Close-up view of DuPont employee Mike McCall feeding nylon chips into the hopper of a five-position spinning machine used at the DuPont pilot plant in Wilmington, Delaware during the early stages of nylon production and…

Close-up view of DuPont employee Richard L. Huber adjusting the steam chimney on a five-position windup and spinning machine at the DuPont pilot plant in Wilmington, Delaware during the early stages of nylon production…

Close-up view of a DuPont employee adjusting a gas cylinder on a five-position windup machine at the DuPont pilot plant in Wilmington, Delaware during the early stages of nylon production and research. The employee is…

Close-up view of a DuPont employee adjusting a gas cylinder on a five-position windup machine at the DuPont pilot plant in Wilmington, Delaware during the early stages of nylon production and research. The employee is…

General view of a five-position windup machine located on the ground floor of the Spinning Room at the DuPont pilot plant in Wilmington, Delaware during the early stages of nylon production and research.

General view of the second floor of the Spinning Room during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont pilot plant in Wilmington, Delaware. Visible on the left-hand side of the photograph are steam…

General view of a two-position vertical windup machine used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware.

Two views of synthetic fiber samples produced at the DuPont Experimental Station during the early stages of nylon production and research. The samples are identified, from left, as "Acele," Fiber 66, and Viscose Rayon…

General view of Violet Grenda inspecting nylon yarn at an unidentified DuPont facility during the early stages of nylon production and research.

Close-up view of a gear crimping machine used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. This machine was likely used for the testing and…

General view of Fiber W crimping machine and relaxer used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. Fiber W was a wool-like version of nylon…

Detail view of a glass spinning cell used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. In this design, the nylon polymer was melted in the glass…

General view of a glass spinning cell used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. In this design, the nylon polymer was melted in the glass…

General view of a melt viscometer used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. This machine was used to measure the melt viscosity and…

General view of an oxygen analyzer used to measure the contents of purified nitrogen during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. To protect hot…

Hand-drawn floor plan of DuPont nylon pilot plant. DuPont operated pilot plants in both Wilmington and Seaford, Delaware, but it is unknown which pilot plant this diagram depicts.

Two detail views of the BJ-4 Drawtwister used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont pilot plant in Wilmington, Delaware showing the relocation of the draw pin string-up. The photographs…

Detail view of the BJ-4 Drawtwister used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont pilot plant in Wilmington, Delaware. As part of the cold-drawing process, drawtwisters were used to stretch…

General view of the BJ-4 Drawtwister used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont pilot plant in Wilmington, Delaware. As part of the cold-drawing process, drawtwisters were used to…

General view of a 250-pound autoclave and polymer casting equipment used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. During production, a…

Close-up view of a 50-pound autoclave and polymer casting equipment used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. During production, a…

View of DuPont technicians casting polymer from a 250-pound autoclave during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. During production, a…

General view of a 50-pound autoclave and polymer casting equipment used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. During production, a…

Two views of C.F. Wells casting polymer from a 250-pound autoclave during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. During production, a…

View of two DuPont technicians casting polymer from a 250-pound autoclave during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. During production, a…