I know Jamey and I always agree to differ on this one (we've discussed it amicably before), but the attached image from the Bakelite Corporation themselves (which I have shown on BCN before) shows the many varied colours available (albeit in the 1930's, not pre-1926) as real moulded Bakelite, i.e. made under the famous 1907 Baekeland “heat and pressure” patent of July 13, 1907. The "black, brown, khaki, and sometimes these colors mottled together" which Jamey mentions are the restricted palette of 1907-mid 1920's Bakelite, to which we should add mottled dark red and dark green, as I have plenty of examples of 1920's items in these colours too.

The image shows moulded/molded samples, they are not cast phenolics, and there are yellows, oranges, reds, blues, cream, even purple as well as the marbled browns, black etc. Mo

Now I am not arguing here (and I never have done) that moulded Bakelite was made into beads - just that it is incorrect to say that all coloured phenol formaldehyde (or polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride to give it its chemical name) is cast phenolic resin, and we should take notice of contemporary 1930's evidence that there was a much wider range of coloured Bakelite.

Carole