This collection, the bulk of which is digitized here, consists of nylon-related photographs and ephemera collected by Joseph X. Labovsky, a lab assistant to Wallace Carothers, during the early stages of nylon development and production at DuPont. Primarily dating from the 1930s and 1940s, the photographs document the experimental work, semi-works and pilot plant stages that led to the commercial production of nylon, including the preparation of nylon polymers and the development of equipment such as spinning machines, salt kettles, and autoclaves. Photographs from the DuPont Experimental Research Station in Wilmington, Delaware make up the bulk of the collection, which also includes a smaller subset of photographs from DuPont's subsequent nylon plants in Seaford, Delaware and Martinsville, Virginia. Several photographs of Labovsky and other members of the technical staff complete the collection, which notably lacks any photographs of Wallace Carothers, the inventor of nylon.
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2 items
Demonstration of cold-drawing technique for polyester
Box 1- Circa 1930
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)…
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Joseph Labovsky at DuPont Experimental Station
Box 1- 1935
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…
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First gas pressure spinner and windup
Box 1- 1935-Mar-29
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…
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Early glass cell for polyamide preparation
Box 1- 1935-Apr-12
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…
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Improved gas pressure spinner and windup
Box 1- 1935-Jul-03
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…
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First drawing machine at DuPont Buffalo plant
Box 1- Circa 1936
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…
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First drawing machine at DuPont Buffalo plant
Box 1- Circa 1936
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…
- Subject Nylon, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Machinery
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Spinning machine at DuPont Buffalo plant
Box 1- 1936
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…
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First continuous spinning machine
Box 1- 1936-Apr-01
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…
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Rayon doubler and twister
Box 1- 1936-Jul-17
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…
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Second continuous spinning machine
Box 1- 1936-Oct-02
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…
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Fiber W crimping machine and relaxer
Box 2- 1937 – 1938
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…
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Second continuous spinning machine
Box 1- 1937-Feb-03
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…
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50-pound autoclave and casting equipment
Box 1- 1937-Feb-12
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…
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Rod spinner arranged for production of bristles
Box 1- 1937-Mar-23
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…
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Detail view of glass spinning cell
Box 2- 1937-Mar-25
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…
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Glass spinning cell at DuPont Experimental Station
Box 2- 1937-Mar-25
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…
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Improved gas pressure spinner
Box 1- 1937-Mar-25
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…
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50-pound autoclave and casting equipment
Box 1- 1937-Mar-26
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…
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General view of the salt kettle preparation area
Box 1- 1937-Mar-26
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…
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Upper level of nylon 66 salt kettle
Box 1- 1937-Mar-26
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…
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Third continuous spinning machine
Box 1- 1937-May-14
General view of the third continuous spinning machine used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. This machine became the prototype for the…
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Third continuous spinning machine with side-flow chimney and diminishing traverse
Box 1- 1937-Jun-01
Close-up view of the third continuous spinning machine used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware, with a view of the side-flow chimney and…
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2 items
Synthetic fiber samples from DuPont Experimental Station
Box 2- 1937-Oct-28
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…
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First drawing machine at DuPont Buffalo plant
Box 1- 1937-Nov-05
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…
- Subject Nylon, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Machinery
