Turning Horn Tumblers
AssociatedAssociated with
Aberdeen Comb Works
(Aberdeen, Scotland, 1825 - 1997)
Photographer
Bon-Accord Aberdeen
Date1950s
Object NamePhotograph
MediumPaper
ClassificationsScience And Technology
AcquisitionPresented in 2002.
LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub
Object numberABDMS060728
About MeEmployee at Aberdeen Comb Works turning horn tumblers, circa 1950. From the 1830s until the 1930s most of this factory's products had been made from horn. At its height it was a very large enterprise with about 1,000 workers manufacturing some 25 million combs annually. In additions to combs the company also made spoons, snuff boxes and tumblers, all fashioned from horn. Changes in fashion and the introduction of new materials forced the company to turn to man-made plastics. The first man-made plastic used by the business was a casein based product which had the trade name Keronyx. This was later superseded with celluose acetate products, the combs going under the name of Nuroid. These were injection moulded rather than cut by machine or by hand. In 1969 a disastrous fire hit the factory but Phoenix like it arose from the ashes and continued trading. However, in 1997 the owners decided to move production from the city and the business closed.
