Also known as: The Miracle Fibre.
Says who? Said chemicals company Du Pont, when it realised that if you polymerize diamine with a fatty acid you get a polyamide that's perfect for tennis rackets, parachute fabric and garments.
Hmm. As miracles go, it's not quite the feeding of the 5,000, is it? It was pretty miraculous in the context of a 1930s America that was crying out for a cheap, durable, easy-to-manufacture synthetic fibre for clothing and hosiery - and hang the itchiness and shock-inducing static electricity. Adored in early 1939 at the World's Fair in New York, it was commercially available from December 15, 60 years ago this Wednesday - giving a new meaning to the term "Christmas stocking".
It was a hit with the ladies? Fashionable American womanhood certainly recognised a well-polymerized diamine when it saw one: nylon stockings were an instant success. A shortlived one, though: in 1941 the US finally joined the second world war, and the war production board commandeered all nylon for military use in parachutes, tyres, tents and ropes.
That was the end of that, then. Far from it - an underground trade developed that would put most crack dealers to shame. Stockings, previously sold in the shops for a mere $1.25, rocketed to $10 a pair - and pin-ups such as Betty Grable auctioned them for up to $30,000 a time to raise money for the war effort.
Not so popular now, though. It's not well-liked in our cotton-and-cashmere world, but nylon fell from prominence early: polyester, invented in 1953, rapidly took its place as favourite synthetic fibre. Nylon remains widely used, though - not least in engineering, to make bearings and gears - and still has its fans. Leonard Cohen, for instance.
I didn't know Leonard Cohen wore women's hosiery. I suggested nothing of the sort. The singer is partial to strumming nylon-stringed guitars.
Truly, it is a flexible fibre. Indeed, one might even call it a miracle.
Not to be confused with: Rayon, Lycra, spandex, pylons, Klingons.
