Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
of pneumonia and the continued promising treatment of many other dis-
ease with sulfanilamide and related chemicals” and “Number 9 […] De-
velopment of synthetic fibers for clothing, including nylon, vinyon, syn-
thetic wool from milk”. This last achievement was the subject of another
Science Service project which combined department store mercantilism
with adult education.
6.
Chemistry in Department Store Windows
Early in 1939, after a meeting of the Science Service executive commit-
tee, some members went to inspect a new exhibit about synthetic fibers,
set up a few blocks from the National Academy of Sciences building.
59
It
must have been a remarkable sight as a dignified trio - chemist W.H.
Howell, Edwin G. Conklin of the American Philosophical Society, and
C.G. Abbot, head of the Smithsonian Institution - stared at a display of
women's clothing in the central window of the Woodward & Lothrop
department store (Figure 2). The window, in which garments made of
new synthetic textiles were surrounded by jars of the fabrics' constituent
chemicals, represented Science Service's latest innovation: a traveling
exhibit displayed in department store windows and sponsored by local
newspapers which published a coordinated series of articles about the
chemistry of 'Fabrics of the Future'.
On one side of the Woodward & Lothrop window (Figure 2) can be
seen bottles of new chemicals and samples of metal and glass; on the
other side, nylon stockings and lengths of rayon cloth. The mannequin's
dress is made of lanital (synthetic wool). Over the front of the window is
a 'spider web' design representing the 'spinning' of artificial fabrics.
This project - both the middle-class context in which the exhibit was
displayed and its central themes - exemplified the organization's at-
tempts to diffuse science beyond traditional outlets and to infuse social
and economic relevance into its news. What could be more accessible to
Americans than a downtown department store? Or more appealing than
the latest fashions?
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See 'Minutes of the Executive Committee of Science Service... February 11, 1939';
SIA RU7091, Box 4, Folder 7.
