Blazing the Trail to New Frontiers Through Chemistry “The Test Tube Girl”

Promotional booklet advertising various products manufactured and sold by the E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Includes neoprene; dyes; fragrances; safety glass; seed disinfectants, fertilizers and sprays; “Cellophane;” explosives; “Lucite;” nylon; auto finishes; coated fabrics like “Fabrikoid;” viscose; “Acele;” “Plastacele;” “Cel-O-Glass;” non-flammable photographic film; electroplating; bleaching agents; and dry-cleaning fluids. Also includes how salt, chlorine, coal, sand and oil aid in chemical processes. Last pages include a history of DuPont. Included with booklet is an informational pamphlet about the DuPont photographic contest in cooperation with the Photographic Society of America for the best photograph taken during the 1940 World’s Fair suggesting this promotional booklet could have been distributed at the 1939–1940 World's Fair in New York City, where DuPont debuted nylon stockings.

Du Pont’s “Test Tube Girl” debuted at the 1940 New York World’s Fair along with nylon stockings. Otherwise known as the Chemical Girl, the “Test Tube Girl” modeled nylon stockings and other Du Pont plastic products. In this illustration, her dress and gloves are made of rayon, her hat and bag of cellulose film, her heels are “Pyraheel” plastic, and she wears “Lucite” plastic and nylon hose.