CONTACT: Meg Marcozzi, Hagley Museum
and Library Marketing Manager
(302) 658-2400, ext. 238 mmarcozzi@hagley.org
Hagley’s New Family Event Celebrates the Fiber that
Changed the World
Wilmington,
Delaware – April 2013 – Hagley Museum
and Library invites families to a new event celebrating the invention of
nylon, Fashion, Sports, and Fun with
Nylon!, on Saturday, April 6, 10
a.m. to 3 p.m. The synthetics revolution began at DuPont and spread
throughout the world. From fishing line and
racquet sports to tooth brushes and tents, nylon, the first synthetic textile
fiber, changed lives. Activities are free with museum admission. Use the main
museum entrance off Route 141.
Kids and parents can discover the science behind nylon and learn about its
many uses from textiles to toothbrushes! Families will delight
in watching a hovercraft built using nylon, plywood, and a leaf blower move
around. Visitors can try their hand at badminton with the Brandywine Badminton
Club using nylon stringed racquets and shuttlecocks or play games with a giant
parachute. The Boy Scouts of America Troop 601 will demonstrate nylon at work
in knot-tying and camping. Families can
learn about sailing and admire a nylon spinnaker at the New Castle Sailing Club
demonstration. The University of Delaware Department of Fashion and Apparel
Studies will have a display of fashion before and after nylon. Visitors can see
a lab demonstration by Delaware Academy of Chemical Sciences. Additional activities
include flying kites, playing cornhole toss, jumping rope, and watching fly
fishing demonstrations.
Don your
funkiest nylon outfit or wear all natural materials! These fashion-forward
visitors will be entered into a drawing for a prize.
The
Belin House Organic Café will be selling $1 hotdogs and $1 blueberry lemonades
in addition to their regular menu. Visitors will receive a 10% discount at the
Hagley Store.
This
family program celebrates the opening of Hagley’s latest exhibit in honor of
the 75th anniversary of nylon, “Fashion Meets Science: Introducing
Nylon.” Seventy-five years ago
on October 27, 1938, a brand new material named nylon was announced to the
public. Created in DuPont Company’s labs, nylon replaced silk in the
ladies hosiery industry. Nylon was so popular that its early sales
created near riots because demand was so high. Hagley’s exhibit will
discuss the early development of nylon and its impact on the fashion industry. The exhibit is sponsored, in part, by W. L. Gore
& Associates, Inc., and Lyons Companies.
Hagley thanks our community partners for
their help: Boy Scouts of America Troop 601, Brandywine Badminton Club, Delaware Academy of Chemical
Sciences, DuPont Country Club, New Castle
Sailing Club, University of Delaware Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies.
Hagley
Museum and Library collects, preserves, and interprets the unfolding history of
American enterprise. The museum is located on Route 141 in Wilmington, Delaware.
Admission to the entire 235-acre museum is $14 for adults, $10 for students and
senior citizens, $5 for children six to fourteen, and free for members and
children five and under. Call (302) 658-2400 weekdays for more information or
visit www.hagley.org.
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