In 1938, what silk-like fabric was used as hosiery?

In 1938, nylon was introduced as a silk-like fabric for hosiery. Developed by DuPont, nylon was the first widely successful synthetic fiber designed to combine silk’s smooth appearance with greater strength and durability.

The material was developed at DuPont’s Experimental Station, where Wallace Carothers and his team worked on polymers. The first nylon 6,6 sample was produced in 1935, but DuPont publicly announced nylon in October 1938. Nylon stockings were demonstrated in 1939 and went on sale commercially in 1940.

Nylon quickly became famous because it looked like silk but was cheaper and more resistant to wear. Its early marketing famously described it as being as strong as steel and as fine as a spider’s web, though those claims were later toned down. A common mix-up is that nylon was first used commercially in toothbrush bristles in 1938; hosiery made it famous, but stockings followed shortly afterward.

During World War II, nylon production was redirected to military uses such as parachutes, ropes, and tire cords.