Modern with a whimsical retro vibe — we dig these colorful vintage Acrylite samples on ebay from … when? … the 1980s or 90s? We also are guessing that Acrylite designs like this were likely used as decorative backlit panels in commercial settings. What do you think?
Each sample panel is roughly 8.5 inches by 11 inches with holes punched in the corners. I think it would be awesome to use a bunch of these together to make a retro room divider or hanging screen.
Greens
From the ebay listing:
Estate finds:
16 Acrylite acrylic plastic “tiles” sampler pieces, each one is approx. 8.5″ x 11 x 1/8″ and has a hole drilled in each corner.
In various patterns and colors of green, listing consists of the following;
- 3 in the pattern of Casbah, color: lime & gold (funky), textured
- 2 in the pattern of Tivoli, color: lemon & lime (checkerboard), textured
- 1 in the pattern of Sherwood, color: green & turquoise (trees), textured
- 2 in the pattern of Sherwood, color: charcoal & olive (trees), textured
- 2 in the pattern of Canterbury, color: emerald (plain), textured
- 3 in the pattern of Canterbury, color: mint green (plain), textured
- 2 in the pattern of Canterbury, color: moss jade (plain), textured
- 1 in the pattern of Canterbury, color: olive (plain), textured.
Each in very nice vintage condition, may have some minor flaws (scratches, scuffs, small chips), each have an adhesive label.
Unsure if they are from the 50’s, or 60’s ?? but they have that mid-century look to them.
The decor ideas for use of these are numerous, they look awesome in the sunshine (translucent).
Blues
From the ebay listing:
13 Acrylite acrylic plastic “tiles” sampler pieces, each one is 8.5″x11″ and has a hole drilled in each corner.
In various patterns and colors of blue, listing consists of the following;
- 3 in the Tivoli pattern, color: blue & violet (checkerboard), textured
- 2 in the Tivoli pattern, color: turquoise & blue (checkerboard), textured
- 3 in the Casbah pattern, color: turquoise & blue (funky), textured
- 2 in the Canterbury pattern, color: azure (plain), textured
- 1 in the Canterbury pattern, color: sapphire (plain), textured
- 2 in the Walden pattern, color: blue & gray (leaves), textured
Red and purple
From the ebay listing:
7 Acrylite acrylic plastic “tiles” sampler pieces, each one is 8.5″x11″ and has a hole drilled in each corner.
In various patterns and colors of red & purple’s, listing consists of the following;
- 2 in the pattern of Casbah, color: red & violet (funky), textured
- 2 in the pattern of Canterbury, color: amethyst (plain), textured
- 1 in the pattern of Tivoli, color: red & pink (checkerboard), textured, seems the checks are a little off.
- 1 in the pattern of Canterbury, color: ruby (plain) textured)
- 1 in the pattern of Canterbury, color: rose quartz (plain), textured.
Yellow and gold
From the ebay listing:
11 Acrylite acrylic plastic “tiles” sampler pieces, each one is approx. 8.5″ x 11 x 1/8″ and has a hole drilled in each corner.
In various patterns and colors of yellow/gold, listing consists of the following;
- 2 in the pattern of Samoa, color: straw (weaved), one is smooth and one is textured.
- 5 in the pattern of Kashmir, color: gold (net), two are smooth and three are textured, a couple of the textured ones don’t lie flat (see last photo).
- 2 in the pattern of Casbah, color: beige & sienna (funky), textured.
- 1 in the pattern of Tivoli, color: lemon & gold (checkerboard), textured, seems to be have uneven checks.
- 1 in the pattern of Casbah, color: lemon & gold, (funky), textured.
While the vintage Acrylite samples may have been marketed for home decorating, today Acrylite is still produced, mostly for commercial projects made by fabricators, architects, engineers and designers for use in furniture, product display, trade shows, and architectural interiors. While new Acrylite is available in a variety of colors and many specialized applications, the company doesn’t appear to offer any of the fun patterns or inclusions available to midcentury American homeowners.
Mega thanks to ebay seller faunwin12 for allowing us to feature these fantastic acrylite panel samples.
