09-04-2009, 11:56 AM
nylon: synthetic fiber obtained by polymerization of adipic acid (C6) and hexamethylene diamine (C6). Nylon was designed in the DuPont research group of Carothers (1896-1937) to replace natural silk. In May 1940 nylon stockings hit the hosiery stores in the US. At just over one dollar a pair, five million pairs were sold on the first day. When the States entered the Second World War and arrived in the UK, a few pairs of nylons could buy anything!
parachute.jpg (Dimensione: 15.13 KB / Download: 5,081)
Figure left [qui in alto]: With the rising hemlines of the 1920s, stockings became an important part of women's fashion, but silk, the fiber of choice, was expensive and had to be imported from East Asia. Nylon stockings first became available in 1939, when the Second World War had begun to disrupt trade routes, and demand for them quickly outstripped production capacity. After the United States entered the war, nylon became almost unavailable for civilians, and supply did not catch up with demand until well after the war's end in 1945. This customer couldn't even wait to get home before trying hers on.
Figure right [qui in basso]: Before World War II, parachutes were made of Japanese silk. When supplies were cut off by the war, DuPont persuaded the army to try nylon as a substitute.
nylon_stockings.jpg (Dimensione: 18.82 KB / Download: 5,056)
( <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www-ics.u-strasbg.fr/~etsp/lecture/mchem_poly/glos.php">http://www-ics.u-strasbg.fr/~etsp/lectu ... y/glos.php</a><!-- m --> )
parachute.jpg (Dimensione: 15.13 KB / Download: 5,081)
Figure left [qui in alto]: With the rising hemlines of the 1920s, stockings became an important part of women's fashion, but silk, the fiber of choice, was expensive and had to be imported from East Asia. Nylon stockings first became available in 1939, when the Second World War had begun to disrupt trade routes, and demand for them quickly outstripped production capacity. After the United States entered the war, nylon became almost unavailable for civilians, and supply did not catch up with demand until well after the war's end in 1945. This customer couldn't even wait to get home before trying hers on. Figure right [qui in basso]: Before World War II, parachutes were made of Japanese silk. When supplies were cut off by the war, DuPont persuaded the army to try nylon as a substitute.
nylon_stockings.jpg (Dimensione: 18.82 KB / Download: 5,056)
( <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www-ics.u-strasbg.fr/~etsp/lecture/mchem_poly/glos.php">http://www-ics.u-strasbg.fr/~etsp/lectu ... y/glos.php</a><!-- m --> )