You may find plugs that resemble the style, but not the material, of the old ones. Also, new plugs are generally UL-approved and are therefore differently designed (e.g. polarized). It's a little hard to tell with the one being discussed as there's no closeup or side view pictured.

Bakelite is another name for phenolic. It is a thermoset molding compound. After pressed to high pressure in a molding die and heated, the material sets up to become a solid. This is a chemical reaction and the material will not melt again. It can be scorched or burned, but does not melt. It was discovered (by accident) by a Belgian born chemist, Leo Baekeland. He was working in New York looking for a replacement for shellac when this new material was discovered in 1907. He named it Bakelite. Therefore, I expect all Bakelite pieces to have been made after 1907. Phenolics are widely used to make electrical products and its use continues to date. At present, phenolics along with many other thermosets and thermopalstics are widely used to mold many different products.

Here's an article you might find interesting. It tells you about how waterfall came into popularity, how it was made, what not to use to clean it. Some interesting stories about it. (Such as why so many pieces made and that we still see today are bedroom suites. Depression era couples often started out living with parents, so had nothing much to call their own except their bedroom furniture - if they could afford that.) Click on What is Waterfall, Anyway? I'd be very leery of Krud Kutter on wood, but especially delicate, aged veneers. That's a degreaser meant for everything from aluminum siding to garage floors. There are lots of recipes out there for cleaning antique wood. I have a routine I like. Start with Formby's Deep Cleansing Build-Up Remover. Just be careful with any loose veneer, some of it could be about paper thin and not take a lot of pressure. I like Restore-A-Finish for pieces that need spruced up but not a full strip and restore. It's worked wonders on solid wood. If using on veneers, avoid the steel wool it says you can use. Too harsh on veneer imho. When you've got it nice and clean, consider a good paste wax like Trewax or I like the liquid Howard's Beeswax Feed N Wax (Sears Hardware, Ace). If someone in a store suggests Bowling Alley wax, I'd suggest avoiding it. It was recommended to me by a retailer who said a couple of his 'old-timer' antique dealing customers use it. That stuff was about impossible to buff out and was kind of gummy feeling to me. My SIL gave me a beautiful deco era waterfall accent table, from DHs grandparents. She just didn't want it anymore. I just did a light RAF wipe rather than a lot of elbow grease with super fine steel wool. Didn't want to risk harming the veneers. Anyway, I did my Formby's, RAF, Howard's Beeswax routine and sent her a photo with a thank you. She was amazed at the difference and wanted to know what I refinished it with. ;) This is a different piece, before and after. An ebay purchase, a vintage solid cherry hutch in pristine condition structurally but had smoke film on it and other kinds of grime, the finish was dull and needed a really good cleaning. seller's photo after I did my Formby's>RAF>Feed n Wax routine.

Went back and saw it with the contractor. He thinks that the columns are not load bearing although determining for sure was beyond the scope of what we could do at this time. I've asked him to give a quote for 2 main options: Option 1 Replace all the cabinets, remove the columns, and put in an island with countertop height bar. This would all be with stained maple with Bianco Romano counters. We would put a chimney hood over the cooktop. There is no hood over it now. The cooktop has a downdraft in it (which I know is useless from past experience). Backsplash to be some sort of glass mosaic tiles. Option 2 Remove columns and put in the same island as above. Keep all the other cabinets, but paint them white. Existing cabinets are MDF with wood veneer. They are actually in good shape as such but I don't like how they look. If we don't end up replacing them, though, I think the option of painting them white but putting in a large island with counterheight bar but have the island be stained wood would look nice. One other question: See the cabinet on the right that has glass doors? See how it is recessed? I wondered why it was like that. I look at the original floor plan and that area was originally designed to be a closet. Apparently the owners instead made it cabinets with counter but it recessed in because that was originally closet space. The oven/mic is set into the wall and then these cabinets are too the right. If we do replace the cabinets I wonder if I should just remove those cabinets and make it a closet? The recessed cabinets look a little strange to me partly becaused it is recessed and partly since it has the sheetrock above it unless the other cabinets where it is open above the cabinet. But maybe that is just me and doesn't look strange to anyone else...