The history of Nylon Stockings
story by PM_editor
Hosiery is an old industry, older than modern day weapons, gun powder, processed foods, even civilization as we know it. About the only thing that it is not older than is the original sin, which puts to rest the hypothesis held by some that it was really a pair of sleek, sexy lace stockings that brought about the fall of mankind rather than an innocent-looking little red apple .
- Sid Smith, president for National Association of Hosiery Manufacturers
Where does it all start?
Most historians consider the Egyptians to be the inventors of weaving. Weaving is the art of interlacing yarns or fibers to create a fabric, whereas knitting, a later art, is the creation of interlocking loops of a continuous strand to produce a fabric. The earliest examples of knitting are fragments of fabric found at an ancient Syrian city founded in 280 B.C. Even today, it has not been established whether the three pieces of fabric found on the site were pieces of underwear, hosiery or other apparel, but it is known that they were made of wool fibers and that each was a true knitted fabric.
Evidence of hand knitting has been found in the Egyptian tombs of the Coptic period. Four of five articles found in the tombs have clearly been determined to have been socks. Save for one distinguishing feature - a separate pouch for the big toe - at first glance they do not differ too greatly from some of the bulkier knit socks of today. The division of the big toe from the other four made room for the thong of sandals. What is particularly interesting about these Egyptian socks is that they were meticulously fashioned and constructed in careful dimensions to fit the foot. While the knitted fabric was clearly a flat knit (versus today's circular knit), it was carefully cut and sewn in the original full-fashioned manner to a specific size.
How the art of knitting was introduced into Europe is still debatable. When the Arabs conquered Egypt in 641 A.D., they found a thriving textile industry. As they reached out for new conquests, these arts were carried with them. But however it got there, we have clear historical evidence of hand knitting being commonly practiced throughout Europe on an extensive scale from the 12th century. In Europe the breeches worn by men became close fitting, reaching from the waist to the foot like modern tights. They were held up at the waist with laces. Woman wore stockings held up above the knee by garters. After 1545 knitted stockings came into fashion, their seams where often covered by elaborate silk patterns.
In 1589 William Lee, an English clergyman, made the first knitting machine. Its general principles are incorporated in all modern machines, and the bearded-spring needle, part of the original model, is still used in machines producing full-fashioned stockings. Silk Stockings were sometimes worn several pairs at a time in cold weather. In the 17th century, when large boots were in fashion, linen boot hose were worn to protect the silk stockings underneath. They had wide lace tops, which were turned over the boots. Men continued to wear silk stockings with garters until the end of the 18th century, but then long trousers began to appear and socks have been worn underneath ever since.
About this same time, the American colonies were beginning to take root and even under the threat of death, colonists smuggled hosiery knitting machines out of England into the New World and an industry was born in the cradle of the new country in the New England area. As the colonies flourished, so did the New England industrial belt including hosiery manufacturing.
Invention of the straight-bar machine
In 1864 the englishman William Cotton invented a straight-bar machine that made cotton stockings became available for women. Full-fashioned stockings are knitted flat, then fashioned by hand manipulation and hand seamed up the back. Knitting is back and forth across the fabric. The stocking is started at the top with the welt, an extra-thick section for gartering.
The fashion of at the turn of the century was formal and romantic. Men wore long slim trousers with a bit of fullness at the top. A cap with goggles and a linen duster made up the motoring outfit. The lightweight, cotton knit shirt became popular for beach and sports wear. Women wore the high, straight-front corset with long hips making the waist as small as possible. Garters came in during this decade. The skirt grew shorter to accommodate stepping onto the new automobiles and trolley. The high buttoned shoe lasted during this decade. Hats were large. Women were beginning to want to think more of comfort during the 1910s, fabrics became lighter, colors are brighter, and styles are looser. Cotton stockings where popular until World War I (1914-1918), after the war short skirts became fashionable and long silk stockings were worn again. It was in the 1020s that the dance marathons began and the first Miss America contest took place.
The fiber content in hosiery up to this time was all-natural fibers: cotton, wool, or silk. Cotton and wool were warm, strong and plentiful but the bulky nature of the finished product certainly provided no flattering appeal to the shapely leg. Silk was sheer but very expensive and extremely delicate. All of these fibers had one characteristic in common, they were rigid fibers, meaning they had no stretch or give to them. This means that flat knitted fabric had to be carefully, meticulously cut and sewn to fit a specific size foot. This created a tremendous manufacturing inventory challenge and tremendous overhead costs for retailers in both space, styles and sizes. Finally flat fabric knitting gave way to circular knitting, which simply means that a lot of the cutting and sewing was eliminated because a round tube of fabric was created. This new "seamless" hosiery was both popular and fashionable, but did not do anything to remove the problem of specific sizes.
