Color print advertisement for Hercules CMC-CT, unpurified cellulose gum manufactured and sold by Hercules Powder Company for use in detergent products. The advertisement features a line drawing of a smiling woman holding a laundry basket full of clothes. The accompanying text describes the use of Hercules CMC-CT as a detergent additive and as a laundry size. Here, a "size" refers to a solution applied to textiles to create soil resistance, add body to the fabric and facilitate ironing. This advertisement appeared in Soap & Sanitary Chemicals.

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.