Word: fiber
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Announced the appointment of a 30-member National Advisory Commission on Food and Fiber, to be headed by University of Minnesota Agriculture Dean Sherwood Berg, to make a thorough study of U.S. agricultural problems and recommend solutions...
...which makes for more durable pleats and a less rumpled look. Five years ago, the German clothing industry used almost no synthetics; now it weaves acrylics and polyesters into everything from socks to sweaters, has transformed the brassiere and girdle business by introducing Du Font's stretchable Lycra fiber. The Swedes practically live in synthetic parkas and stretch pants during the winter. Such designers as Pucci and Courrèges make dramatic use of the new fibers in their creations...
...biggest boom is in nylon, which is woven into tire cord and tennis nets, safety belts, inflatable domes and underwear. Italy's Snia Viscosa is spending $72 million on nylon expansion, has formed a traveling choir to promote its nylon-based Lilion fiber. Britain's Imperial Chemical and Courtaulds both had to ration nylon shipments to weavers last year, are spending more than $150 million to double their productive capacity. Germany's Glanzstoff and Farbenfabriken Bayer are also doubling their nylon output...
...Real Danger. The fiber makers are crossing borders and oceans to vie for markets. Courtaulds is building plants in Sweden, Imperial in Portugal, Holland's Algemene Kunstzijde Unie (A.K.U.) in Spain. Farbenfabriken is building in Belgium, Chemstrand in Scotland, Firestone in France. Du Pont will finish a new Dacron and nylon plant in Germany next year...
...will Europe be able to absorb this output when it begins flooding the market in the next three years? Despite warnings that capacity might rise faster than demand, fiber makers see little real danger ahead. Competition should mean lower prices, thus bigger markets. The biggest reason for optimism is the European consumer. Though synthetic-fiber production has doubled in five years, the average Frenchman still owns only two suits, and the average German woman still buys half as many girdles and bras as her U.S. counterpart...