General view of the assembly of rolls of Saran Wrap at the Dow Chemical Company plant in Midland, Michigan. Initially developed for the U.S. Army to wrap arms and equipment for transport during World War II, saran…

Close-up view of the underside of the styrene finishing stills at a Dow Chemical Company plant in Midland, Michigan. An organic compound derived from benzene, styrene is a precursor to polystyrene and was popularized in…

Close-up view of the underside of the styrene finishing stills at a Dow Chemical Company plant in Midland, Michigan. An organic compound derived from benzene, styrene is a precursor to polystyrene and was popularized in…

Hexagonal-shaped clear Lexan bottle with a cardboard casing/label; black plastic lid with a dark amber nipple.

Lexan is a resin thermoplastic discovered by General Electric chemist Dr. Daniel Fox in 1953. It is similar…

Irregularly-shaped piece of foam-like silver plastic; pieces of twisted copper wire are holding some portions together; bottom has a wax or glue-like material coating it; some areas have a blackened, charred appearance.

Two views of 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 was electric-heated and the…

Color print magazine advertisement for Cole of California's Celaperm line, made from colored Celanese acetate yarn.

Article from Better Homes and Gardens, July 1955.

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…

Sample book for Naphtol AS dyes, used for "embroidery purposes, for effects in silk, woollen and cotton clothes, for curtains, underwear made of artificial silk, etc." Contains dyeing instructions and 70 mounted dyed…

General view of a continuous polymerizer salt holding tank used during the early stages of synthetic fiber production and research at DuPont.

General view of a monomer still used during the early stages of nylon production and research at DuPont. The photograph is labeled "Figure 2," indicating that it appeared in a report or publication.

General view of the component parts of a two-gear melt-pool booster pump used during the early stages of synthetic fiber production and research at DuPont. Typically, such booster pumps were used to feed a bubble-free…

Assorted apparatus, including a Fenwal Thermoswitch and Thermoregulator, H-B Mercury-in-glass Thermostat, and Scaico Thermostat, used during the early stages of synthetic fiber production and research at DuPont.…

General view of a continuous denier meter used to measure the denier, or thickness, of filaments during the early stages of synthetic fiber production and research at DuPont. The spool of yarn to be measured is visible…

Two views of a measuring cell used during the early stages of synthetic fiber production and research at DuPont. Typically, such cells were placed in an electrolyte bath as part of a metered device used to measure the…

General view of a yarn windup used during the early stages of synthetic fiber production and research at DuPont. The components of the windup are identified as follows: windup rolls (left); gear box (center); and…

Two views of a six-position staple spinning unit used during the early stages of synthetic fiber production and research at DuPont. Various components of the spinning unit are visible in the photograph, including a pump…

Close-up view of the pump block of a six-position spinner used during the early stages of synthetic fiber production and research at DuPont. During the production of nylon, melt from the spinning machine typically…

Detail view of a trumpet and chamber for a 2.5-inch-wide roll crimper used to crimp textile fibers during the early stages of synthetic fiber production and research at DuPont. Typically, fibers entered a crimper…