Editing Nylon (section)

=== Production of nylon fabric ===
[[File:NMA.0028271, Fashion Photo by Erik Liljeroth 1954.jpg|thumb|upright|Nylon stockings being inspected in [[Malmö]], Sweden, in 1954]]

After nylon's nationwide release in 1940, its production ramped up significantly. In that year alone, 1300 tons of the fabric were produced, marking a remarkable start for this innovative material.[8]: 100  The demand for nylon surged, particularly for nylon stockings, which became an instant sensation. During their first year on the market, an astounding 64 million pairs of nylon stockings were sold, reflecting the fabric's rapid integration into daily life and fashion.[8]: 101  Such was the success of nylon that in 1941, just a year after its launch, a second plant was opened in Martinsville, Virginia, to meet the growing demand and ensure a steady supply of this popular fabric. This expansion underscored the profound impact nylon had on the textile industry and its rapid rise to prominence as a versatile and sought-after material.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=It Happened in Delaware|last=Colbert|first=Judy|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2013|isbn=978-0-7627-9577-2|pages=60}}</ref>

[[File:Particolare di calza di nylon.jpg|left|thumb|Close-up photograph of the knitted nylon fabric used in stockings]]

[[File:Nylon fibre SEM.tif|left|thumb|Nylon fibres visualised using [[scanning electron microscopy]]]]

While nylon was marketed as the durable and indestructible material of the people, it was sold at about one-and-a-half times the price of [[silk]] stockings ($4.27 per pound of nylon versus $2.79 per pound of silk).<ref name="Ndiaye" />{{rp|101}} Sales of nylon stockings were strong in part due to changes in women's fashion. As Lauren Olds explains: "by 1939 [hemlines] had inched back up to the knee, closing the decade just as it started off". The shorter skirts were accompanied by a demand for stockings that offered fuller coverage without the use of garters to hold them up.<ref name="Olds">{{cite journal|last1=Olds|first1=Lauren|title=World War II and Fashion: The Birth of the New Look|journal=Constructing the Past|date=2001|volume=2|issue=1|page=Article 6|url=http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1062&context=constructing|access-date=19 June 2017}}</ref>

However, as of February 11, 1942, nylon production was redirected from being a consumer material to one used by the military.<ref name="Kativa" /> DuPont's production of nylon stockings and other lingerie stopped, and most manufactured nylon was used to make parachutes and tents for [[World War II]].<ref name="Krier">{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-10-27-vw-227-story.html|title=How Nylon Changed the World : 50 Years Ago Today, It Reshaped the Way We Live--and Think|last=Krier|first=Beth Ann|date=27 October 1988|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Although nylon stockings already made before the war could be purchased, they were generally sold on the black market for as high as $20.<ref name=":0" />

Once the war ended, the return of nylon was awaited with great anticipation. Although DuPont projected yearly production of 360 million pairs of stockings, there were delays in converting back to consumer rather than wartime production.<ref name="Kativa" /> In 1946, the demand for nylon stockings could not be satisfied, which led to the [[nylon riots]]. In one instance, an estimated 40,000 people lined up in Pittsburgh to buy 13,000 pairs of nylons.<ref name="Wolfe2008"/> In the meantime, women cut up nylon tents and parachutes left from the war in order to make blouses and wedding dresses.<ref>{{cite web|title=Parachute Wedding Dress, 1947|url=http://newsdesk.si.edu/snapshot/parachute-wedding-dress|website=Smithsonian National Museum of American History|access-date=20 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|journal=Woman's Home Companion|date=1948|publisher=Crowell-Collier Publishing Company|volume=75|page=155}}</ref> Between the end of the war and 1952, production of stockings and lingerie used 80% of the world's nylon. DuPont put focus on catering to the civilian demand, and continually expanded its production.