Olsonite is one of those
ubiquitous words that everyone recognizes, but doesn't know where they heard it. The answer is, you've seen it written on a
toilet seat cover.
Olsonite Corporation was founded in 1910 in
Detroit, Michigan by Nels L. Olson, an enterprising Swedish immigrant.
Initially, a plow shoe was developed and cast from steel in a newly opened foundry. The process which produced this innovative steel plow shoe influenced the original corporate name "Swedish
Crucible Steel Company"
Shortly before
World War II, the company began manufacturing toilet seats from hard rubber. In addition, a large variety of plastic automotive related products, including steering wheels were manufactured.
In 1946, research indicated that plastics provided a much greater flexibility for styling and manufacturing. Thus, production of toilet seats was converted from hard rubber to solid
plastic. With this change, Swedish Crucible Steel Company became the originator of the solid plastic toilet seat. The name Olsonite was adopted for the plastic material and the new product became known as "solid Olsonite plastic toilet seats."