. jAlbum 10 slides/Aetna Powder 1905 Mining Reporter.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 AETNA POWDER AD - Ad in the 1905 Mining Reporter touting the Aetna Powder Co. Lion brand AETNA POWDER AD - Ad in the 1905 Mining Reporter touting the Aetna Powder Co. Lion brand slides/Aetna Powder 1905 Mining Reporter.JPG slides/Aetna Lion 100x6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 AETNA LION BRAND - Aetna Explosive Co. Lion brand 100 No. 6 cap tin, green and black, 1 11/16 in. dia. x 2 5/8 in. tall, marked on lid edge AETNA EXPLOSIVES CO. INC. NEW YORK and on tin bottom BLASTING CAPS 100 NO. 6 LION BRAND with a drawn lion between words, ca. 1914-21,an identical tin also exists with the wording Hercules Powder Co. Wilmington Dela. replacing Aetna ExplosiveS Co. Inc. New York and was used for a short time in 1921-22 after Hercules bought Aetna (The Aetna Powder Company was incorporated in Indiana on April 3, 1880 with James O. Parker as its president. The corporate seal lists Schererville, Indiana which is believed to be the site of the first Aetna factory. Addison O. Fay, president of the Miami Powder Company of Xenia, Ohio, was contacted by Parker to take over the company and in February 1881 became its president with full control of the company. A new plant near Miller, Indiana was built to produce nitroglycerine dynamite. By 1889, this plant was producing 750,000 pounds. The company continued to expand its operations with its main sales office in Chicago but other important branches were located in Birmingham, Alabama; Duluth, Minnesota; Iron Mountain, Michigan; Louisville, Kentucky; St. Louis, Missouri; and Columbus, Ohio. Addison Fay died in 1906 and his son Addison G. Fay became president, serving till 1914. A. J. Moxham, after departing as a director of the Dupont Company following the antitrust action in 1912, developed a plan to compete with Dupont by consolidating into one company the principal competitors to the much larger company. The Aetna Explosives Company was incorporated in New York on November 24, 1914 with Moxham as president. The companies absorbed into the new company included Aetna Powder Company, Keystone National Powder Company, Pluto Powder Company, Jefferson Powder Company, Miami Powder Company, and F. K. Brewster, Inc. The company officials decided to pursue government contracts for explosives as World War I offered enormous amounts of money. By 1916, they had over $30M in contracts that required the construction of huge munitions plants as well as additional financing. As the war progressed, Aetna became focused on munitions while the commercial explosives business was nearly ignored. As the war came to an end, so did the huge contracts. The company was so over-expanded and with such large debt, receivership was inevitable. In 1921, the Aetna Explosives Company was sold to the Hercules Powder Company. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 541-560) AETNA LION BRAND - Aetna Explosive Co. Lion brand 100 No. 6 cap tin, green and black, 1 11/16 in. dia. x 2 5/8 in. tall, marked on lid edge AETNA EXPLOSIVES CO. INC. NEW YORK and on tin bottom BLASTING CAPS 100 NO. 6 LION BRAND with a drawn lion between words, ca. 1914-21,an identical tin also exists with the wording Hercules Powder Co. Wilmington Dela. replacing Aetna ExplosiveS Co. Inc. New York and was used for a short time in 1921-22 after Hercules bought Aetna (The Aetna Powder Company was incorporated in Indiana on April 3, 1880 with James O. Parker as its president. The corporate seal lists Schererville, Indiana which is believed to be the site of the first Aetna factory. Addison O. Fay, president of the Miami Powder Company of Xenia, Ohio, was contacted by Parker to take over the company and in February 1881 became its president with full control of the company. A new plant near Miller, Indiana was built to produce nitroglycerine dynamite. By 1889, this plant was producing 750,000 pounds. The company continued to expand its operations with its main sales office in Chicago but other important branches were located in Birmingham, Alabama; Duluth, Minnesota; Iron Mountain, Michigan; Louisville, Kentucky; St. Louis, Missouri; and Columbus, Ohio. Addison Fay died in 1906 and his son Addison G. Fay became president, serving till 1914. A. J. Moxham, after departing as a director of the Dupont Company following the antitrust action in 1912, developed a plan to compete with Dupont by consolidating into one company the principal competitors to the much larger company. The Aetna Explosives Company was incorporated in New York on November 24, 1914 with Moxham as president. The companies absorbed into the new company included Aetna Powder Company, Keystone National Powder Company, Pluto Powder Company, Jefferson Powder Company, Miami Powder Company, and F. K. Brewster, Inc. The company officials decided to pursue government contracts for explosives as World War I offered enormous amounts of money. By 1916, they had over $30M in contracts that required the construction of huge munitions plants as well as additional financing. As the war progressed, Aetna became focused on munitions while the commercial explosives business was nearly ignored. As the war came to an end, so did the huge contracts. The company was so over-expanded and with such large debt, receivership was inevitable. In 1921, the Aetna Explosives Company was sold to the Hercules Powder Company. