Cooper Hewitt says...
Micarta is a Westinghouse brand of composite linen, canvas, Fiberglas, or other fabric integrated into thermosetting plastic—similar to Formica or other laminate materials. As electrical products and services expanded in the first part of the twentieth century, that industry increasingly relied on hard rubber for molded insulators and components. Leo Baekeland developed a phenol and formaldehyde resin resistant to heat, water, chemicals, and electricity—Bakelite. [1] Westinghouse engineer Dr. C. E. Skinner used Bakelite resin to update the firm’s Micarta insulation board, made from kraft paper impregnated with shellac or resin, dried, then cut into sheets. This process was developed by Skinner’s fellow Westinghouse engineer Daniel J. O’Connor, who in 1913 left to form Formica with Herbert A. Faber. Micarta remained Westinghouse’s laminate brand. In the 1950s, laminates such as Formica and Micarta enjoyed great popularity, adorning domestic, commercial, and industrial surfaces. In 1958, Donald Deskey Associates designed a line of modern furnishings for Charak Furniture Company in Boston using Micarta veneer finished with silk-screened, swirled motifs. The line was produced in 1960 and failed commercially due to the expense of its production and its reliance on hand-finishing techniques.
[1] Jeffrey L. Meikle, “Plastics,” in Formica & Design: From the Counter Top to High Art, ed. Susan Grant Lewin (New York: Rizzoli, 1991), 44.
