There was cause for optimism in 1939. Despite the growing war in Europe, the Great Depression was winding down, and it appeared that prosperity was just around the corner. Hollywood had released "Gone with the Wind" and "The Wizard of Oz." The Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to Ernest O. Lawrence for his development of the cyclotron, a crucial step in the production of a nuclear reaction.
Millions of visitors flocked to two world's fairs to catch a glimpse of the wonders of the future. At the fair in New York, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to appear on television. And at the San Francisco fair, nylon stockings made their public debut.At the Du Pont Co.'s exhibition, nylon's raw materials - coal, air and water - were inserted into one end of a simulated machine and a pair of sheer stockings miraculously emerged from the other end. Spectators were dazzled. But it would still be months before anyone could buy nylon hosiery.
That day came in the autumn of 1939. Sales were limited to a few retail outlets near Du Pont's headquarters in Delaware. A headline in the Oct. 25 edition of the Wilmington Morning News tells the story: "Nylon Hosiery Scores Sell-out, 4,000 Pair Sold in Wilmington Debut; Customers Line Up Three Deep at Counters." While nylon hosiery "was given a clamorous reception," the article reported that sales of silk stockings slipped to practically nothing. The nylons were priced from $1.15 to $1.35 a pair and were offered in a dozen fashionable shades.
Robert Ellison, owner of one of the half-dozen stores that first sold the hosiery, recalls that hectic day 50 years ago. "Hundreds of women lined the downtown streets waiting for the shops to open so they could buy nylons," says Ellison, who today lives in suburban Wilmington. "Du Pont had tested the stockings on its employees, and word had gotten around about how well they fit, how sheer they were and how well they wore. We sold our entire inventory of 600 pairs in about an hour. We had customers from all over - Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Washington, D.C. It was something!"
The development of nylon - the world's first synthetic fiber - had been announced only the year before. It was the outgrowth of a research program started in the 1920s at Du Pont laboratories in Wilmington. The project, led by Wallace H. Carothers, was "fundamental" in the purest sense. Scientists were not trying to create a specific product, Du Pont officials note, but were simply attempting to add to basic chemical knowledge. Their research centered on the study of polymerization - how and why small molecules unite to form "giant" molecules a millionth of an inch long.
In 1930, polymer research indicated that certain synthesized molecules could be elongated to form thin, fiberlike strands. Five years later, a polyamide - a man-made proteinlike chemical product - derived from two chemical compounds, each containing six carbon atoms, was synthesized and named "66."
The first commercial uses of nylon were for toothbrush bristles, fishing lines and surgical sutures, but textile fiber held the most promise. Nylon offered hosiery manufacturers a new material, freeing them from the wild fluctuations of the Japanese-controlled silk market. "Nylon had a certain stability in terms of price, supply and quality," says Katherine Dirks, a conservator in the textile division of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.
"Since nylon was a synthetic fiber," Dirks points out, "manufacturers did not have to worry about pestilence, floods and other disasters that could greatly diminish the supplies of fabric made from such natural fibers as silk, cotton, linen and wool."
In the early days, nylon's raw materials were a hydrocarbon obtained from coal, petroleum or natural gas; nitrogen and oxygen from the air; and hydrogen from water. Nylon was resistant to such nuisances as insects, mildew and bacteria; another plus was that it could be tailored, with scientific precision, for specific jobs in terms of strength, weight and elasticity.
Eager women nationwide were finally able to buy nylon stockings on May 15, 1940. The near-pandemonium that struck the stores in Wilmington just a few months earlier was repeated at hundreds of hosiery counters across the country. But women hardly had a chance to get used to the differences between nylon hosiery and stockings made from silk, rayon and cotton, when nylon was classified as an essential material and "went to war."
With all nylon production being funneled into the war effort, patriotic women were urged to turn over their old stockings to the scrap drive so they could be converted into yarn for military use. Nylon yarn was used to make ropes, parachutes, tents and tire cord for heavy bombers and fighter planes. Nylon was also used to filter blood plasma and as sewing thread for shoes and garments.
Since nylon was impervious to the deteriorating effects of heat and humidity, it was a boon to soldiers in the Pacific. Nylon was used in shoelaces, mosquito netting and specially constructed flight suits.
Because of their scarcity, nylon hosiery often enlivened War Bond auctions at home. Movie star Betty Grable's precious stockings were auctioned for $40,000 at one rally.
After the war, nylon production for civilian uses was reinstated. Comedian Bob Hope, writing in a September 1945 syndicated column, noted that nylon stockings were due back in stores by Christmas. "I won't say the women are anxious," he added, "but this is the first time Congress ever got 50 million letters petitioning it to abolish October and November."
However, because of technical delays, nylon hosiery wasn't back on the market until early 1946. In Philadelphia, 15 patrolmen and five mounted police were on duty at one store the day they went back on sale. "Women Risk Life and Limb in Bitter Battle for Nylons," ran a headline in the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle. In Indianapolis, a headline blared: "Nylons Gobbled Up By Throngs." That story mentioned a member of the Women's Army Corps who admitted being AWOL to get in on the first sale.
Many of the military applications for nylon were easily converted into postwar uses. Sheer nettings were not so different from sheer window curtains. Du Pont built additional plants and, with increased production facilities, began to offer a wider variety of apparel, including men's socks and women's lingerie and foundation garments.
In 1947, nylon began to be used extensively in carpets and upholstery both in the home and automotive industries.
By 1951, Du Pont had licensed the rights to manufacture nylon yarn under its own patents to the Chemstrand Corp. Today, at least four other U.S. companies manufacture nylon or its basic ingredients, and about 8 billion pounds of the fiber are produced each year.
Nylon is the most widely used fiber for carpeting and upholstery and remains one of the most widely used fibers (behind cotton and rayon) in apparel, of which stocking sales make up a good chunk. "As long as there are women," says one textile executive, "there will be a demand for nylon hosiery." That was certainly the case back in the 1940s, when 60 Tulsa, Okla., women were surveyed about what they missed most during the war. Twenty said they missed men the most; 40 said nylons.
*****
(Additional information)
How nylon got its name
During the early development stages of the world's first man-made fiber by the Du Pont Co., the substance was known simply as "66" _ an abbreviation for the number of carbon atoms in the two chemical compounds (six each) that made up the fiber.
Company executives, figuring most women would probably resist ordering their stockings by the official chemical name, polyhexamethyleneadipamide, formed the "Name for Fiber 66 Committee." Because hosiery made of 66 did not easily snag, the name "norun" was repeatedly proposed _ and repeatedly rejected. "Klis," or silk spelled backward, was also popular.
Among the more far-fetched ideas: "Duparooh" for "Du Pont pulls a rabbit out of a hat," and "Delawear . . . Like the First State It Is the First Synthetic Textile."
Because the textile fibers cotton and rayon ended in "on," the committee considered "nulon" and "nilon" and, finally, "nylon." _ Smithsonian News Service