Paper to Polyester

From Paper to Polyester: How did man-made fibres edge out wool?

Quotation:

“In a tour of Frankfort, we saw woolen suits at $200, others in shoddy cotton at $75, and still others of paper at $12.”  Lincoln Eyre, "CONDITIONS IN GERMANY AS FOUND

During World War I the Germans and Austrians faced desperate shortages of every kind of textile fibre. Nettles and jute provided little relief, but a process developed in the late nineteenth century, by which paper strips cut from long rolls were spun or twisted into a yarn that could be woven, was explored. It became an important means of clothing civilians and providing certain kinds of military equipment to the armies not only during the war, but for a few years after, while nations' economies and industries were still in ruins.

ADD IMAGES:

Caption:  Spun paper yarns and woven paper mat samples, Suddeutsche Juteindustrie, Germany, 1907. Collected by the U.S. Consul in Plauen, Germany for the U.S. Commerce Dept. (NMAH/Textiles - Consular Collection);  German child's paper dress. World War I. (Australian War Memorial)  

Caption: German military uses of paper yarns of various diameters: a knotted cargo sling and a woven ammunition pouch. Collected as salvage by the U.S. Army at the end of World War I. Accessioned in 1923 by the U.S. National Museum Textiles curator. (NMAH/Work & Industry Division)

Caption: Photograph of British paper textile products at the British Scientific Products Exhibition, London, August, 1918. (NMAH/Textiles)

Man-Made Fibres

The use of cellulose as tree pulp for paper was eclipsed by the development of the regenerated cellulose fibre that was dubbed rayon in 1924. Although it had been in production industrially as 'artificial silk' since about 1912, not until the late 1920s was rayon "delustered" to produce a fibre that did not shine. "Staple" rayon, meaning a process to take the long smooth filaments of rayon and make them into shorter lengths, spinnable into a textured yarn, was developed shortly after. In this 'interwar' period, American and European companies investigated whether rayon might supplement wool, but found that it had little strength or warmth when wet, and was susceptible to shrinking. While it might be useful to the military in blends, or for garment linings to replace silk (which also had a long supply chain), fabrics of pure rayon would be primarily relegated to civilian use. Companies, and governments, also looked for new forms of man-made fibre.

ADD IMAGE:  Caption: A hank of rayon filament. 1912-1922. (NMAH/Textiles)

Lanital was one of these. Based on the milk protein casein, Lanital was developed in Mussolini's Italy in the 1930s. It was touted as a replacement for wool, and in the U.S. the National Dairy Corporation, happy to find a use for surplus skim milk, began to investigate the fibre, calling it aralac. Although it found some use during World War II, it was not a success. The fibre was weak and smelled like sour milk when it got damp - not a plus for consumers. In Europe, governments found that they needed milk for food far more than they needed it for clothing. 

Caption:  Four samples of milk protein fibre. Woven samples of Italian lanital, 1937; American-made yarn of a blend of worsted wool, lanital, and rayon, 1942; and samples of casein wool/aralac from two different U.S. manufacturers, 1943. (NMAH/Textiles.)

ADD IN (or replace with) THE MAAS SAMPLES OF ITALIAN LANITAL FROM 1938 WHEN/IF THEY PHOTOGRAPH THEM FOR US.

Nylon entered the fibre field in 1939, introduced by Du Pont for women's stockings. It was never a wool-like fibre, and Du Pont actively explored new compounds in their search for a replacement for wool - Fiber A as it was known in development, was marketed as Orlon, but not until the early 1950s. It was not commercially viable until after the Korean WAr had ended.

ADD IMAGE: Caption: Nylon fibre, 1940s. (NMAH/Textiles)

ADD IMAGES: Fiber A - Orlon ad and page from Hagley archives?