Advertisement for cellulose acetate products manufactured and sold by the Hercules Powder Company for use in the production of doll heads. This advertisement appeared in the June 21, 1947 issue of Business Week; the June 23, 1947 issue of Newsweek; the July 1947 issue of Nations Business; and the August 4, 1947 issues of New York Journal of Commerce, Chicago Journal of Commerce, and the Wall Street Journal.

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.