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 541-560) slides/Aetna Lion 100x6.jpg slides/American Explosives.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 AMERICAN BLASTING CAPS - Red and white American Blasting Caps tin made by American Cyanamid and Chemical Corp, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY, 100 No. 6 caps, 2 ½ x 2 1/8 x 1 ¾ in. high (American Cyanamid was founded in 1907 by Frank Washburn, a Cornell-educated civil engineer. Cyanamid is a compound of lime, carbide, and nitrogen that is suitable for use in fertilizer. Washburn had been a consultant to a nitrate operation in Chile and had also built three dams in the southern United States. He bought the North American rights to a new process of extracting nitrogen from the air through use of an electric arc as well as the rights to a new method of binding nitrogen, carbide, and lime. These new methods of producing cyanamid required large amounts of electricity. The first Cyanamid facility was built in Ontario, Canada, its power supplied by Niagara Falls. The first carload of cyanamid rolled out of the plant on December 4, 1909. Washburn died in 1922 and was succeeded by William Bell. When Bell became head of American Cyanamid in 1922, the company had two principal raw materials: calcium cyanamid and phosphate rock, which were combined to form products for use in agriculture. Bell grew the products into other areas including the manufacture of cyanide, which had formerly been supplied by Germany. At the time, cyanide was principally used in the extraction of gold and silver from their ores. American Cyanamid began to manufacture cyanide from cyanamid, thereby broadening its market by supplying mining companies with a necessary chemical. By 1929, American Cyanamid with 30 subsidiaries was one of the most diversified companies in the chemical industry. Included in this diversified line of products was the production of blasting caps at least through the 1950s. American Cyanamid was awarded a number of blasting cap patents including U.S. patent 2215066 for casting blasting cap plug in 1940, U.S. patent 2393221 for blasting cap package in 1946, and Canada patent 427492 for an electric blasting cap delay in 1945. Today, the American Cyanamid and Chemical Corporation continues as a major multinational giant.) AMERICAN BLASTING CAPS - Red and white American Blasting Caps tin made by American Cyanamid and Chemical Corp, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY, 100 No. 6 caps, 2 ½ x 2 1/8 x 1 ¾ in. high (American Cyanamid was founded in 1907 by Frank Washburn, a Cornell-educated civil engineer. Cyanamid is a compound of lime, carbide, and nitrogen that is suitable for use in fertilizer. Washburn had been a consultant to a nitrate operation in Chile and had also built three dams in the southern United States. He bought the North American rights to a new process of extracting nitrogen from the air through use of an electric arc as well as the rights to a new method of binding nitrogen, carbide, and lime. These new methods of producing cyanamid required large amounts of electricity. The first Cyanamid facility was built in Ontario, Canada, its power supplied by Niagara Falls. The first carload of cyanamid rolled out of the plant on December 4, 1909. Washburn died in 1922 and was succeeded by William Bell. When Bell became head of American Cyanamid in 1922, the company had two principal raw materials: calcium cyanamid and phosphate rock, which were combined to form products for use in agriculture. Bell grew the products into other areas including the manufacture of cyanide, which had formerly been supplied by Germany. At the time, cyanide was principally used in the extraction of gold and silver from their ores. American Cyanamid began to manufacture cyanide from cyanamid, thereby broadening its market by supplying mining companies with a necessary chemical. By 1929, American Cyanamid with 30 subsidiaries was one of the most diversified companies in the chemical industry. Included in this diversified line of products was the production of blasting caps at least through the 1950s. American Cyanamid was awarded a number of blasting cap patents including U.S. patent 2215066 for casting blasting cap plug in 1940, U.S. patent 2393221 for blasting cap package in 1946, and Canada patent 427492 for an electric blasting cap delay in 1945. Today, the American Cyanamid and Chemical Corporation continues as a major multinational giant.) slides/American Explosives.jpg slides/Atlas Powders 1924 Engineering and Mining Journal.