Nylon stockings
In 1930 researchers for the Dupont Company studied chains of molecules called polymers, in an attempt to find a substitute for silk. This work culminated in the production of nylon, marking the beginning of a new era in synthetic fibers. Walter Carothers had simply discovered that a tough, durable, flexible fiber could be derived from coal tar, air and water. This molten polymer could be drawn into filaments, cooled and stretched to form very strong but sheer fibers. Finally, the sheerness of silk but strength surpassing even cotton or wool was available in a single element.
Dupont first displayed their invented nylon at the New York World Fair in 1939. Actually, the 'ny' in nylon stands for New York and 'lon' for London. When Dupont decided to develop nylon into a commercial fiber, the company specifically intended to use it to compete with silk in the women's hosiery market. The company decided not to register nylon as a trademark, according to Dupont they, "choose to allow the word to enter the American vocabulary as a synonym for stockings.
On May 15, 1940, the first nylons were sold in stores across the USA and all four million stockings sold out in the first four days, women were wild with this new magic fiber. The first year on the market, Dupont sold 64 million pairs of stockings.
Pinup had its early beginnings in the 20s, but it was in the 40s that it exploded into the phenomenon that we know today. Hollywood movie stars such as Bette Davis and Greta Garbo set fashion trends in dresses. Glamour was build around stockings, stockings where sexy, they where elegant and they felt good. The 40s where a breakthrough in individual expression, which was also expressed through jitterbug dancing.
However everything came to an unfortunate halt with the outbreak of World War II (1939-1945), nylon production was interrupted and women grudgingly had to go back to natural fibers. Nylon all but disappeared commercially, going totally into war production for parachutes, belts, web gear and other pieces of equipment. Already manufactured nylon stockings were melted down for aircraft tires, and they were gathered up with pots and pans and other raw materials. Movie star Betty Grable publicly peeled off her nylons at a war bond rally and they were auctioned off for $40,000.
As the men went off to war, the women were needed to work in the factories. Nylons where scarce, and teenage girls unable to find nylons on the black market, used eyebrow pencils to draw fake seams on their bare legs and used gravy browning as coloring to give a nice tan and impress their boyfriends. But although very difficult to obtain, nylon stockings didn't completely disappear and they became the ideal gift for American soldiers trying to impress British women. GIs preferred symbol was the pinup girl, such as Rita Hayworth or Betty Grable. Pictures were mounted on lockers and inside helmets to remind the men what they were fighting for.
World War II ended in 1945, war production had pulled the US out of the Great Depression. The men returned having seen the rest of the world. Women had to give up their jobs to the returning men, but they had tasted independence. Peacetime slowly brought nylons back into stores, but not fast enough to supply the huge demand. In New York, Macy's sold out of it's entire stock of 50,000 pairs of nylons in six hours, leaving many unsatisfied customers. Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh a mob of 40,000 women stood all night in a torrential rainstorm to buy nylons from a tiny hosiery shop, which must have been mayhem! By 1948 however, the production of nylon stockings had returned to normal, much to he relief of the disgruntled bare legged ladies.
Seamless stockings
Until now nylon stockings usually had seams. They were knitted flat and “fully
fashioned” which means that they were shaped to fit the leg by decreasing the
number of stitches towards the ankle. Seamless stockings are knitted on circular
machines, brought out in the mid-19th century. For many years such stockings were
a straight, knitted tube that did not fit as well as the full-fashioned, because
stitches cannot be added or dropped in circular knitting by machine. But when
nylon yarn was introduced in the 1940s its thermoplastic properties enabled the
knitted tube to be permanently formed into the desired shape by heating.
By the 1950s seamless stockings were so much improved that they were the rule
for the well-dressed woman. Fifties clothing was conservative, men wore gray flannel
suits and women wore dresses with pinched in waists and high heels. French fashion
designers such as Dior, Channel and Givenchy were popular and copied in America.
Nylon and natural fibers shared the sock market.
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Story posted by PM_editor
on Thursday, April 27, 2006 @ 03:42:31 PDT
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