James Bailey
Plax Corp. Division of the Hartford-Empire Company
Inducted 1974
James T. Bailey (1890 – 1962) was an American engineer who contributed to the fundamentals of extrusion, orientation, annealing, and fabrication of plastics, most notably plastic bottles, while vice president and director of research of the Plax Corp. Division of the Hartford-Empire Company (1937-1953).
Bailey and his associates developed the “lubo-film” method of extruding high-density rods in continuous lengths. The method resulted in the absence of voids. It maintained close tolerances without subsequent centerless grinding while at the same time permitting greater production speeds.
In 1939 Bailey and his colleagues developed a process for the continuous extrusion of a thermoplastic sheet from cellulose acetate molding powder without employing the conventional solvent-based calendaring or case methods of manufacturing.
He also was part of the team that created the first blow-molded plastic Christmas tree ornaments in 1940 and the first polyethylene bottle in 1942.
Bailey was born in Gowanda, Cattaraugus County, New York. He attended grammar and high school in Gowanda, Washington, D.C., Brooklyn, New York, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Lehigh University in 1912 with a degree in mechanical engineering. After graduation, he worked at Corning Glass Works, first in the Ceramic Department, then in the Blowing Department, and finally in the Mechanical Development Group.
In 1929 Bailey founded the Bailey and Sharp Company of consulting engineers and glass technologists. In 1937 he joined the staff of the Hartford-Empire Company, developers of glass-making technologies. He was soon transferred to the newly formed plastics division, Plax Corp., as Director of Research.
According to J. Harry Dubois, Bailey “conceived ideas, proved them mathematically, and then built crude mockup machines in his basement workshop to prove function.” (Plastics History U.S.A., J. Harry DuBois, p. 352).
Bailey received the J. W. Hyatt Award in 1951 for his work perfecting the hot-melt automatic blow-molding machine and for his important extrusion developments. He also received the prestigious Edward Longstreth Medal for the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia for his pioneering plastics process developments.
Areas of Expertise:
Plastic processing, Plastic machinery, Plastic management