Close-up view of an unidentified employee transferring ethyl cellulose to a storage bin at the Hercules Powder Company's Ethyl Cellulose plant in Hopewell, Virginia. Ethyl cellulose manufactured by the Hercules Powder Company was commonly purchased by a variety of public and private industries as a raw material for use in plastics, films, lacquers, and other materials.

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.