the.com/nylon 1938
The miracle fabric that made stockings affordable and started the synthetic revolution.
means DuPont's first commercially successful synthetic polymer, introduced in 1938, that replaced silk in hosiery and launched the age of lab-grown materials.
from Wallace Carothers, a DuPont chemist, synthesized the polymer in 1935 after years chasing a silk substitute. The name likely comes from New York and London (ny-lon), though DuPont always claimed it meant nothing. Stockings debuted at the 1939 World's Fair; four million pairs sold in the first year.
stockings crazeWomen lined up before dawn; some stores sold out in hours, 1939
silk replacementMade hosiery affordable; silk stockings cost three times more pre-nylon
carothers deathInventor died in 1937, two years before his breakthrough was released
wwii impactMilitary diverted supply for parachutes; black market nylons emerged, 1940s