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 ATLAS EXPLOSIVES AD - Ad in the 1924 Engineering and Mining Journal for Atlas Powder Co. explosives ATLAS EXPLOSIVES AD - Ad in the 1924 Engineering and Mining Journal for Atlas Powder Co. explosives slides/Atlas Powders 1924 Engineering and Mining Journal.JPG slides/Atlas 100 x 6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 ATLAS RECTANGULAR RED 100 X 6 - Atlas Powder Co.100 No. 6 cap tin, red with white letters, 1 5/8 in. H x 2 1/8 in. x 2 1/2 in. box, marked on lid BLASTING CAPS ATLAS EXPLOSIVES on globe, ca. 1913-1920 (The Atlas Powder Company was organized in Delaware in 1912 to comply with the decree of the federal court dissolving the E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Company. Dupont was split up into three companies: Dupont, Hercules, and Atlas. The name Atlas was chosen to represent the Atlas brand of dynamite which had been assigned to the new company by the courts. Atlas started out with a capitalization of $5 million with William Webster as its new president. Atlas was assigned six blasting powder mills in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Illinois, Kansas and Oklahoma as well as four dynamite plants in New Jersey, Michigan, Missouri and California. In 1916, Atlas bought the Fort Pitt Powder Company, incorporated in 1911 in Pennsylvania, and its powder mill at Putneyville, PA. Also in 1916, Atlas greatly increased its production capabilities with the purchase of the Giant Powder Company. Giant was the first company in America to manufacture dynamite. Organized in California in 1867, Giant became a major explosives firm on the west coast and a significant acquisition as Atlas expanded its operations westward. In the early 1960s, Atlas Powder Company changed its corporate name to Atlas Chemical Industries to reflect its business focus. In 1972 Atlas Chemical Industries was purchased by Imperial Chemical Industries PLC (ICI), a major chemical-manufacturing company in Great Britain. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 309-312 and 431-478) ATLAS RECTANGULAR RED 100 X 6 - Atlas Powder Co.100 No. 6 cap tin, red with white letters, 1 5/8 in. H x 2 1/8 in. x 2 1/2 in. box, marked on lid BLASTING CAPS ATLAS EXPLOSIVES on globe, ca. 1913-1920 (The Atlas Powder Company was organized in Delaware in 1912 to comply with the decree of the federal court dissolving the E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Company. Dupont was split up into three companies: Dupont, Hercules, and Atlas. The name Atlas was chosen to represent the Atlas brand of dynamite which had been assigned to the new company by the courts. Atlas started out with a capitalization of $5 million with William Webster as its new president. Atlas was assigned six blasting powder mills in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Illinois, Kansas and Oklahoma as well as four dynamite plants in New Jersey, Michigan, Missouri and California. In 1916, Atlas bought the Fort Pitt Powder Company, incorporated in 1911 in Pennsylvania, and its powder mill at Putneyville, PA. Also in 1916, Atlas greatly increased its production capabilities with the purchase of the Giant Powder Company. Giant was the first company in America to manufacture dynamite. Organized in California in 1867, Giant became a major explosives firm on the west coast and a significant acquisition as Atlas expanded its operations westward. In the early 1960s, Atlas Powder Company changed its corporate name to Atlas Chemical Industries to reflect its business focus. In 1972 Atlas Chemical Industries was purchased by Imperial Chemical Industries PLC (ICI), a major chemical-manufacturing company in Great Britain. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 309-312 and 431-478) slides/Atlas 100 x 6.jpg slides/Atlas Rectangular.