Nylon: A name, nylon stockings, and a new market
The name nylon did not come from combining New York and London. A popular story says those cities gave the material its name, but no London organization participated in its research and production. Nylon stockings became a commercial sensation.
DuPont initially intended the name "No-Run," with "run" meaning "unravel." The products were not run-proof, so the name changed rather than making that claim. Swapping the vowels produced "nuron," which became "nilon" to sound less like a nerve tonic. The final change from "i" to "y" made pronunciation clearer. DuPont also offered another explanation: in 1940, John W. Eckelberry said "nyl" was arbitrary and "on" followed the endings of cotton and rayon. The more detailed sequence appeared in a later DuPont publication in 1978.
Before nylon stockings reached shoppers, DuPont had invested in an extended research program. Work began in 1927, and the material was announced in 1938. Charles Stine proposed small teams devoted to pioneering chemistry with practical applications, and Harvard instructor Wallace Hume Carothers led the polymer research group. His early freedom to pursue pure research later gave way to a more practical search for a chemical combination suited to industrial use. Carothers produced the first nylon at the DuPont Experimental Station on February 28, 1935. Its elasticity and strength came with a complex manufacturing process, and DuPont obtained a polymer patent in September 1938.
The first commercial use was a toothbrush with nylon bristles in 1938. Clothing then gave the material a much more visible stage. DuPont promoted demand before broad retail availability, announcing the fiber on October 27, 1938, at the Herald Tribune's annual forum. It appeared at the New York World's Fair and the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco in 1939. The first public sale of nylon stockings took place in Wilmington, Delaware, on October 24, 1939: all 4,000 available pairs sold within three hours. Stockings were shipped to selected stores in the national market on May 15, 1940, after the earlier limited Delaware sales.
Early promotion compared the fiber's strength to steel and its fineness to a spider's web. Expectations grew around a fabric that would last forever and never run, prompting DuPont to scale back its language. The company later emphasized personal and aesthetic appeal rather than intrinsic qualities. Sales of nylon stockings reached 64 million pairs in their first year on the market. Yet the material cost about one-and-a-half times as much as silk: $4.27 per pound for nylon against $2.79 for silk. Fashion also supported sales as shorter skirts increased demand for fuller stocking coverage.
Manufacturing turned laboratory success into jobs and revenue. Three DuPont departments collaborated: Chemical Research, Ammonia, and Rayon. High-pressure chemistry was needed for some key ingredients, drawing on the Ammonia Department's expertise. Nylon reactants soon represented half that department's sales, helping a division that had faced financial difficulties. A chemical plant created 1800 jobs, and the first nylon plant at Seaford, Delaware, began commercial production on December 15, 1939. After the nationwide release of nylon stockings, output rose; 1300 tons of fabric were produced during 1940. A second plant opened in Martinsville, Virginia, in 1941 as the fabric's success expanded production needs.
War changed the destination of that production. On February 11, 1942, nylon shifted from consumer use toward military needs. DuPont stopped making stockings and other lingerie, while much of the material went into parachutes and tents. Previously manufactured nylon stockings could still be purchased, but black-market prices reached $20. After the war, DuPont projected annual production of 360 million pairs, yet conversion back to civilian manufacturing was delayed. Demand exceeded availability in 1946, bringing the nylon riots. In Pittsburgh, an estimated 40,000 people lined up for 13,000 pairs. Women also cut up surplus nylon tents and parachutes to make blouses and wedding dresses.
Wider use brought further changes to the fabric itself. Pure nylon could trap moisture near the skin in hot or damp conditions because it lacked absorbency. It could also itch, cling, and sometimes spark from static charge generated by friction. Blending it with cotton, polyester, or spandex offered a way to address these problems while retaining elasticity, durability, and the ability to take dye. DuPont's Fabric Development Department sent samples to French fashion designers. In 1955, Coco Chanel, Jean Patou, and Christian Dior showed gowns made with DuPont fibers, and photographer Horst P. Horst was hired to document the fabrics in use.