In 1946, the demand for nylon stockings could not be satisfied, which led to the Nylon Riots. In one case, an estimated 40,000 people lined up in Pittsburgh to buy 13,000 pairs of nylons. [10] In the meantime, women cut up nylon tents and parachutes left from the war in order to make blouses and wedding dresses.
The nylon riots were a series of disturbances at American stores created by a nylon stocking shortage. Background. Nylon (produced from chemicals) was first introduced by DuPont around 1939 and was in extremely high demand in the
Nylon A Revolution in Textiles one entrepreneur made $100,000 off of stockings produced from a diverted nylon shipment. Everywhere the stockings appeared, newspapers reported on “nylon riots” in which hundreds, sometimes thousands, of women lined up to compete for a limited supply of hosiery.
Nylon stockings–touted as having the "strength of steel and the sheerness of cobwebs"–went back on the market in 1945, provoking what are now known as "the nylon riots." In the Du Pont archives, for example, there are photos of an estimated 10,000 shoppers in San Francisco waiting to get into one store advertising nylons for sale.
It’s won wars and fueled riots. In between it’s become an ubiquitous material for a host of engineering applications. Happy 75th birthday to nylon, the world’s first totally synthetic engineered fiber.
After the war, Du Pont began selling to the public again, inspiring an even bigger craze for the product, and setting off “nylon riots”. Today Nylon doesn’t create quite the same craze but it continues to be an important material for plastic manufacturers and products due to its wear-resistance.
The phenomenon came to be known as the nylon riots. One of the most notable examples occurred in Pittsburgh in 1945, where 40,000 women lined up to try to snag a pair. The Man Behind the String
The Nylon Riots in Pittsburg and other cities gradually ceased as nylon production increased to beyond wartime levels, ensuring that every women with a mind to wear them and a few extrabucks could once again enjoy her nylon stockings.
The nylon riots were a series of disturbances at American stores created by a nylon stocking shortage. Background Nylon (produced from chemicals) was first introduced by DuPont around 1939 and was in extremely high demand in the United States , with up to 4 million pairs of stockings bought in one day.
Stocking Series, Part 1: Wartime Rationing and Nylon Riots As hemlines rose, DuPont’s wonder fabric was a sensation among women. But during WWII, it was needed for parachutes
