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History of DuPont and the invention of Nylon
DuPont, one of the oldest industrial companies in the world, has very close ties to the chemical industry: from its founder Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, a student of Antoine Lavoisier, the man credited with the discovery of oxygen, to its impact on the world of textile and even of mass consumption. Dupont started as a gunpowder manufacturing company working with the military. It transitioned to producing paints, products that were largely cellulose based, and more important chemicals such as ammonia in the years following WWI. While Dupont is now known for its chemical achievements, in the 1920s its chemical department produced few noteworthy results. It was only with the production of synthetic ammonia that “brought DuPont into the technologically advanced domain of high-pressure chemistry”. Another notable product was rayon, the precursor to nylon. Rayon, a synthetic fibre like nylon, was the first to bring DuPont into the civilian world (p. 68). It was one of the first cellulose based materials DuPont experimented with in trying to turn it into a viscose material that could produce thread, and from there turn this material into a thin transparent film to make cellophane. These innovations later helped to transform nylon into a fibre that could be used in clothing.

The invention of nylon spanned a period of 9 years, ranging from the start of the project in 1930 to its exhibition at the World Fair in New York in 1939. It stemmed from a new structure at DuPont, suggested by Charles Stine in 1927, where the chemical department would be composed of several small research teams which would focus on “pioneering research” in chemistry and would “lead to practical applications”. Wallace Hume Carothers, a Harvard instructor was hired to direct the polymer research and was very successful as researches he undertook greatly improved the knowledge of polymers and contributed to science (Meikle, p. 128).

In the spring of 1930, Carothers and his team had already synthesized two new polymers, one of which was neoprene, a synthetic rubber greatly used during the war and a white elastic but strong paste that would later become nylon. It was after these discoveries that Carother’s team was made to shift its research from general polymerization to “one chemistry combination that would lend itself to industrial applications”. It was the start of a more practical approach to Carother’s research. It wasn’t until the beginning of 1935 that a polymer called "polymer 6-6" was finally produced, which had all the required properties of elasticity and strength. However, it also required a complex manufacturing process that would later prove to become the basis of industrial production in the future. Dupont obtained a patent for the polymer in September of 1938, and quickly achieved a monopoly of the fibre.

The production of nylon proved to be an interdepartmental collaboration between, three departments of DuPont, the Department of Chemical Research, the Ammonia Department, and the Department of Rayon, and proved to have enormous support within the organisation despite the Great Depression. Some of the key ingredients of nylon had to be produced using high pressure chemistry, the main area of expertise of the Ammonia Department. Nylon was considered a “godsend to the Ammonia Department”, which was in rapid decline and had a lot of financial difficulties. This project allowed them to increase their sales: The reactants of nylon consisted of half the department’s sales and helped them come out of the period of the Great Depression by creating jobs and a revenue for DuPont.

DuPont showed the importance of chemical engineering in industry and developed many engineering techniques. Its production of nylon helped create jobs and further the advancement in chemical engineering techniques. In fact, it developed a chemical plant that provided 1800 jobs and used the latest technologies of the time, which are still used as a model for chemical plants today (p. 100).

Marketing strategies
An important part of nylon’s popularity stems from DuPont’s marketing strategy: The fibre was first presented in New York and San Francisco in 1939 and 1940 in an effort to increase demand before the product was even launched on the general market. Nylon’s commercial announcement in 1938 was followed by enthusiasm from the general public, mostly middle-class women. The “first man-made organic textile fiber” which was derived from “coal, water and air” and promised to be “as strong as steel, as fine as the spider’s web” made the headlines of most newspapers.

It was first marketed as “Better than silk”, a slogan that many interpreted to mean better than nature itself, creating some fear among the masses. Furthermore, after receiving the patent for the polymer in 1938, newspapers pointed out that one of the methods of producing nylon was by using cadaverine, a chemical extracted from corpses. While scientists knew cadaverine could also be extracted by heating coal, the public often refused to listen as one woman confronted one of the lead scientists at DuPont about this and refused to be persuaded of the opposite. As a result, the wariness of nylon increased and DuPont thus had to change its campaign strategy. They first changed their slogan to “from coal, air and water”, and started focusing on the aesthetic aspects of nylon, rather than its intrinsic qualities. Nylon was thus domesticated, and the attention had shifted to the material and consumer aspect of the fiber with slogans like “If it’s nylon, it’s prettier, and oh! How fast it dries!”. Soon, the name nylon became synonymous for “perfection”, despite the fact that it was not.