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 ATLAS RECTANGULAR 100 X 6 - Atlas Powder Co. rectangular 100 No. 6 cap tin, 2 5/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. x 1 9/16 in. high; acquired from Charlie Smith, Milton-Freewater, OR (The Atlas Powder Company was organized in Delaware in 1912 to comply with the decree of the federal court dissolving the E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Company. Dupont was split up into three companies: Dupont, Hercules, and Atlas. The name Atlas was chosen to represent the Atlas brand of dynamite which had been assigned to the new company by the courts. Atlas started out with a capitalization of $5 million with William Webster as its new president. Atlas was assigned six blasting powder mills in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Illinois, Kansas and Oklahoma as well as four dynamite plants in New Jersey, Michigan, Missouri and California. In 1916, Atlas bought the Fort Pitt Powder Company, incorporated in 1911 in Pennsylvania, and its powder mill at Putneyville, PA. Also in 1916, Atlas greatly increased its production capabilities with the purchase of the Giant Powder Company. Giant was the first company in America to manufacture dynamite. Organized in California in 1867, Giant became a major explosives firm on the west coast and a significant acquisition as Atlas expanded its operations westward. In the early 1960s, Atlas Powder Company changed its corporate name to Atlas Chemical Industries to reflect its business focus. In 1972 Atlas Chemical Industries was purchased by Imperial Chemical Industries PLC (ICI), a major chemical-manufacturing company in Great Britain. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 309-312 and 431-478) ATLAS RECTANGULAR 100 X 6 - Atlas Powder Co. rectangular 100 No. 6 cap tin, 2 5/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. x 1 9/16 in. high; acquired from Charlie Smith, Milton-Freewater, OR (The Atlas Powder Company was organized in Delaware in 1912 to comply with the decree of the federal court dissolving the E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Company. Dupont was split up into three companies: Dupont, Hercules, and Atlas. The name Atlas was chosen to represent the Atlas brand of dynamite which had been assigned to the new company by the courts. Atlas started out with a capitalization of $5 million with William Webster as its new president. Atlas was assigned six blasting powder mills in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Illinois, Kansas and Oklahoma as well as four dynamite plants in New Jersey, Michigan, Missouri and California. In 1916, Atlas bought the Fort Pitt Powder Company, incorporated in 1911 in Pennsylvania, and its powder mill at Putneyville, PA. Also in 1916, Atlas greatly increased its production capabilities with the purchase of the Giant Powder Company. Giant was the first company in America to manufacture dynamite. Organized in California in 1867, Giant became a major explosives firm on the west coast and a significant acquisition as Atlas expanded its operations westward. In the early 1960s, Atlas Powder Company changed its corporate name to Atlas Chemical Industries to reflect its business focus. In 1972 Atlas Chemical Industries was purchased by Imperial Chemical Industries PLC (ICI), a major chemical-manufacturing company in Great Britain. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 309-312 and 431-478) slides/Atlas Rectangular.jpg slides/Atlas Powder Round Hash Marks.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 ATLAS ROUND HASH 100 X 6 - Atlas Powder Co. round hash mark, 100 No. 6 cap tin, 2 3/4 in. dia. x 1 11/16 in. high, Wilmington, Delaware, USA (The Atlas Powder Company was organized in Delaware in 1912 to comply with the decree of the federal court dissolving the E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Company. Dupont was split up into three companies: Dupont, Hercules, and Atlas. The name Atlas was chosen to represent the Atlas brand of dynamite which had been assigned to the new company by the courts. Atlas started out with a capitalization of $5 million with William Webster as its new president. Atlas was assigned six blasting powder mills in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Illinois, Kansas and Oklahoma as well as four dynamite plants in New Jersey, Michigan, Missouri and California. In 1916, Atlas bought the Fort Pitt Powder Company, incorporated in 1911 in Pennsylvania, and its powder mill at Putneyville, PA. Also in 1916, Atlas greatly increased its production capabilities with the purchase of the Giant Powder Company. Giant was the first company in America to manufacture dynamite. Organized in California in 1867, Giant became a major explosives firm on the west coast and a significant acquisition as Atlas expanded its operations westward. In the early 1960s, Atlas Powder Company changed its corporate name to Atlas Chemical Industries to reflect its business focus. In 1972 Atlas Chemical Industries was purchased by Imperial Chemical Industries PLC (ICI), a major chemical-manufacturing company in Great Britain. