A sweeping survey of the early world of plastics presents celluloid toys, ornaments, jewelry, greeting cards, dolls, and more in over 500 color photographs. Early 20th century catalog copy further chronicles celluloid artifacts and tells a concise and colorful history of celluloid's development (including startling accounts of exploding billiard balls and curling dentures). Values are in the captions and the bibliography leads to further sources.

Robert Brenner has been collecting, and studying celluloid objects for over thirty years. Mr. Brenner is also an avid collector of Christmas ornaments. In each case, the objects which fascinate him have also become the subjects of Mr. Brenner's books.