expect to make any money out of it. What makes you think so? It's been the history of all successful inventions, the ones where the inventor made anything. Say, Pearson, what are you getting at anyway? Just this. Green is an experienced chemist. He could help you along technical lines, Hyatt. Well, I don't think Mr. Hyatt needs any help along those lines. He's made a real plastic material when everybody said it couldn't be done. And if he's made it, he can make it again in quantity. Perhaps. But here's another angle, the financing. I imagine that most of your money has gone into your experiments, hasn't it, Hyatt? Well, yes, it has. Well, that's where Green and I can help you, too. We've got quite a bit of money between us. Plenty to start a factory. How about it, Hyatt? Would you like to sit down and talk business? No. But how are you going to make a profit on your invention if you haven't the money to develop it? Listen, your offer of money comes a little too late. You laughed at Jim and me when we started looking for an artificial ivory. You and your friend Green told us it couldn't be done. Well, we've done it. And now my brother is on his way east. He'll finance us. We don't want your money. Oh, John Wesley Hyatt, because he believed only in what he found out for himself, discovered a new plastic material. And by his discovery, he laid the foundation for a great new industry, known today under the collective name of plastics. Once the business was established, John Wesley Hyatt turned his inventive mind to other fields. He was granted many other patents, finally one for his principle of the roller bearing. In 1914, he was awarded the Perkin Medal, one of the most coveted of all awards for distinguished services in the field of applied chemistry and engineering. The DuPont organization, which has contributed much to the development of plastics, is proud to pay tribute to John Wesley Hyatt, particularly since 1937, is the centennial year of his birth, to add his name to the other distinguished American inventors in the cavalcade of America. This evening, you heard how John Wesley Hyatt found the first plastic originally used as an ivory substitute. Although all of us come in contact with plastics nearly every day, many people would be hard put to explain exactly what a plastic is. This name is applied to substances which, when properly mixed and treated, can be molded or cast into shape. For example, the handle of your toothbrush is probably a plastic. So undoubtedly, or the barrel of your fountain pen, the instrument panel in your car, the colorful, translucent lampshades now seen in many living rooms. Safety glass is made by sandwiching a section of transparent plastic between two pieces of plate glass. And yet these are just a few of more than 25,000 modern uses for plastics. There are several different types of plastics. Hyatt's discovery came first. Later, the attractive, widely used cellulose plastic, which DuPont calls pyriline, took its prominent place in the picture, and the use of plastics began to widen. In the early 1920s, the DuPont company launched an intensive research program to improve existing plastics and to develop entirely new ones. This research work has borne abundant fruit. For example, after more than five years of effort, DuPont chemists recently perfected the plastic of which I think you're going to hear and see a great deal. Originally introduced under the trademark Pontolite, DuPont's name for this beautiful new plastic is now Lucite. Lucite is as clear as the finest crystal. Recently, a sphere made from Lucite plastic, costing only a few dollars, placed alongside an oriental crystal ball valued at $50,000. Even the experts had trouble telling them apart. That's how beautifully clear this new DuPont plastic is. And because this clarity is natural, when color is desired, even the most delicate tints are easy to obtain. Lucite does not discolor or show age on exposure to direct sunlight. It does not shrink or change form under the most severe conditions of use. It permits the passage of a large percentage of ultraviolet rays. It weighs about half as much as glass and can be machined readily, like metal or wood. Lucite is indeed a distinguished new member of DuPont's complete family of plastics for every purpose. In this work of improving existing plastics and developing entirely new ones to serve human needs, we see how DuPont chemists again fulfill their pledge to provide better things for better living through chemistry. Songs of the sea using stories of the men who go down to the sea and ship will be the subject of the broadcast when next week at this same time DuPont again presents The Cavalcade of America. This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.