Polymers: "Man-Made Miracles" 1954 BF Goodrich

Edit: Link updated as original video was taken down from YouTube. This version is cropped a bit but seems to be complete. Timing mentioned below may be slightly off.

We're going old-school with today's video, a polymer industry video from B.F. Goodrich's 1954 campaign to convince the world the future is in plastics (or at least in polymers). I know it's a bit of nostalgia (for an era that I've never really known), but I do dig these old, industrial films.

The animation that kicks in (at about 2:30), and things really get kicking.

Was World War II (at least on the eastern front) really all about securing rubber sources? This is the first time I've ever heard that.

Some of the best materials science comes in at around 4:40 when we see the (animated) production process for vinyl chloride then the addition of the top sergeant catalyst. The polymerization reaction really is very well illustrated - and the plasticizer...well, let's just say va-va-vavoom.