Another added bonus to the campaign was that it meant reducing silk imports from Japan, and argument that won over many wary customers. It was even mentioned five days after the announcement by President Roosevelt’s cabinet, which addressed its “vast and interesting economic possibilities”. However realizing the danger of claims such as “New Hosiery Held Strong as Steel”, “No More Runs”, Du Pont scaled back the terms of the original announcement, especially those stating that nylon would possess the strength of steel.

Response
During the year following Nylon’s nation-wide release in 1940, 64 million pairs of stockings were sold. Production was scaled up and 1300 tons of the fabric were produced during that year. Soon after its debut, nylon was redirected from being a consumer material to one extensively used by the military. The production of nylon stockings and other lingerie had stopped, and most manufactured nylon was used to make parachutes and tents during WWII. However, once the war ended, everyone waited for the return of nylon with great anticipation. However, the demand was not immediately satisfied, which led to riots (see Nylon Riots). Women used to cut up old tents and parachute left from the war in order to make clothes such as blouses. Once available, most of the nylon produced was used in order to make stockings and lingerie, in fact, between the end of the war and 1952, these production of garments used 80% of the world’s nylon. DuPont put a lot of focus on catering to the civilian demand, and continually expanded its production (p. 183). Slowly, Nylon became a beacon of hope and happiness: “Nylon was the smiling symbol of the postwar era” (p. 183). It was also the symbol for an economy thriving due to technology and scientific advances. The success from nylon boosted the popularity of modern technology, sciences and chemical engineering. It also helped convey the message that consumerism was the solution to the economic and political conflict still ongoing during the cold war: it reinforced the message that social progress is proportional to technological progress (p. 225).

Blends
While nylon was marketed as the durable, and indestructible material of the people, none of the focus was on its price. It was sold at almost twice the price of silk stockings ($4.27 per pound of nylon versus $2.79 per pound of silk). Despite this the sales of nylon stockings still ran strong due to changes in women’s fashion. As Lauren Olds explained: “by 1939 [hemlines] had inched back up to the knee, closing the decade just as it started off”. This created a need for stockings that offered fuller coverage without garters holding them up. However, very soon many problems started to emerge. Nylon stockings were found to be fragile, in the sense that the thread often tended to unravel lengthwise, creating ‘runs’. Some stockings also tended to decompose after a period of time, turning back into its original components of air, coal, and water. Scientists explained this as a result of air pollution. Furthermore, as time passed, more and more women realized that pure nylon textiles were uncomfortable, itchy, and often clung to the skin. The solution found to this was blending nylon with other existing fibres or polymers such as cotton, polyester, and spandex. These blends had the same properties of nylon: its elasticity, durability, its ability to be dyed, and kept clothes prices low and affordable.

Issues and decline
Over the years, nylon suffered a fall in popularity: environmentalists were no longer impressed by new technologies and complained about environmental pollution due to toxic waste products, the fabric became tacky and “was going out of style in the 1970s”. However, in 1965, synthetic fibres accounted for 63%  of the world’s production of textiles, and despite the preference for natural fibres, many French women still chose the synthetic option. By the 1970s this had dropped to 45%. Today, nylon only consists of 12% (8 million pounds) of the world’s synthetic fibres.

Conclusion
As a result one can see that even though pure nylon is no longer used and has many flaws, its derivatives have contributed greatly to society, from the different scientific discoveries stemming from the production of plastics and polymerization, to contributing to the economy during the great depression, as well as changing women’s fashion. In fact, the first flag planted on the moon was made of nylon, bought at $5.50. “The success of the nylon project thus had to do with its ability to achieve the rapid mobilization of a large number of DuPont’s chemists and engineers”. Nylon was a revolutionary product, there has not been any other such product that advanced society as much as nylon, and it is improbable that there will ever be another. “Nylon is one of the great symbols of the american century, on a par no doubt with Coca-Cola in the consumer dreams of 20th century men and women. [...] it is not only a technologically advanced product, it has also captured the public’s imagination [...]: nylon as an object of desire”.