110 YEARS OF FIBERS; FROM THE DISCOVERY OF MAN-MADE FIBERS TO THE REDISCOVERY OF NATURAL ONES.

Daily News Record, December, 2001 by Maycumber, S. Gray

In the beginning -- DNR's beginning, that is -- God created fibers.

Which is to say that in the early years of our publication, all fibers were products of nature. Their sources included sheep (wool), goats (mohair -- and from upscale goats, cashmere), worms (silk), flax (linen) and the cotton plant. Ramie and hemp also existed, but their role in fabrics would come later.

When the first copy of DNR came off the press in 1892, however, there was no such thing as nylon or polyester, let alone microfibers or spandex stretch. There were no acrylics, no Tencel, no Kristi ...