<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1491" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Richard asked: "<FONT face="Times New = Roman" size=3>I looked at a 1907 Bacon grand today. Keys were plastic. Owner = says she was told that they were original. I thought plastics didn't come into play(pardon the pun) till around the late 40's. "<BR><BR>Thanks,<BR>Rick,</FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV>Take a closer look. It's probably Celluloid! That stuff that is so flammable and stinky. :-(  </DIV> <DIV>Celluloid was, essentially, the first plastic. It was first used = for collars and cuffs, (and probably many other things, that I don't know about.<G>), during the Victorian Period. If it has a "grain" of = sorts, it's probably Celluloid.</DIV> <DIV>Regards,</DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Joe Garrett, R.P.T.<BR>Captain, Tool Police<BR>Squares R I</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>