The Hercules Mixer
William D. White White was likely introduced to the Hercules Powder Company by Brandywine School of Illustration artist and friend, Gayle Porter Hoskins. Hoskins illustrated full-page sporting ads for the Hercules shotgun powder, Infallible. White’s first career illustration was published in The Hercules Mixer in March, 1922. The black & white oil, titled Barque Sets Sail, depicted a one-person Roman-style sailing ship to symbolize the company’s “sailing into uncharted waters.”
The Hercules Mixer employee magazine highlighted news, events, stories, and articles designed to bolster esprit-de-coeur among employees and their families located in various sites across the U.S. William D. White created 96 illustrations for this publication from 1922 to 1951, including 20 covers. I remember as a child looking at White’s scrapbook of tear sheets, including the illustrations featured below, and I especially liked his Christmas covers.The Paper Maker
In 1932 the Hercules Powder Company began publishing The Paper Maker, for featuring samples of specialty papers, often printed with custom inks to showcase creative concepts for manufacturers using Hercules paper additives. White created 19 illustrations from 1943 to 1960.
During William D. White’s 40-year illustration career with the Hercules Powder Company, he produced well over 500 illustrations for three trade publications: The Explosives Engineer, The Hercules Mixer, and The Paper Maker. These trade magazines were seen by tens of thousands of customers and employees of the Hercules Powder Company, but was not widely available to the public.