"CHEMISTS MAKE A NEW WORLD"
By Frederick Simpich
(From an article in The National Geographic Magazine, November 1939
Photographs by Willard R. Culver
Copyright National Geographic Society 1939)
"At a New York fashion show, we saw a girl clad from head to foot in artificial materials. Everything she wore was made from synthetic stuffs created by chemists."
["A LIVING SYMBOL OF THE CHEMICAL AGE - She wears no silk, wool, linen, cotton, or leather - no jade, ivory or pearls. All is synthetic. From cellophane hat, rayon dress and gloves to plastic pearls and bracelet, patent-leather shoes with plastic heels, and a handbag with "Lucite" plastic frame, her outfit is all of laboratory origin."]
"Her hat was cellophane; her frock was rayon. She wore "Nylon" stockings and carried a patent-leather handbag and stood in imitation alligator shoes and wore "jade" bracelets and "ivory" beads; her parasol handle was from beautifully colored plastic."
["HERE NATURE ONLY SUPPLIED THE GIRLS, THE PLANT LIFE, SEA AND SAND. - In this scene everything else is of artificial, man-made materials. Bathing suits, the beach dress, hat, umbrella, plates, napkins, tablecloth, sun glasses - even the book covers of "PX cloth" - are made of synthetics."]
"Even the faint hint of musk on her imitation silk handkerchief came from a synthetic perfume; on her nails there glistened a synthetic dye, and other coal-tar dyes imparted rich shades to her ensemble."
["TRULY NOW SCIENCE WITH LUSTROUS MAGIC GILDS THE LILY - Thanks to mass production of man-made textiles, women today can be better dressed than ever before, and at less cost. This garment in tango shade is of rayon, which now so largely displaces silk."]
"No wool or linen, no silk or cotton, no ivory or jade, not even any leather, figured in her costume. Only the girl herself was natural - natural flesh and bone wrapped in her own waterproof skin."
["FROM COAL, AIR AND WATER, SCIENCE PRODUCES THESE SOFT, DIAPHANOUS STOCKINGS - Known as "Nylon", this amazing fabric is not imitation silk, but an entirely new material, developed by du Pont after years of research. Strong, durable, and elastic, it seems destined to have a profound effect on the world's long-established silk industry."]
"There she stood, a startling symbol of this new artificial world risen so fast since the World War. In newspapers, every few days, you read of yet another "miracle" from this or that great chemical laboratory - "wool" from milk; alcohol, rubber, and false teeth from gas; licorice from old stamps - or a new way to poison grasshoppers."
Bibliography:
The full article, of which this is an extract: Simpich, Frederick. "Chemists make a new world: creating hitherto unknown raw materials , science disrupts old trade routes and revamps the world of industry." In The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. LXXVI, no. 5, November 1939.
Handley, Susannah. Nylon: the manmade fashion revolution : a celebration of design from art silk to nylon and thinking fibres. London : Bloomsbury, 1999.
Garfield, Simon. Mauve : how one man invented a colour which changed the world. London : Faber and Faber, 2000.