Radite is a trade name for an early plastic, formed of pyroxylin—a partially nitrated cellulose— manufactured by DuPont and introduced by the Sheaffer Pen Company in 1924 when plastics were first used as a material for pen manufacture.
Sheaffer's Radite pens were the first commercial plastic pens, and Sheaffer marketed the material as "indestructible."[1] Jade green in color, the pens were best sellers at the time.[2] The material is credited with helping Sheaffer capture 25% of the market.[3]
Radite is extremely similar to other celluloid pen materials trademarked at the time, such as Permanite, Pyralin, Fiberloid, Viscoloid, and Herculoid.[4]