the.com/celluloid
the plastic that let photography learn to move.
means an early flexible, transparent plastic made from nitrocellulose and camphor, used as the base for photographic and movie film.
from invented in the 1860s by the hyatt brothers chasing a prize for a substitute ivory billiard ball, then repurposed by eastman kodak in 1889 as a flexible film base that made motion pictures possible.
ivory bountyinvented to replace elephant tusk billiard balls
basically gun cottonmade from nitrocellulose, same family as explosives
self combustingold reels could spontaneously ignite in storage
slang surviveshollywood is still called the celluloid dream
for instance
library of congress vaults — stores nitrate film in blast-proof bunkers, virginia
table tennis balls — celluloid balls were olympic standard until 2014
cinema paradiso — 1988 film literally about a nitrate booth fire