Includes index.

Includes bibliographies and indexes.

1. Plasticland -- 2. Protoplastic -- 3. Celluloid Heroes -- 4. The Bakelite Brigade -- 5. Cellophane -- 6. Nylon -- 7. The Vinyl Solution -- 8. Plast-O-Rama -- 9. Pop Plastic -- 10. The Seat of the Plague -- 11. Sympathy for the Devil.

In Plastic: The Making of a Synthetic Century, Stephen Fenichell takes a fresh, irreverent look at the substance we all love to hate. The book moves from the early astonishment at such inventions as celluloid film and waterproof clothing; to the nylon-stocking riots after World War II; to the revolutionary, yet practical, proliferation of Tupperware in the '50s. Fenichell's sweeping assessment of the social and economic revolutions brought on by plastic extends from the sublime to the absurd, the beautiful to the mundane, demonstrating how scientists, artists, politicians, and the buying public have all molded, and also been molded by, plastic.