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Advertisements

Brush Up on Cellulose Gum

  • 1952

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Public Domain

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Print advertisement for cellulose gum, manufactured and sold by Hercules Powder Company as a stabilizer and thickening agent in consumer goods. The advertisement features a lifelike illustration of a toothpaste tube dispensing paste onto a toothbrush. The accompanying text describes the use of cellulose gum in "modern-day toothpastes, shampoos, lotions and other cosmetic preparations." This advertisement appeared in Business Week, Newsweek, Time, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, Journal of Commerce, Chemical Week and Chemical & Engineering News.

Formed in 1912 as part of an anti-trust settlement with DuPont, the Hercules Powder Company (later Hercules Inc.) initially specialized in the manufacture of explosives and smokeless powders and subsequently diversified its business to encompass a variety of industrial products, including pine and paper chemicals, synthetics, pigments, polymers, and cellulose.

Property Value
Creator of work
Format
Genre
Extent
  • 12 in. H x 9.25 in. W
Language
Subject
Rights Public Domain Mark 1.0
Credit line
  • Courtesy of Science History Institute

Institutional location

Department
Collection
Series arrangement
  • Series II: Advertising
Physical container
  • Volume 1952

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Cite as

Hercules Incorporated. “Brush Up on Cellulose Gum.” 1952 Hercules Advertisements, 1952. Records of Hercules Incorporated, Volume 1952. Science History Institute. Philadelphia. https://digital.sciencehistory.org/works/4jwl5wi.

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