The Hagley Vault

Selections from Hagley Museum and Library's archives and published collections on the history of American business, technology, and innovation.

September 30, 2024
The image shows a woman working in a textile factory, depicted in black and white.

September 30th marks the anniversary of the publication of U.S. Patent No. 9020702A, granted in 1902 to chemists William H. Walker, Arthur D. Little and Harry S. Mork. The patent, for the process of "making of cellulose esters" was the first American patent for a man-made fiber. Soon after, the three also received Patent No. 712200A for "artificial silk". 


Initially marketed under the name viscose, the textile industry began referring to the material as rayon in 1924. Unlike many of the man-made fibers being produced by the industry, rayon was not synthetic; it was made from naturally-occurring wood-pulp rather than petroleum-based fibers like nylon.

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Archive

For posts prior to October 2020, visit the Hagley Vault on Tumblr.

Cover of 'Lukens Life' newsletter, featuring a female employee fishing in a creek
Wednesday, October 6, 2021
Today's #WorkerWednesday post finds us playing hooky ....
Today's #WorkerWednesday post finds us playing hooky in the company of Lukenweld, Inc. senior secretary Ellen Stern. Stern was featured on the May, 1952 cover of Lukens Life, the employee newsletter of the Lukens Steel Company Lukens Steel Company was a medium-sized producer of specialty steel products and one of the top three producers of steel...
Black and white image of five women on the steps of a school
Tuesday, October 5, 2021
Today's Hagley Vault post has got class ....
Today's Hagley Vault post has got class, thanks to these five women. This photograph of teachers from the Lester Public School of Lester, Pennsylvania was taken on September 8, 1919 by Charles Yessel (1877-1953). Yessel was the staff photographer for the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company's South Philadelphia Works, once located in...
Cartoon depicting a Wilmington street full of people and businesses bearing the DuPont name.
Monday, October 4, 2021
I'm spending some time this week doing metadata cleanup in Hagley Library's fabulous Digital Archive ...
I'm spending some time this week doing metadata cleanup in Hagley Library's fabulous Digital Archive and it has renewed my appreciation for this October 1930 cartoon by Abian Anders “Wally” Wallgren (1892-1948). Wallgren was a cartoonist for the Philadelphia Public Ledger, Washington Post, The Stars and Stripes, and the American Legion. This...
Black and white image of models for DuPont "test-tube creations" at 1939 New York World's Fair
Friday, October 1, 2021
Gowns of rayon, stockings of nylon, plastic jewelry ....
Gowns of rayon, stockings of nylon, plastic jewelry .... Today’s #FashionFriday image is of models demonstrating DuPont "test-tube creations" at the 1939 New York World's Fair. This photograph from Acme Newspictures was accompanied by the caption “Chemistry plays an ever increasing role in fashion: gowns of rayon, stockings of nylon, plastic...
Color illustration of a man buying a wartime bond from a woman in a nursing uniform.
Thursday, September 30, 2021
Here’s wishing you all a ferry merry World Maritime Day today!
Here’s wishing you all a ferry merry World Maritime Day today! The International Maritime Organization (IMO), an agency of the United Nations responsible for international regulatory frameworks regarding the maritime industry, has observed the fourth Thursday of September as World Maritime Day since 1978.The theme of this year's observance is the...
Black and white image of workers assembling automobiles
Wednesday, September 29, 2021
This ca. 1940 photograph shows workers assembling Chrysler roofs ...
This ca. 1940 photograph shows workers assembling Chrysler roofs at the Charlevoix Plant once located on Detroit, Michigan's east side. The Charlevoix Plant was originally built for the Liberty Motor Car Company in 1919 on Conner Street between Charlevoix Street and Mack Avenue. After the Liberty Motor Car went into receivership in 1923, the...
Black and white image of a photographer capturing a person sitting atop the at Sphinx, with the Pyramid of Chephren in the background
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Today’s #TravelTuesday image takes us all the way to Jīzah, Egypt ...
Today’s #TravelTuesday image takes us all the way to Jīzah, Egypt. This lantern slide of the Great Sphinx and Pyramid of Chephren is undated, but was likely created after 1880 and before 1925, when French engineer Emile Baraize began excavating the Sphinx on behalf of the Egyptian Antiquities Service (initial excavation efforts were begun by...
Black and white group photo of the "Tippencanoe" Harrison and Morton Club of Du Pont's Banks
