MAY 15th - Not Sure How Thomas Jefferson Would Have Felt About Viagra



On this day in 1940 the nylon stocking, manufactured by Dupont, first became available for purchase at Gimbel’s Department Store. I was perfectly ready to comment on this as merely an advancement in women’s fashion giving an alternative to the constant ripping of silk stockings as well as giving burglars a cost-effective method of concealing facial identity, but nylon stockings are far more important than one might think. With this new synthetic material Dupont ushered in the age of plastics, kick starting a number of inventions and improvements that changed the way we live. Basically they set out to solve a simple problem and started a firestorm of innovation that, in the minds of some historians, were vital in America and it’s Allies winning WWII. It’s very similar to those doctors who were trying to solve cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure, but instead found a way to give men boners. Actually, it’s nothing like that at all. But I’ve made it 364 days without writing about penis, and I just felt that wouldn’t be an accurate representation of history. You know, what with all the dicks in history. Thomas Jefferson would not approve. Of not being historically accurate. Not sure how he would have felt about Viagra either. I doubt he would have been impressed. But besides balancing the historical scales, I want to point out that big changes can start from the most unlikeliest of places. Great things come from humble beginnings. Women rarely wear stockings or pantyhose anymore, but the race to replace silk may have kept everyone from speaking German, as well as improving everyday life. TJ certainly would have approved of that.

This day has been Marked.

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