There are some who would have you believe they are an ordinary piece of attire; practical apparel, mere hosiery, and not the cultural icons we celebrate on
NATIONAL NYLON STOCKINGS DAY!
Pity those blind fools who cannot identify fine art, the kind of legs that tell you yes, this is a beautiful world indeed.
Invented in America to address a worldwide silk shortage brought on by Japan’s war on China in the prelude to World War 2 (along with Hershey bars) to enable GIs to romance the local ladies as they liberated Europe and Asia in the 1940’s, the nylon stocking has come to represent so much more than an article of clothing.
Maybe it’s the way our brains are wired, directly to our libidos, or the elegant simplicity of a pair of beautiful legs encased in stockings, but “nylons” are part and parcel of our collective cultural/sexual identity.
What, exactly, is nylon, besides sheer magic? For those of you who care, Nylon is a designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as aliphatic polyamides, first produced on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Carothers of the Dupont Chemical Company, who celebrated his success by committing suicide 2 years later at only 41 years old, perhaps knowing he had achieved the height of success in the rare union of science, sex and beauty, a triumvirate he could never hope to equal. Sadly, he would never live to see the twin triumphs of nylon pantyhose and body stockings.
•Suggested Activities: Keeping an eye out for gorgeous gams wrapped in stockings, the ones with the line down the back.