Monday, September 27, 2021
We’re starting off the work week today with a look at the "Tippencanoe" Harrison and Morton Club ...
We’re starting off the work week today with a look at the "Tippencanoe" Harrison and Morton Club of Du Pont's Bank. The Club was photographed on their way to Brandywine Springs, Delaware on this date, September 27, in 1888. This photographic print is part of Hagley Library’s collection of Pierre A. Gentieu Brandywine River Valley photographs (...
Image of Fall foliage and a woman's hand gesturing to red lipsticks. Color photo and illustration.
Friday, September 24, 2021
It’s the first #FallFriday of the year ...
It’s the first #FallFriday of the year, and as the workweek wraps up, I’ve got my mind on sweater weather, leaf-peeping hikes, and spicy hot chocolate (that’s when there’s whisky in it). What are you looking forward to this Autumn? In honor of the equinox, here’s an Avon Outlook cover advertising the company’s September 1954 ‘Scarlet Leaves’ Fall...
Black and white image of a woman modeling nylon stockings in an exhibit at the New York World's Fair
Thursday, September 23, 2021
Du Pont has the best leg show at the fair ...
“Du Pont has the best leg show at the fair," according, at least, to one newspaper account reporting on Miss Chemistry's modeling of nylon stockings at the New York World's Fair in 1939. The photograph seen here is accompanied by a note from E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company’s Public Relations Department. The note reads “Yarn for demonstration...
Black and white lantern slide showing lantern slide workers in the Imperial Chinese mint
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
We’re traveling further than usual for today’s #WorkerWednesday ...
We’re traveling further than usual for today’s #WorkerWednesday post. This ca. 1900 lantern slide shows workers in the Imperial Chinese mint, located in Chengdu in the country’s Sichuan Province. The photographer, however, is a bit closer to home. Henry A. Janvier was an employee of the Ferracute Machine Company of Bridgeton, New Jersey, a press...
Black and white image of two autogyros flying over a cityscape.
Tuesday, September 21, 2021
I'd like to send this letter to the Prussian Consulate in Siam ...
I'd like to send this letter to the Prussian Consulate in Siam by aeromail. Am I too late for the 4:30 auto-gyro?* This image of an autogiro, photographed by the Aero Service Corporation around 1935, was used by the Chamber of Commerce of the United States for publication in Nation’s Business. The Chamber, a private lobbying group representing...
Image featuring an illustration of a couple embracing in front of an audience, lit by spotlights.
Monday, September 20, 2021
Oh my stars! On this date in 1859 .....
Oh my stars! On this date in 1859, Washington, D.C. inventor George B. Simpson received U.S. patent #25532 for his "electroheater". The world's first patented electric range was battery-operated and could be used to (in Simpson's own words) “warm rooms, boil water, cook victuals…". If you'd like to celebrate Simpson's invention along with us, why...
Black and white image of a man in a coat and top hat, seated in a booth exhibiting the works of the Hoopes Brothers & Darlington company.
Friday, September 17, 2021
We're feeling rather dapper this #FashionFriday ....
We're feeling rather dapper this #FashionFriday, thanks to a visit from Hoopes Brothers & Darlington company superintendent J.W. Bates. Bates is seated in the company's exhibit for the West Chester, Pennsylvania sesquicentennial celebration, held September 25 to October 2, 1949. The Hoopes Brothers & Darlington company exhibit was part of...
Illustrated cover for a patent medicine pamphlet
Thursday, September 16, 2021
Cocaine was first used as a local anesthetic on this date in 1884 ...
Cocaine was first used publicly as a local anesthetic on this date, September 16, in 1884 by the Austrian ophthalmologist Karl Koller (1857-1944). The surgical demonstration, conducted in front of peers in the medical community, ushered in a new era of surgical possibilities and his discovery was also adopted by professionals in the fields of nose...
Black and white image of two workers with bleaching machines at Joseph Bancroft & Sons Co. mill
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
This #WorkerWednesday excursion brings us to the floor of a textile mill ...
This #WorkerWednesday excursion brings us to the floor of a textile mill, where these employees of the Joseph Bancroft & Sons Company were photographed with alongside the company's bleaching machines. This photograph was probably taken around 1890. The company's namesake, Joseph Bancroft (1803-1874) began manufacturing cotton cloth using ...

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