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 309-312 and 431-478) ATLAS ROUND HASH 100 X 6 - Atlas Powder Co. round hash mark, 100 No. 6 cap tin, 2 3/4 in. dia. x 1 11/16 in. high, Wilmington, Delaware, USA (The Atlas Powder Company was organized in Delaware in 1912 to comply with the decree of the federal court dissolving the E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Company. Dupont was split up into three companies: Dupont, Hercules, and Atlas. The name Atlas was chosen to represent the Atlas brand of dynamite which had been assigned to the new company by the courts. Atlas started out with a capitalization of $5 million with William Webster as its new president. Atlas was assigned six blasting powder mills in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Illinois, Kansas and Oklahoma as well as four dynamite plants in New Jersey, Michigan, Missouri and California. In 1916, Atlas bought the Fort Pitt Powder Company, incorporated in 1911 in Pennsylvania, and its powder mill at Putneyville, PA. Also in 1916, Atlas greatly increased its production capabilities with the purchase of the Giant Powder Company. Giant was the first company in America to manufacture dynamite. Organized in California in 1867, Giant became a major explosives firm on the west coast and a significant acquisition as Atlas expanded its operations westward. In the early 1960s, Atlas Powder Company changed its corporate name to Atlas Chemical Industries to reflect its business focus. In 1972 Atlas Chemical Industries was purchased by Imperial Chemical Industries PLC (ICI), a major chemical-manufacturing company in Great Britain. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 309-312 and 431-478) slides/Atlas Powder Round Hash Marks.jpg slides/Atlas Chemical Round.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 ATLAS ROUND 100 X 6 - Round Atlas 100 No. 6 tin, painted black, gray and orange red, 1 11/16 x 2 ¾ in. cylinder, 1960-1980, crimped bottom, marked on top ATLAS 100-No 6 BLASTING CAPS ATLAS CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES, INC. edge of lid marked ATLAS twice (The Atlas Powder Company was organized in Delaware in 1912 to comply with the decree of the federal court dissolving the E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Company. Dupont was split up into three companies: Dupont, Hercules, and Atlas. The name Atlas was chosen to represent the Atlas brand of dynamite which had been assigned to the new company by the courts. Atlas started out with a capitalization of $5 million with William Webster as its new president. Atlas was assigned six blasting powder mills in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Illinois, Kansas and Oklahoma as well as four dynamite plants in New Jersey, Michigan, Missouri and California. In 1916, Atlas bought the Fort Pitt Powder Company, incorporated in 1911 in Pennsylvania, and its powder mill at Putneyville, PA. Also in 1916, Atlas greatly increased its production capabilities with the purchase of the Giant Powder Company. Giant was the first company in America to manufacture dynamite. Organized in California in 1867, Giant became a major explosives firm on the west coast and a significant acquisition as Atlas expanded its operations westward. In the early 1960s, Atlas Powder Company changed its corporate name to Atlas Chemical Industries to reflect its business focus. In 1972 Atlas Chemical Industries was purchased by Imperial Chemical Industries PLC (ICI), a major chemical-manufacturing company in Great Britain. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 309-312 and 431-478) ATLAS ROUND 100 X 6 - Round Atlas 100 No. 6 tin, painted black, gray and orange red, 1 11/16 x 2 ¾ in. cylinder, 1960-1980, crimped bottom, marked on top ATLAS 100-No 6 BLASTING CAPS ATLAS CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES, INC. edge of lid marked ATLAS twice (The Atlas Powder Company was organized in Delaware in 1912 to comply with the decree of the federal court dissolving the E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Company. Dupont was split up into three companies: Dupont, Hercules, and Atlas. The name Atlas was chosen to represent the Atlas brand of dynamite which had been assigned to the new company by the courts. Atlas started out with a capitalization of $5 million with William Webster as its new president. Atlas was assigned six blasting powder mills in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Illinois, Kansas and Oklahoma as well as four dynamite plants in New Jersey, Michigan, Missouri and California. In 1916, Atlas bought the Fort Pitt Powder Company, incorporated in 1911 in Pennsylvania, and its powder mill at Putneyville, PA. Also in 1916, Atlas greatly increased its production capabilities with the purchase of the Giant Powder Company. Giant was the first company in America to manufacture dynamite. Organized in California in 1867, Giant became a major explosives firm on the west coast and a significant acquisition as Atlas expanded its operations westward. In the early 1960s, Atlas Powder Company changed its corporate name to Atlas Chemical Industries to reflect its business focus. In 1972 Atlas Chemical Industries was purchased by Imperial Chemical Industries PLC (ICI), a major chemical-manufacturing company in Great Britain. