The exhibit, which runs through next year, features a “collection of popular, rare, and experimental Mold-A-Rama souvenirs from the past with their quirky colors, designs, and — of course — signature smell,” says the museum website. Several machines are scattered throughout the exhibit and around the museum so that you can take home a personal souvenir.

Editor in chief of PlasticsToday since 2015, Norbert Sparrow has more than 30 years of editorial experience in business-to-business media. He studied journalism at the Centre Universitaire d'Etudes du Journalisme in Strasbourg, France, where he earned a master's degree.

The iconic machine that molds plastic souvenirs while you watch gets its own exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.

To finance the solar, Alpha Rho opted for a seven-year traditional lease from LFC Capital Inc., which eliminated any upfront capital investment. Instead, Alpha Rho will make 100% tax-deductible fixed monthly payments, creating a low-cost path to ownership at a substantially reduced price.

Tall explained that he has looked at solar a couple of times as a way to save money on his energy bills for the 12-press company. “Two previous times we looked at it, and it’s always seemed too good to be true,” said Tall. “This time we looked seriously at solar and decided that it is that good to be true. We’re a small business, so I wear a lot of hats and there are always so many things to think about other than solar power. On the third pitch, we looked more closely at what we can save and decided that financially it makes sense.”

“I generate what I need for the plant and whatever I generate and don’t use goes back into the grid,” Tall said. “However there is some controversy currently in the legislature. Some want to increase the cap on the amount of unused electricity that goes back into the grid. Others, primarily the utility companies, are in opposition to raising the cap. That’s an issue. We’re on a waiting list for the net metering program, and I don’t know whether I’ll get it, but I’ll probably use most of what I generate, which will still give me a reduced electric bill through credits.”

Tall did his homework before deciding to put in solar. “I called around and talked to people in this business park who have solar and no one had anything negative to say. Everybody ran the numbers; on paper, it’s supposed to really save me a lot of money.”

I’m not sure exactly how old I was but I do recall that I was at my local zoo when I saw a Mold-A-Rama for the first time. The imposing coin-operated machine promised to manufacture a plastic triceratops — an odd choice given the setting, but one that I didn’t question at the time — while I watched. Well, I was hooked by the “automatic miniature plastic factory.” And look where I am today. Yes, that would be a laughable use of foreshadowing in a screenplay, but what can I say? Anyway, this came to mind as I read about a current exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago — Mold-A-Rama: Molded for the Future.

I don’t see Mold-A-Rama machines around much any more, but a few years back I did encounter one at Third Man Records, musician Jack White’s recording studio and cabinet of curiosities in Nashville. It was, not surprisingly, out of order, at the time. The machines are a prickly contraption. Mold-A-Rama machines hold a gallon of liquid plastic that must be continuously heated to 250°F, and on a popular day, a machine makes up to 150 figurines. What could possibly go wrong?

There are said to be some 100 machines in operation today at various locations around the country. Some of them are bound to work.

Miller tinkered with the concept and right around 1960 came up with the idea of converting his patented injection molding machine into an on-demand figure vending machine, writes Mental Floss. He worked with Automatic Retailers of America (which became Aramark) to develop the product and ultimately sold it the license to the technology.

Alpha Rho (Fitchburg, MA), an injection molder of rigid plastic boxes of various sizes and shapes, has decided to go solar. The company will produce more than 80% of its power requirements to run the company’s manufacturing, warehousing and administrative operations, according to President David Tall, who discussed this decision with PlasticsToday.

Tall figures he’ll save about $64,000 annually if the numbers work. “There’s definite savings to be had, but until you get up and running, you never really know,” he said.

Mental Floss describes the technique, as follows. “The process melted polyethylene pellets at about 225 degrees and then injected the resulting liquid into a two-piece mold. Before the plastic could completely cool, a blast of high-pressure air would push any remaining liquid out a drainage hole in the bottom of the mold, leaving the sculpture hollow. Next, antifreeze was pumped inside and then drained to cool and harden the waxy plastic shell. The mold separated and the finished figure was ready. The whole process took less than a minute to complete.”

The environmental benefits of installing solar are “as appealing as the financial benefit.” Tall added, “the solar energy system will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air by 412,800 pounds per year, which is equivalent to taking 39 cars off the road, or planting almost 150 acres of trees.”

J.H. “Tike” Miller of Quincy, IL, is credited with inventing the technology that would power the Mold-A-Rama. As Mental Floss tells the story, he had been making and selling plaster nativity scene figures, a business that took off when World War II broke out and the United States blocked imports of the figures from Germany, then the world’s top exporter of nativity decorations. Around 1955, Miller’s company started using plastic injection molding to produce the figures, cutting production costs and increasing output.

“The return on investment with solar is phenomenal,” commented Tall. “The low cost of ownership thanks to the LFC lease, plus the SREC income and electricity savings, add up to a significant impact on our bottom line profitability, while we do something good for the planet at the same time.”

Until she retired in September 2021, Clare Goldsberry reported on the plastics industry for more than 30 years. In addition to the 10,000+ articles she has written, by her own estimation, she is the author of several books, including The Business of Injection Molding: How to succeed as a custom molder and Purchasing Injection Molds: A buyers guide. Goldsberry is a member of the Plastics Pioneers Association. She reflected on her long career in "Time to Say Good-Bye."

Because of the rebates and SREC, Massachusetts is a solar-friendly state to be in, even though it’s one of the more costly states for energy in the country. And while it’s not exactly the “sunshine state,” Tall said there are on average enough sunny days to make solar energy worthwhile.

The solar energy system will be installed by New England Clean Energy on the roof of Alpha Rho’s 36,000-square-foot facility in April. It will have 745 Canadian Solar 320-watt panels, SolarEdge inverters with optimizers under each panel and Sollega racking and mounting hardware. The system is projected to deliver electricity savings of more than $1.6 million over 25 years (factoring in inflation). In addition, Alpha Rho will benefit from a new revenue stream created by the sale of solar renewable energy certificates (SRECs), arranged by New England Clean Energy.

The Mold-A-Rama made a splash at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and gained even more prominence at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. A large part of the appeal, as Atlas Obscura notes, is that it “gave customers insight into the product’s manufacturing as it was happening, decades before 3D printing.”

There will be some maintenance costs for the solar panels. The converters that turn the sunlight into energy tend to fail like any piece of equipment, which will require replacing them from time to time, Tall explained.