Anyone who has been around a university physics lab will easily recognize linen (as well as paper) phenolics which are typically used as insulators and occasionally for mechanical parts. They used to be pretty popular for gaskets as well.
In general, paper based phenolics were used for tons of things, and if you have anything around that looks like hard plastic that was made before the 70s you've probably encountered it as well (buttons, knobs, etc...). The trade name Bakelite was a general term to denote a paper/linen/cotton based thermoplastics.