Evonik Cyro says
Thank you for the mention of our ACRYLITE® brand on your site! Although we cannot confirm that this our material as we’ve called our product ACRYLITE® Acrylic Plastic we think it is very cool. What old is new and this would make for an interesting decorative application. You can purchase samples and cut to size pieces of our acrylics on http://www.acrylite-shop.com if you wanted to see our products for yourself!
Carolyn says
I’m wondering if these are more samples than actual-sized sheets. And I’m thinking I’ve seen similar sheets used in home decor in Better Homes and Gardens books for decorating and staging Christmas crafts and cookbooks such as cupboard door panels, maybe sidelights – ?
How come nobody makes cool stuff like this nowadays?!
pam kueber says
Yes, they are samples – that was how they were listed.
Kristy says
I love the panels with trees and the Casbah pattern! If only they were available now.
Joe Felice says
From https://www.plexi-craft.com/acrylic-plexiglass-lucite-clear-plastic.html and Wikipedia:
Acrylic is a transparent thermoplastic known as polyacrylate and is derived from natural-gas. It is a composition of Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) and Poly Methyl Methacrylate (PMMA) resin. In short, it’s a petroleum-based product, so petroleum solvents and chemicals should always be avoided to prevent marking the surface. (Who knew this was related to artificial fingernails?) It was developed in 1928, and brought to the market in 1933.
Acrylic (polyacrylate) is marketed under many trade names including Plexiglas, Lucite, Perspex, Policril, Gavrieli, Vitroflex, Limacryl, R-Cast, Per-Clax, Plazcryl, Acrylex, Acrylite, Acrylplast, Altuglas, Polycast, Oroglass, Optix.
These differ from Lexan, which is polycarbonate, and is sometimes used as bullet-proof glass. and eyeglass lenses. Although it is more shatter-resistant, it is more expensive than acrylic, yellows with prolonged exposure to sunlight, and is much more easily scratched. Therefore acrylic is more ideal for most interior and exterior design purposes.
Clear plastic can refer to a wide range of synthetic compounds, with varying strengths, melting points, and other properties.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Lucite was an extremely-popular material for jewelry, with several companies specialized in creating high-quality pieces from this material. Lucite beads and ornaments are still sold by jewelry suppliers. Acrylic Sheets are produced in dozens of standard colors,[41] most commonly sold using color numbers developed by Rohm & Haas in the 1950s. From approximately the 1960s onward, sculptors and glass artists such as Leroy Lamis began using acrylics, especially taking advantage of the material’s flexibility, light weight, cost and its capacity to refract and filter light.
Joe Felice says
Like many items in our homes, this material was first used in commercial settings, and was popular for back-lit panels, ceiling lights and room dividers. There was a similar material (although I don’t think it was Acrylic, as I believe that came later) that we see used as panels used in room dividers as-far back as the ’50s.
Amy says
Didn’t Bob & Carol Brady (Bunch) have a backlit panel with botanical theme above their bed? I always loved it –
Annie B. says
I’m betting these samples are from the mid 1970’s when Plexiglass made its appearance as an alternative to the stained and colored glass so popular then. Plexi was cheap, durable, easy to install, and difficult to tell from the real thing.
Nice post. Thanks for sharing.
Annie B. says
http://www.ebay.com/itm/70s-vintage-flamingo-plexiglass-panel-/301278041228?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item462592148c
pam kueber says
Just looks like applied stuff, not embedded…
Jay says
Nice post! Followed the link love to Acrylite site – interesting. I would surely love a dividing screen made from the green “Sherwood” the trees. It would help to conceal the washer and dryer from the rest of the kitchen. Space does not permit building a side wall. Some of these panels would be nice for basement suspended ceiling lay-in fixtures for those basements that were finished off when 2 x 4 flour. fixtures w/frosted acrylic difusers were popular.
Carrie says
These are so cool. I love the Sherwood trees. I bought a set of acrylic shower doors with the same pattern as Kashmir-clear with gold threads inside. They are wavy plastic though, from I am guessing the 60’s. I havent decided what to do with them yet. Probably some sort of outdoor project! (:
Mary Elizabeth says
Hmm, I remember seeing some kind of outdoor privacy wall with an acrylic screen in the center. I wonder if these can be used outdoors as well as indoors?
There are all kinds of possibilities for these samples. For example, they would look cool framed in a shadow box and lighted from behind, in place of sconce lighting in a hallway.