Wild goose chase notice - mystery plastic necklace

This is dark red/burgundy plastic. I put it in a plastic baggie and into some really hot water. The smell was ... acrid. Nasty. It's too light for bakelite. I'm pretty sure at least some of the beads are molded. The paint comes off when you get it wet; the baggie wasn't water tight and a drop or two got inside. Promptly turned raspberry juice color. I've been trying to figure out where this came from and whodunnit.

 

Ev, are you sure these aren't dyed wood ?

 

The cone-shaped ones might be, but I've never had paint or stain come off with water like that.

 

Hope this gets solved, I've one that's very similar!

 

With lightweight old beads or buttons carved like that, if they're not celluloid, they're most likely casein (Galalith) and probably 1920s-30s European. If they are casein, the scent is, to my nose anyway, more rancid than acrid, bordering on putrid - casein buttons display heat-crazing fairly often and they were also known for dye transfer onto clothing...

~Cheryl

 

I agree with Cheryl, I did a search on 'vintage carved casein beads' and found very similar ones.

 

Does this help? They're not catalin; I'd know the rotten milk smell anywhere. Galaith is certainly possible; I have a lot of the cut to off-white painted beads around. No one seems to be buying them.(sigh)

 

Why would Catalin smell like rotten milk? It's basically a colored version of Bakelite, they're both phenolics, and should have the same chemical scent (a friend checks by taste, I just walk away when she sticks a piece in her mouth...) Casein is a milk-based plastic, the reason they smell 'rotten' - some celluloid can smell like vinegar rather than camphor, especially if they're starting to deteriorate...

~Cheryl

 

Looks like I got the two mixed up. Not unusual. Galaith sure does it. I've run into the vinegar celluloid rot before now for sure.