Silk and Nylon Stockings
Women Wore Cotton Stockings When America Went to War
The Pearl Harbor attack halted the flow of Japanese silk and the government directed nylon into the production of military items, leaving women with cotton stockings.
Silk and nylon stockings were among the first items that women had to give up during World War II. In exchange for their sacrifices, American women (and men) were treated to government-sponsored photos of movie stars donning and extolling the benefits of cotton stockings.
According to America Hurrah.com, the photos showed Betty Grable, Ann Sheridan, Lana Turner, Dorothy Lamour, Rita Hayworth, Linda Darnell and other gorgeous celebrities admiring or slipping on the cotton stockings. The message from the Office of War Information (OWI) was that if cotton was good enough for these gals, it was good enough for everyone, even though the cotton stockings were not as sheer or attractive as silk or nylon.
The loss of silk stockings should have come as no surprise to American women because of the continuing war between China and Japan, the world’s largest sources of silk. The city of Patterson, New Jersey says it was once known as America’s "silk city," but its industry fell on hard times early in the 20th century and was not large enough to handle the American market of the 1930s and 1940s. Therefore, most of the silk came from Japan and the attack on Pearl Harbor closed that source.
Dupoint Created Excitement with Introduction of Nylon Stockings in 1938
The loss of nylon stockings was perhaps a bigger disappointment because the new product created tremendous excitement and more women could afford the sheer nylons than could afford silk stockings.
According to The Great Idea Finder (ideafinder.com), Dr. Wallace Hume Carothers invented nylon in the 1930s and DuPont introduced the stockings in 1938 and promoted them at the 1939 World’s Fair as a rival for silk stockings. In October 1939, according to Sodibas.com, the entire stock of four thousand pairs was sold out in Wilmington, Delaware within three hours.
Dupont then designated May 15, 1940 as "Nylon Day" nationwide and four million pair were sold within four days.
In her book We Knew We Were At War, Author Margaret Hewitt George recalled a 1940s department store scene in which women crowded around a table "trying to grab a pair" of stockings. "Unfortunately the pairs had become separated, so women were then trying to match colors. It was a mess," she wrote.
War Production Board Commandeered Nylon for Parachutes, Tents and Tires
But, just as nylon stockings were becoming popular, the attack on Pearl Harbor put the product on hold for the duration of the war. The War Production Board (WPB) directed all nylon into the manufacture of parachutes, tents and tires.
George says some women made up for the stocking shortage by applying "a tan coloring agent" to their legs. Some "even drew a line up the back of their legs to make it really look like stockings," she said.
There were rumors, George wrote, that nylons were available to American servicemen "for use as bait for young women they wished to woo in foreign countries." But the rumors were not confirmed.
The pent-up American popularity of the nylons was demonstrated when production was resumed after the war. Sodibas says the first 50,000 pair were sold in six hours.
