Islyn Thomas O.B.E.
Thomas Manufacturing Company
Inducted 1979
Sir Islyn Thomas (1912 – 2002) was a leader in the plastics molding and mold industry and a successful manufacturer and businessman. His Thomas Manufacturing Company helped popularize injection-molded thermoplastic toys and housewares in the post-World War II era. In 1975, at the request of Queen Elizabeth II, Thomas was appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his contributions to the advancement of plastics throughout the free world.
Islyn Thomas was born in South Wales, the son of a Welsh coal miner. At age 11, he moved with his parents to Scranton, Pennsylvania. In 1930, he graduated from the Johnson School of Technology as president of his class. He subsequently attended New York University, Columbia University, and the University of Scranton. Thomas joined the Consolidated Molded Products Corp. in 1930 as a tool and die maker, and by 1938, he was the company’s chief engineer. In 1942, Thomas was named general manager of the Ideal Toy Company and was responsible for converting its operations to war work. The assignment included the production of plastics for the Manhattan Project. In 1944, Thomas formed the Thomas Engineering Company, Plastics Parts Development Corp., and then the Thomas Manufacturers Corp. For the next ten years, he was one of the largest plastic toys and housewares producers in the United States. Thomas Toys, found in dime stores across America, are now popular collectors’ items.
At the close of World War II, Thomas helped establish several plastics companies in England and Wales. He was also instrumental in helping several U.S. companies establish divisions in those countries. Thomas served the U.S. government during the Truman Administration as a member of the War Production Board. He later worked with Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson on the Atlantic Alliance for Progress program. In 1952, Thomas established the Newark Die Hobbing and Casting Co. and later founded the Newark Plastic Machinery Corp. He resigned as president of Newark Die in 1960 to become a consultant to the plastics industry. Under Thomas International Co., he served as a consultant to plastics manufacturing companies in more than 20 countries. As a Professor of Plastics Engineering at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, Thomas wrote Injection Molding of Plastics, published in 1947, and became a leading textbook. He wrote numerous technical articles for journals in the U.S., Great Britain, and West Germany. For many years, Thomas also served as a consulting editor to International Plastics Engineering, a London publication.