Major British Casein Manufacturers

	The first British factory to manufacture casein plastics in quantity was Erinoid Ltd. at Lightpill Mills, Stroud, Gloucestershire. They started producing casein under the brand name Erinoid in 1914 and remained the major producer in the UK until they closed in about 1982. The picture on the left depicts the factory in the 1920s. The casein press shop was the tall, dark building at the rear; the formalising tanks were in the two long buildings left of centre. The site was formerly a woollen cloth mill and is now a factory estate.
	The second largest producer of casein plastics in the UK was British Xylonite Ltd. whose brand name was Lactoid. They started production in 1922 and ceased in 1962. It was made at the Larkswood Factory, shown left, at Higham Station Avenue, London E4. Nothing now remains of this factory.
	Young & Wolf Ltd. had a smaller production unit located at Bridgend Works, Stonehouse in Gloucestershire. They manufactured mainly rod, button blanks and knitting needles from about 1930.Young and Wolf pioneered the slicing of casein button blanks from rod in the UK. In the late 60s they ceased casein production and introduced injection moulded ABS knitting needles, restricting the colour range to grey.
	Charles Horner Ltd. of Halifax, England. like Young & Wolf, also produced casein plastics mainly in the form of knitting needles, button blanks and rod. Their brand name was Dorcasine. Production of casein ceased in about 1962.
The above 4 manufacturers formed the Casein Plastics Association (until 1938 it was called the Artificial Horn Manufacturers association). In 1944, this Association co-operated with The Knitting Pin Association (with 15 members) and the Casein Button Manufacturers Association (with 60 members) to form The Casein Plastics Joint Development Association.