Stockings, or Nylons as they are sometimes referred to didn't appear until the 20th century but their origins can be traced back much farther than that. The ancient greek workers used to wear a form of hosiery and the roman's too had their short 'soccus' foot covering. In 1589 the first knitting machine was invented by Reverend William Lee and hose was knitted from wool, silk and cotton for use by the gentlemen of the time.
"In olden days a glimpse of stockings,
Was looked on as something shocking,
Now heaven knows,
Anything goes." -- Cole Porter
During this early time period however, the hose was only worn by men, the styles changing over the years but this wasn't something women were a part of. Women's legs were something you simply didn't flaunt about the place with society going to such extremes as covering the legs of tables in polite society in case the shapely wooden table leg may turn men's minds to other things! It wasn't until Victorian values relaxed a little and hem lines began to rise that hose for women become desirable.
Hosiery was still either made from cotton, expensive silk or later rayon which was created in the early 19th century. Silk was an expensive material and whilst rayon was an alternative it was prone to bunching and unsightly sagging which made it less desirable. An alterntive was needed.
"Women want men, career, money, children, friends, luxury, comfort, independence, freedom, respect, love and cheap stockings that don't run." --Phyllis Diller
In the early 1930's a company called DuPont began experimenting on making a man-made substitute for silk. By experimenting with long chain carbon polymers a researcher by the name of Julian Hill discovered a process by which a silky fiber could indeed be created and despite the luke warm reception by his boss Wallace Carothers, continued to experiment until in 1935 the first truly synthetic man made fiber we now know as nylon (but then simply "polymer 6.6")was perfected. Patented in 1937, the invention was postumously credited to Carothers and not Hill after the former's untimely death by suicide. A brilliant scientist but also chronically manic depressive, Carothers took his own life shortly after hearing his wife was pregnant with his child and in his honour, DuPont decided it should be he and not Hill who took the credit for nylon's invention.
Although having been patented in 1937, it wasn't until 1939 that polymer 6.6 made its first appearance in the real world when it premiered at the New York World Fair where it created something of a stir amongst the American public. It also gained the more user-friendly name of 'nylon' here too, the 'ny' part of the name literally standing for the initials of New York.
Those years of investment, marketing and invention came to fruition for DuPont shortly after the New York World Fair when the new miracle fiber in the form of nylon stockings hit the market on May 14th 1940. Women rushed out to buy them, not in their thousands, but in their millions! Over 72,000 pairs of nylons were sold on the first day of release in America and 64 million by the time a year had passed. The allure of wrinkle free, bunching free, inexpensive legwear proved enormously popular putting a massive dent into all previous forms of established hosiery manufacture.
Two years later the production of nylon stockings went on somethning of a hold as nylon was enrolled in helping the war effort, being used in such things as parachute and tent production. During this time nylons became an even more sort after commodity and were often used by G.I.s as a most potent tool for wooing young ladies. When war ceased the demand for nylons rocketed again.
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