Side view of a Valentine typewriter showing the red body and black keys.

Valentine typewriter

View object
Side view of a Dropp bowl showing the matt outer surface and glossy inner surface.

Dropp! bowl

View object
Top view of a skateboard showing the fish shape.

Minnow Skateboard

View object
Side view of a storage container showing the head and tail.

Roomii

View object
Side view of a bangle showing the thickness of the material.

Trees cuff

View object
Top view of an umbrella showing the patternof the fabric.

Mary Quant umbrella

View object
Front view of a telephone showing the dial.

GPO Model 746 telephone

View object
Side view of a ball showing the well used surface.

Parkesine snooker ball

View object
Side view of a pile of pellets showing the mainly black sample.

Recycled polyethylene pellets

View object
Side view of a cable sample showing the stranded and plied outer armour.

Submarine cable

View object
Side view of a pipe showing the ventilation spaces in the top.

Terrain Hydromax siphonic roof drainage system

View object
Top view of a snuff box showing the moulded portrait.

Oval Charles I snuff box

View object
Front view of a clock showing the spherical shape.

Presta alarm clock

View object
Front view of a pair of shoes showing the basket weave appearance.

Children's red jelly sandals

View object

Museum of Design in Plastics

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Current Exhibition: Why plastics?

Why plastics? explores the properties and applications of plastics and considers why designers and manufacturers choose to use them in their products.

Before your visit to MoDiP please check for any planned closures advertised on the visiting us page.

Buffalo calf inflatable
AIBDC : 006954 Tooth soap box

MoDiP collection

The MoDiP collection offers a wide spectrum of objects, from the 19th, 20th & 21st centuries, which illustrate the role of plastics against social and historical contexts.

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PHSL : 281 Manicure set

PHS collection

The Plastics Historical Society, which was formed in 1986, is an independent society affiliated to the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

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WCHL : 526 Gentleman's combined pocket brush, comb and mirror

Horners collection

The Worshipful Company of Horners is both an ancient craft guild and a modern City of London Institution promoting the interests of the polymer industry.

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Visiting MoDiP

MoDiP has a number of resources which you might find useful:

  • To find out more about the museum including an introductory video see About us
  • To see what we have in the collection see Collections
  • View our physical and digital Learning resources
  • To find out more about accessing the collection during our closure please Contact us

We welcome individual and group visits.

The museum is on the first floor of the Arts University Bournemouth library and can be accessed via a lift.  For more information about coming to the museum for a visit, to do research, or have a group session, click on the link below.

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Studying the collection

MoDiP Blog

View-master, Model F, Charles Harrison, 1958

17 Aug 2022

I recently catalogued a View-master, Model F, stereo viewer (refer image below). It was designed by Charles ‘Chuck’ Harrison in 1958 whilst he was working for the US design company, Robert Podall Associates. It was manufactured by Sawyer’s and was their last model to be made in bakelite (phenol formaldehyde) from a range that had first been introduced twenty years earlier. On sale from 1959-…

Assistive tableware, Russell Manoy, 1969

10 Aug 2022

Currently on display in the museum as part of the Why Plastics? exhibition, is a range of tableware created by industrial designer and ergonomist, Russell Manoy, in 1969. It was intended for disabled users, with particular reference to those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, but was also considered suitable for children and the elderly. All of the pieces were designed to minimise difficulties…

Tilley paraffin iron, 1953

3 Aug 2022

I do not iron very often. Easy-care synthetics, especially in school uniforms, mean that in our house there is rarely a need (well, that is what I tell myself anyway!). So, when I recently catalogued a Tilley iron, I was intrigued by the fact that it was powered by paraffin, something I had never come across before and which I thought seemed both bizarre and a little bit dangerous! However, my…

Current & Past Exhibitions

Why plastics?

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The material of which an object is made has a profound effect on its perceived worth.  This is because we inhabit a world full of materials and we, as individuals, place them in a spectrum of value.  Often plastics are at the lower end of our personal spectra where we might hold more ‘noble’ materials, including precious metals, ceramics, and glass, higher up.  As such, the use of plastics in…

Endurance

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This exhibition is an exploration of how design in plastics can be used to help people survive in extreme situations, avoid injury and prevent risk to life, and sustain prolonged effort in the face of adversity.

Reuse

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The Reuse exhibition looks at notions of sustainability and plastics.  It explores the ideas of recycling, upcycling, and reusable products.