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Williamson (Colin) collection
2022.M.8
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution: Special Collections
Title: Colin Williamson collection of plastics trade literature
Creator: Williamson, Colin
Creator: Imperial Chemical Industries, ltd.
Identifier/Call Number: 2022.M.8
Physical Description: 44.5 Linear Feet(94 boxes)
Date (inclusive): circa 1930-1997, undated
Abstract: This collection of trade literature consists of technical information, manufacturing and design texts, and marketing materials
dating from the 1930s to 1997.
Physical Location: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the
catalog record for this collection. Click here for the
access policy .
Language of Material: Collection material is in English and German with some Russian.
This collection is arranged into the following three series:
Series I. Imperial Chemical Industries marketing library, 1947-1989; Series II. Imperial Chemical Industries technical service
documents, 1943-1993; Series III. Plastics design and manufacturing: Imperial Chemical Industries and competitors, circa 1930-1997.
Colin Williamson is a British technologist in the polymer raw material and additives sectors. An authority on the manufacture
and development of early plastics, he is deeply involved in the conservation issues of plastics objects in museum collections.
Williamson joined the plastics industry in 1969 as a colorist and additives specialist. In 1971 he began collecting early
plastics, and rescued many archival records of companies who were active in the plastics and rubber industries.
Through the 1980s, Williamson focused on the environmental and historical aspects of plastics. Williamson co-founded the U.K.-based
Plastics Historical Society in 1986, launched Smile Plastics Ltd. in 1987 with an emphasis on recycling, was the founder chairman
of the Plastics Recyclers' Trade Association and the Plastics Consultancy Network, and became a liveryman of the Worshipful
Company of Horners in 1988. Williamson lectured internationally on plastics history, design, technology, business, and environmental
impacts. He made public appearances on television and radio as the 'plastics expert.' Part of a long-term initiative, Williamson
contributed as a consultant to the Getty Conservation Institute's Preservation of Plastics project.
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Contact
Library Reproductions and Permissions .
The keyword index associated with the arrangement of the first series has been digitized and is available online: http://archives.getty.edu:30008/getty_images/digitalresources/spcoll/ICI_Keyword-In-Context-KWIC_1983.pdf
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Colin Williamson. Acquired by the Getty Conservation Institute in 2019 and transferred to the Getty Research Institute
in 2022.
Colin Williamson collection of plastics trade literature, circa 1930s-1997, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession
no. 2022.M.8.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2022m8
This collection houses technical, trade, and industry print, marketing materials, and grey literature, collected over several
decades by Colin Williamson from the libraries, archives, and offices of companies and business entities active in the plastics
and rubber industries, and donated to the Getty in 2019.
Dating from the 1930s to the 1990s, it consists largely of such papers and records from the library of Imperial Chemical Industries
Limited, with additional sources from competitors and various professional organizations. The documents evidence a rich material
and industrial history, provide substantive technical data on a wide range of polymers, resins, manufacturing processes and
equipment, and feature prominent examples of Consumer Era advertising.
The collection contains resources for the discipline of cultural heritage conservation, addressing the role of plastics and
rubbers in chemistry, technology, environment, industry, marketing, health, art, design, architecture, and other sectors.
Though the majority of the collection is paper-based, a small quantity of plastics samples and plastic objects of a variety
of types are also present. The collection allows researchers, scientists, and conservators numerous access points to explore
material, technical, advertising, and trade information for an exceptional range of plastics, resins, brands, applications,
and manufacturing processes.
Acquired by the Getty Conservation Institute in 2019.
"About PHS,"
Plastics Historical Society, 2015, https://plastiquarian.com/?page_id=69.
Encyclopedia Britannica Online, "Imperial Chemical Industries PLC," accessed August 22, 2022, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Imperial-Chemical-Industries-PLC.
Imperial Chemical Industries Limited, Plastics Division.
The Story of the ICI Plastics Division. Welwyn Garden City, Herts, 1979.
"Partners and Team Members,"
The Getty Conservation Institute, 2022, https://www.getty.edu/conservation/our_projects/science/plastics/partners.html.
Quye, Anita and Colin Williamson.
Plastics, Collecting and Conserving,Edinburgh: NMS Publishing Limited, 1999.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Plastics
Plastics Deterioration
Plastics craft
Plastics -- Extrusion
Materials science
Industrial marketing
Trade literature
Material innovation
Imperial Chemical Industries, ltd.
Plastics industry and trade
Museum conservation methods
Plastics industry and trade--Waste disposal