Color print advertisement for Celluose Acetate manufactured and sold by the Hercules Powder Company for use as a base in plastic molding compounds. Formed in 1912 as part of an anti-trust settlement with DuPont, the…

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…

General view of an insulated test chamber used in the Plastics Laboratory at the Hercules Powder Company plant in Parlin, New Jersey to determine the impact resistance of plastics at sub-normal temperatures. Per…

General view of employee Felix Nakielny removing a toilet seat cover from the dimension stability test cabinet used in the Plastics Laboratory at the Hercules Powder Company plant in Parlin, New Jersey. Per notations…

Close-up view of operator Felix Nakielny removing a test piece from an injection mold apparatus used in the Plastics Laboratory at the Hercules Powder Company plant in Parlin, New Jersey. Per notations accompanying the…

General view of operator J.P. Deran removing injection molded cellulose materials from a 4-ounce Reed Prentice molding apparatus at the Hercules Powder Company plant in Parlin, New Jersey. Per notations accompanying the…

Close-up view of J.P. Drew operating a milling cutter used in the Plastics Laboratory at the Hercules Powder Company plant in Parlin, New Jersey. Per notations accompanying the photograph, the cutter was used to cut…

Close-up view of several testing samples in the Plastics Laboratory at the Hercules Powder Company plant in Parlin, New Jersey. Per notations accompanying the photograph, the samples were placed in a testing box and…

Color advertisement from Jantzen Knitting Mills, Inc. in Portland, Oregon for a Jantzen swimsuit. The ad features a young woman wearing a strapless light blue one-piece swimsuit. In the background, a young man wearing…

Color print advertisement for the Dow Chemical Company featuring a man and woman playing cards. The accompanying text details various applications of Dow products, including plastic resins, rubber, and insecticides, to…

Color print advertisement for polyethylene manufactured and sold by the Dobeckmun Company, a division of the Dow Chemical Company based in Cleveland, Ohio. The advertisement features several Laub's enriched buns wrapped…

Color print advertisement for polyethylene film manufactured and sold by the Dobeckmun Company, a division of the Dow Chemical Company based in Cleveland, Ohio. The advertisement features a package of Golden Grain…

Color print advertisement for polyethylene packaging manufactured and sold by the Dobeckmun Company, a division of the Dow Chemical Company based in Cleveland, Ohio. The advertisement features a variety of household…

Advertisement for Ethofoil, a film development of Ethyl Cellulose manufactured and marketed by the Dow Chemical Company. The advertisement details the application of Ethofoil to produce durable packaging resistant to…

General view of an unidentified man posed with a sculpture of Paul Bunyan carved out of Styrofoam. Invented in 1941 by researchers in Dow's Chemical Physics Lab, "Styrofoam" properly refers to the Dow Chemical Company’s…

General view of a young boy posed with a ball and baseball bat made out of Styrofoam. Invented in 1941 by researchers in Dow's Chemical Physics Lab, "Styrofoam" properly refers to the Dow Chemical Company’s trademarked…

General view of two unidentified women posed behind a work bench with assorted objects made out of Styrofoam. Both women are wearing Styrofoam fascinators and an audience is visible in the background, indicating the…

General view of Dow Chemical Company engineer Ray McIntire (1918-1996) posed with a Santa Claus figurine carved out of Styrofoam. McIntire invented foam polystyrene in 1941 while working in Dow's Chemical Physics Lab.…

General view of a female model posed on a log of Styrofoam situated on an unidentified body of water. Likely used in advertisements and promotional materials, this scene was designed to emphasize the buoyant and…

General view of an unidentified employee examining assorted pieces of Styrofoam at a Dow Chemical Company facility. Invented in 1941 by researchers in Dow's Chemical Physics Lab, "Styrofoam" properly refers to the Dow…

General view of a young boy posed holding a block of Styrofoam over his head to demonstrate the product's buoyant and lightweight properties.

Invented in 1941 by researchers in Dow's Chemical Physics Lab, "Styrofoam"…

Portrait of Dr. Sylvia Stoesser (1901-1991), the first female Ph.D. chemist employed at the Dow Chemical Company.

Sylvia Stoesser (nee Goergen) was born on July 18, 1901 in Buffalo, New York and earned her B.S. in…

Hand mirror, hairbrush, comb, nail buffer and holder, button hook, and trinket box of Ivory Pyralin, a brand name for DuPont celluloid.

In the United States during the 1860s, John Wesley Hyatt experimented with…

Irregularly-shaped wooden box with blue and off-white synthetic coatings; box is secured with two steel snap fasteners; top opens upward and is held upright with a cloth ribbon on the left side; top and bottom of box…

Promotional photograph for Dow Handi-Wrap sandwich bags with view of a model demonstrating the new easy-to-use magic dot box packaging. Introduced in the 1960's, Dow Handi-Wrap was an economy plastic wrap specifically…