Women bought a million of it in one day - what is it?

 

Women bought a million of it in one day - what is it?

This invention conquered America in a single day. The application of its material now covers almost every area of ​​life, from the guitar string to the floor mat, from the bag to the car parts.

Eighty years ago, on February 16, 1937, the American company DuPont patented the nylon invented by Wallace Hume Carothers. The career of plastic fiber began when it turned out to be excellent as a raw material for stockings that emphasize the line of women.

The first record of the production of synthetic materials dates from 1664. It was then that the Englishman Robert Hooke’s Micrographia was published, in which he summarized his microscopic observations and also raised the idea of ​​a silk-like man-made fiber. It took until the 19th century to realize: the first man-made fiber was patented by Georges Audemars in 1855, then several processes were developed for the production of cellulose-based rayon, and finally viscose spread worldwide.

 

From ammunition to female legs

Founded in 1802, the American company DuPont initially manufactured explosives and ammunition.

After World War I, they wanted to become a multi-legged and "consumer-friendly" company, and were among the first in the United States to begin manufacturing materials made from rayon, cellophane, and naturally occurring cellulose. They needed the right professionals, and in 1927 they lured Wallace Hume Carothers, a professor of organic chemistry at Harvard University, to their laboratory in Wilmington, Delaware. Carothers had a hard time leaving her academic career there, but when they were offered twice her salary so far, she said yes.

 

 

 

Torn fishing line

Carothers' team researched polymers, the first result of their work in 1931 being neoprene (artificial rubber). They then began to study rayon, and the avid angler was also encouraged by the fact that his fishing line made of silk was often torn. From the components of silk - adipic acid and hexamethylenediamine - the new material was produced in 1935 by polycondensation, which was carried out in accordance with 6.6. he got a name.

However, the new material was initially very flammable and flammable, only after two years it was able to increase its melting point to 250 degrees and its tensile strength many times over. DuPont had already spent $ 27 million on the experiments by this time, but it didn’t regret it: nylon had brought the company billions of dollars in profits over the past decades.

 

The new compound was patented in 1937 by DuPont. "Carothers Silk" was presented to the public on October 27, 1938, and became a great sensation at the 1939 New York World's Fair. The first commercially available nylon item was a toothbrush, the bristles were made of this material. Rayon stockings began to be sold in February 1939, but Carothers no longer understood that. On April 29, 1937, a scientist prone to depression, disgusted by stressful situations and public performance, committed suicide.

 

The shops were under siege

The first advertisements for nylon claimed to be as strong as steel and as fine as cobwebs. It wasn’t as if women longed to touch the steel or cobweb on their feet, but the new material was an excellent replacement for silk, and because it wasn’t tangled, it highlighted the graceful lines of women’s legs even more plastically.

 

 

DuPont began selling nylon stockings on May 15, 1940, and the interest was so great that members of the weaker sexes were under siege by reality.

Four million pairs were sold in four days, even though the fashion item was offered at an astronomical price, costing a piece two hundred dollars, the average person a week.

Nylon has broken into every household, there is no other product in the history of the textile industry that has so suddenly conquered the public. Not only did nylon change fashion from one minute to the next, but it felt its impact in all areas of society: the plastic world was created that transformed our lives almost beyond recognition in a few decades.

It also saved lives

During World War II, nylon was used only for military purposes, disappearing from store shelves. Countless military supplies were made from it, even parachute silk, saving the lives of many American pilots in trouble after the failure to import Japanese silk. Hence one explanation of the origin of the word nylon, insulting the enemy: Now You Lousy Old Nippons! (Well, you lice, old Japanese!)

We have no idea about the name

Incidentally, the origin of the name is surrounded by many legends. Many say nylon (the former spelling was changed to phonetic by the MTA Language Committee a few years ago) comes from a combination of the words New York Pylon, suggesting that the first pair of nylon stockings was unveiled at the New York exhibition. In the Anglo-Saxon world, the explanation of the name that the word comes from the combination of the words New York (NY) and London (Lon) is also stubborn, the idea that the name comes from the initials of the wives of the chemists who produce the substance - Nancy, Yvonne, Lovella, Olivia, Niha - compiled by attentive husbands.

More recently, a phrase has emerged that the name is derived from the words "no run."

 

Hungarian beginnings

The Hungarian fashion of nylon stockings began in the fifties, when the sought-after fashion item was imported from beyond Lajtán. The first Hungarian store opened in Vienna, at 68 Mariahilfer Strasse, also started with nylon stockings and soaps, before expanding its offer with hurricane coats, lipsticks, bag radios and then quartz watches.

 

Since 1954, nylon has been a quality designation for linear aliphatic polyamides. In the clothing industry, it is now mostly used mixed with natural fibers because without it, it is uncomfortable to wear.