General view of the upper level of the salt kettle used in the production of nylon 66 during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. During the…

General view of the salt kettle preparation area used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. During the production of nylon, adipic acid and…

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…

General view of an improved gas pressure spinner used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. This spinner unit was the first heated by…

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…

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 rod spinner arranged for the production of bristles during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. During production, a cylindrical…

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…

General view of the second continuous spinning machine used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. This machine notably included a swing-arm…

General view of the spinning machine used at DuPont's Buffalo plant during the early stages of nylon production and research. This spinning machine, which was operated by Don Hull and George Lewis, was subsequently…

General view of the first drawing machine used at DuPont's Buffalo plant during the early stages of nylon production and research. In this technique, which generally was unsuccessful, undrawn yarn was pre-twisted by the…

Overhead view of the first drawing machine used at DuPont's Buffalo plant during the early stages of nylon production and research. In this technique, which generally was unsuccessful, undrawn yarn was pre-twisted by…

Close-up view of the second continuous spinning machine used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. This machine notably included a swing-arm…

General view of the Whitin Machine Works Rayon doubler and twister used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. This machine predated and…

General view of the first continuous spinning machine used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. This machine notably included a high-speed…

General view of Joseph X. Labovsky seated at a work bench in the "66" laboratory at the DuPont Experimental Station located in Wilmington, Delaware. Labovsky's colleague, Micky McGuire, is visible on the left-hand side…

General view of an improved gas pressure spinner and windup used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. In this iteration, a spinning machine…

General view of a glass cell used for the preparation of polyamides during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. Predating the autoclave developed…

General view of the first gas pressure spinner and windup used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. The spinning machine consists of a…

Two close-up views of a demonstration of the cold-drawing technique used to produce the 3-16 polyester super-silk fiber, the forerunner of nylon. This technique was discovered by DuPont chemist Julian Hill (1904-1996)…

Close-up view of two hot relaxing plates on a drawing machine used at the DuPont plant in Seaford, Delaware during the early stages of synthetic fiber production and research. The plate on the left, labelled "Electric,"…