Color print advertisement for Hercules CMC, a cellulose gum manufactured and sold by the Hercules Powder Company for use as a binding and stabilizing agent in consumer goods. The advertisement features a line drawing of a woman holding a toothbrush, as well as a silhouette of a tube of toothpaste. The accompanying text invites the reader to request more information on the "special advantages" of cellulose gum in toothpaste formulations.

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.