# Casco Glue- Anyone ever heard of it?



## Matt Z (Dec 2, 2009)

Hey all, I received a box of train layout estate the other day and in out I found an orange and blue box of Casco Powdered Casein Glue marked for 25 cents. I have never seen or heard of this.

Can anyone tell me roughly what time period this was made? 

Also, if there is any value in regards of holding on to it? 


Thanks in advance! 

Matt


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

uhh.... why not google it? 

not very train related... so not much interest in antique glue myself.. 

Greg


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## hawkeye2 (Jan 6, 2008)

Post WW2 through the late 50's and quite possible longer, it was in a blue and orange container then. A paper packet of it came in each Strombecker wood model kit. I remember mixing it in a bottlecap with a toothpick for the first model I ever built, a Strombecker P-61. There was a rendering of 2 draft horses trying to pull apart something that had been glued together on the packets. The glue was about the same color as the wood in the kits when you mixed it and after it dried. 

Greg, its quite train related given the number of train kits Strombecker made in both O and HO


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## Rod Fearnley (Jan 2, 2008)

It is a very very strong wood working waterproof glue. Used a lot by cabinet makers and boat builders over here (or used to be) Known as Cascamite in the trade. I first came across it in the late 60s. When it sets up, its there to stay. You will damage the parts you joined before the bond breaks. Haven't seen it for years.
I used to use it dry mixed with ballast, spooned it onto the track brushed it to form shoulders and between the ties, then sprayed it with a mister bottle. 

Rod F
England 


Here is a link, http://www.agwoodcare.co.uk/gbu0-prodshow/resinmite.html


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Guys, he basically wanted to know if it has value as an antique... not how to use it... also forgot to ask if it has a shelf life. 

I googled it and got his answer in 6 seconds.... the time it took to cut and paste from his post into google. 

Not one person has answered his second question "Also, if there is any value in regards of holding on to it?" 

So, when I buy some trains at an estate sale, and find an antique roll of scotch tape, I might ask it's collectors value? 

and I said "not very train related", not "not train related at all".... 

I was just suggesting he google it FIRST.... since no one has really given him his answers.... and since google answered them in 6 seconds... 

Regards, Greg


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## tmtrainz (Feb 9, 2010)

So Greg, does it have any value?


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## Matt Z (Dec 2, 2009)

Actually Greg, I too found it by "googling", by "aol'ing" by "msn'ing" and by "wikipedia'ing" it but what was there was not enough that's why I would turn to a forum for answers- not for someone to tell me to go "google" it and basically not to post it becuase it's not train related. This is a public forum, there are a lot of skilled modelers on here, and coming that it came from a box of model train scenery, parts, and kits I figured it did have to do with trains. I also searched for pictures of it, on many other sites and came across a few that were close but none that matched exactly. There were a lot of pictures of ten cent labeled cans- saw one on evilbay. But no 25 cent cans. I also learned that towards the 50's that can turned into what looked like a small quart paint can. 

The Casco company later became a division of Borden Co.- a milk producer. Casein is a biproduct of skim milk. And just as Rod mentioned, the glue was great for wood bonding. It was popular with the forestry and lumber companys in the 40's and 50's and went towards the use of plywoods. The company's demise came in the early 90's after nearly 75 years of production. 

Here is a picture of my "25 cent" can. 









It's very clean with a very small amount of rust on the top and none whatsoever on the bottom. If this really is that aged, I love how well this can was preserved. It must have sat deep down in somone's cabinet for years! 

Hawkeye- I've noticed the horses now, and realized the symbolism of it. My can's empty so unfortunately there's no giving this a shot! 

Thanks for the input gents' 

Matt


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## hawkeye2 (Jan 6, 2008)

I hadn't meant to answer the questions directly, I only intended to pass on a little info from memory. My only concern with the glue is the warm memories of my early model building experiences that it brings back and also if I buy or sell a Strombecker kit it is not a complete kit without the envelope of Casco glue. 

As for shelf life and quality of bond there are much better glues avaliable today so the only interest in the package of glue might be if it were unopened and a person might set it on the shelf of his workshop for its nostalga and conversation value. 

What is it's current collector's value? The best way to answer that is to put it on eBay starting at $.99 and you will know in 7 days.


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## bosslion (Aug 28, 2011)

I have a 12 oz. box/cannister of this glue. It has been in my basement for almost 5 years. My momther and father built the house my wife and I live in and the box of glue has been setting on a shelf with a lot of items my father had. I was just looking at it with my wife as we are beginning to clean out a lot of old things and wondered if it might have some value to a collector. It was manufactured by The Borden Co. and part of the label states it has a shelf life of two years for full strength. I saw this posting and it caught my eye because of the model trains. I have a Lionel train set from the late 1950's that I'm thinking of trying to run or sell. I know it has some value to a collector, but 've not investigated much about it yet.


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## Pterosaur (May 6, 2008)

...edit the edit.

My opinion, and I stress this is an "opinion".

So often I see "just Google it" as the answer to a question...mind you, a question asked in a "forum". What exactly is the purpose of a forum? Are questions allowed or not? I've even seen the answer "Google it" in the Beginners Forum! I think MLS should lock all the threads and just have a home page that says...

GOOGLE IT


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

It's not only a forum (where people meet to discuss ideas, see Webster), but a train forum, and a large scale train forum at that. 

Not a glue collectors forum. You can ask about glue, but I don't think there's a lot of antique glue collectors here. So the original response to: 

"Hey all, I received a box of train layout estate the other day and in out I found an orange and blue box of Casco Powdered Casein Glue marked for 25 cents. I have never seen or heard of this. 
Can anyone tell me roughly what time period this was made? 
Also, if there is any value in regards of holding on to it?" 

being "dunno, try googling it" is pretty appropriate... nothing was asked about trains or the hobby... 

This latest post is not too much different, asks about the value too. 

google it... 

Greg


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

(Offending posts above deleted.) 

A reminder that it is up to the discretion of the moderators as to whether a topic is appropriate or not. While this is a large scale train forum, we also from time to time have completely unrelated questions that arise. That's partly the purpose of the "Public Forum" forum--to allow forum members to seek the opinions of other members on various subjects as they arise. If we see a topic that is inappropriate, we will remove it. If forum members have a question about the appropriateness of a topic or post, please use the "alert" icon in the upper right corner of each post. Each of the moderators gets an e-mail when that occurs, and we will then take a look and make that determination. If the topic (or post) remains after a reasonable amount of time, it's to be assumed that we have determined the subject matter suitable for the forum. We have moderators in Australia, the UK, and the US, so there's rarely a time in the day when at least one of us is not available to take a look. Most Moderator Alerts are handled within two to three hours. Please do not take it upon yourself to tell another forum member their post is not appropriate, lest you find your own posts "edited for content." 

And for _all_ forum members, "just Google it"--however intentioned by the poster--is often perceived as an insult. It's a safe bet that most individuals asking a question on this forum have done at least a modicum of research online prior to posting their question here, and "Just Google it" only sets an adversarial tone to any discussion that could potentially develop. Perhaps the better course of action should "Just Google it" be your only response would be to simply move onto the next topic without comment. 

Later, 

K


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