One of the first manufactured plastics was vulcanized fibre, which
still is being made.  Paper was immersed in chemicals and the
cellulose was converted to a new plastic material. NVF Corporation,
which has made the stuff for about 110 years, has a web page
describing the process.

Vulcanized Fibre appeared just as electricity became a commercial
product, and its insulating properties were immediately appreciated.
"Fibre" insulators, still pretty common, were made of the material.
Vulcanized fibre begins with paper, which meant that factories
included paper mills or bought huge quantities of paper from nearby
mills.

Bakelite was the next major step in plastic manufacture; it had the
advantage of being more "plastic," in the sense of being able to be
moulded to such shapes as threaded bottle closures.
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