The eleven boxes contain documentation relating to project files including business correspondence, invoices, sketches, contracts and agreements, research materials, brochures, photographs, slides and models.
This collection, which includes some biographical material and which is specifically related to the design process and to the use of plastics, is interesting because it sufficiently covers the work of this inventor and experimenter. This collection includes Winfield's work in plastics in conjunction with architecture, building and design.
Biographical / Historical:
Armand G. Winfield, pioneering plastics researcher and consultant. Throughout the past fifty-six years Winfield has done extensive research and development in the areas of plastics in architecture and building, art, museum work, industry (applications engineering), and low cost housing for developing countries. In addition, he has worked in the entertainment field on the application of plastics for stage sets and amusement parks. His career is documented in over 300 published articles, chapters and books on plastics and other subjects, almost 90 of which are concerned with plastics in building and architecture.
Armand G. Winfield has been involved professionally in the plastics and business fields since 1939. He graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in 1941 and did graduate work at the University of New Mexico, the State University of Iowa and at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. He began his career in museum work using synthetic lattices and acrylics for the preservation of specimens. His interest shifted to the plastics materials in the mid-1940s, and he invented the first mass-producible process for embedding specimens in acrylics. As a principal in Winfield Fine Art in Jewelry in New York City, he conducted precursory work for the electronics encapsulation field and pioneered biological, medical and art embedments in the United States.
Professor Winfield has been on the teaching faculties of Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa. (Undergraduate Teaching Fellowship: 1939-1941); Harris Teachers' College (1950) and Washington University School of Engineering (1956) in St. Louis, Mo.; Yale University Art School (1960-1961) in New Haven, Conn.; Pratt Institute Industrial Design Department (1964-1970) in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Visiting Critic in Architecture (Plastics), The College of the City of New York (1968-1969), New York, N.Y.; Adjunct Professor of Plastics Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell (1978-1981), Lowell, Mass.; and Research Professor Mechanical Engineering (Plastics), the University of New Mexico (Appointed 1993), Albuquerque, N.M. He has also been an invited lecture at over 40 other colleges and universities in the United States and abroad.
Provenance:
All materials were donated to the museum by Armand G. Winfield in 1992. Transferred to the Archives Center in 2012.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Company Established 1891 (see http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Homasote-Company-Company-History.html) The word "pantasote" is also used to refer to the type of textile that the company manufactured for use in railroad cars. According to the Railway Car Builder's Dictionary (http://www.ironhorse129.com/rollingstock/dictionary/dictionary4.htm), panasote is: "A variety of surface-coated upholstery material which now might be called “leatherette” or “imitation leather.” It had a unique surface coating that could withstand exposure to gasoline and oils. Thus, it became one of the favored choices of car makers throughout North America. Pantasote offered the standard black surface coating (with at least a few choices of embossing patterns by the mid-teens) as well as brown and two shades of red. The latter three options apparently had limited use, but set the brand apart in this regard. Pantasote seems to have been an exclusive producer of surface-coated double texture prior to 1914. Even with numerous competitors in this construction after 1914, Pantasote maintained a strong position in the car top material field into the 1930’s. The trade name was used generically for surface-coated, double texture toppings." Search this
Panasote Leather Co. and Homosote Co. (www.homosote.com) is best known for manufacturing fiberboard building products, but at the turn of the 20th Century, Homosote merged with Panasote. The website Funding Universe (http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Homasote-Company-Company-History.html) explains: "In 1891, Panasote began marketing a leather substitute, created by gluing together two fabrics with Pantasote gum. The surface was further treated with Pantasote and embossed to provide a hide leather finish. The Pantasote name was coined using Greek roots, meaning "to serve all purposes." The product lasted longer than leather, was cheaper to make, and more easily cleaned. It was used to make upholstery and curtains and was waterproofed for the manufacture of tents and awnings. Due to increasing sales of automobiles and a declining number of rail passengers, coupled with increased competition for agasote, Outerbridge looked to new markets. Automobiles also needed waterproof roofs, and starting in 1915 agasote was used in the making of automobile tops for such manufacturers as Buick, Dodge, Ford, Nash, and Studebaker." Search this
Notes content:
A pair (duplicate) of circa 1922 illustrated (with photographs) brochures for the "Sote family of Homogenous Waterproof Fiber Boards": Vehisote, Agasote and Steelasote (all of which are guaranteed not to spilt, check or crack.) Vehisote was used for the side panels of truck bodies, auto chassis and railroad cars. Vehisote is also shown as part of the interior of staterooms in ships and boats (the S.S. Hawkeye State and S.S. Pinetree State.)Vehisote is also shown in the interior of a house. Agasote is shown used as the ceiling, lower deck and wainscoating panels of a railroad car in New Jersey. Steelasote is shown used for the roof of an automobile. A circa 1932 brochure for Russialoid upholstery material, a "luxurious artificial leather for boat cushions and chairs." This brochure also mentions the Pantasote artificial leather product (more expensive than Russialoid) and Textasote, a waterproof duck fabric for awnings. The file also contains a circa 1936 sample book (#R-636) containing dozens of Russialoid fabrics, textures and colors. File also contains a stack of 20 circa 1939-1942) Pantasote, Textasote Duck, Novasote, Russialoid, Rumack, Pantex and Dritex fabric samples created to the specifications of the U.S. Army, Air Corps, Navy and Marines. According to the specs, these fabrics (in colors such as olive, khaki, black, beige, tan and brown)were for use as gun and transport covers, airplane surfaces, cockpits, field shelters, air suction ducts, the covers of kapok ring life bouys , tool bags , instrument cases , parachute paks, rportable collapsible air discharge ducts, air suction ducts, lightproof curtains and shades and boat or ship upholstery.
Includes:
Trade catalog, samples and histories
Black and white images
Types of samples:
1. swatches of Russialoid synthetic leather for boat seats and 2. of Pantasote, Textasote and other textiles specified for U.S. military use
Physical description:
24 pieces; 1 box
Language:
English
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
New York, New York, United States
Date range:
1800s-1900s
Topic (Romaine term):
Boats and ships (including marine hardware and supplies) Search this
Empire Rubber and Tire Co. ; Empire Tire and Rubber Co. ; Search this
Notes content:
Mechanical rubber goods. ; in the 20th century this company would make tires for automobiles and other vehicles ; see: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/collection/object_307.html
Includes:
Trade catalog and price lists
Black and white images
Physical description:
1 piece; 1 box
Language:
English
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
Trenton, New Jersey, United States
Date:
1800s
Topic (Romaine term):
Industrial equipment or mechanical machinery (including supplies and components) Search this