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 309-312 and 431-478) slides/Atlas Chemical Round.jpg slides/Atlas.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 ATLAS 3-50 BLASTING MACHINE - Atlas 3-50 blasting machine, complete working condition, with strap, marked “WPA” on bottom (The Atlas Powder Company was organized in Delaware in 1912 to comply with the decree of the federal court dissolving the E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Company. Dupont was split up into three companies: Dupont, Hercules, and Atlas. The name Atlas was chosen to represent the Atlas brand of dynamite which had been assigned to the new company by the courts. Atlas started out with a capitalization of $5 million with William Webster as its new president. Atlas was assigned six blasting powder mills in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Illinois, Kansas and Oklahoma as well as four dynamite plants in New Jersey, Michigan, Missouri and California. In 1916, Atlas bought the Fort Pitt Powder Company, incorporated in 1911 in Pennsylvania, and its powder mill at Putneyville, PA. Also in 1916, Atlas greatly increased its production capabilities with the purchase of the Giant Powder Company. Giant was the first company in America to manufacture dynamite. Organized in California in 1867, Giant became a major explosives firm on the west coast and a significant acquisition as Atlas expanded its operations westward. In the early 1960s, Atlas Powder Company changed its corporate name to Atlas Chemical Industries to reflect its business focus. In 1972 Atlas Chemical Industries was purchased by Imperial Chemical Industries PLC (ICI), a major chemical-manufacturing company in Great Britain. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 309-312 and 431-478) ATLAS 3-50 BLASTING MACHINE - Atlas 3-50 blasting machine, complete working condition, with strap, marked “WPA” on bottom (The Atlas Powder Company was organized in Delaware in 1912 to comply with the decree of the federal court dissolving the E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Company. Dupont was split up into three companies: Dupont, Hercules, and Atlas. The name Atlas was chosen to represent the Atlas brand of dynamite which had been assigned to the new company by the courts. Atlas started out with a capitalization of $5 million with William Webster as its new president. Atlas was assigned six blasting powder mills in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Illinois, Kansas and Oklahoma as well as four dynamite plants in New Jersey, Michigan, Missouri and California. In 1916, Atlas bought the Fort Pitt Powder Company, incorporated in 1911 in Pennsylvania, and its powder mill at Putneyville, PA. Also in 1916, Atlas greatly increased its production capabilities with the purchase of the Giant Powder Company. Giant was the first company in America to manufacture dynamite. Organized in California in 1867, Giant became a major explosives firm on the west coast and a significant acquisition as Atlas expanded its operations westward. In the early 1960s, Atlas Powder Company changed its corporate name to Atlas Chemical Industries to reflect its business focus. In 1972 Atlas Chemical Industries was purchased by Imperial Chemical Industries PLC (ICI), a major chemical-manufacturing company in Great Britain. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 309-312 and 431-478) slides/Atlas.JPG slides/Atlas Blasting Machine Tag.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 ATLAS 3-50 BLASTING MACHINE TAG ATLAS 3-50 BLASTING MACHINE TAG slides/Atlas Blasting Machine Tag.jpg slides/Austin Powder Ad - 1915 Keystone Coal Catalogue.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 Ad for the Austin Powder Company from the 1915 Keystone Coal Catalogue Ad for the Austin Powder Company from the 1915 Keystone Coal Catalogue slides/Austin Powder Ad - 1915 Keystone Coal Catalogue.jpg slides/Austin Powder.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 AUSTIN POWDER 100 X 6 - Austin Powder Co.100 No. 6 cap tin, red with white letters, 1 1/2 in. H x 2 1/8 in. x 2 1/2 in. box, marked on lid BLASTING CAPS AUSTIN POWDER COMPANY CLEVELAND, OHIO, U.S.A. with AUSTIN USED IN 1833 & EVER SINCE in diamond shaped label, ca. 1910-1930 (The Austin Powder Co. was formed near Akron, OH in 1833. It is second only to Dupont as the oldest and largest explosives manufacturer in America. The company was founded by the five sons of Linus Austin (1773-1854). The five brothers, Daniel H., Alvin, Lorenzo B., Cyrus, and Linus were born in Wilmington, VT and traveled west as far as Kansas City, Missouri in 1832 to start a powder business. Unhappy with their business prospects, they returned. On the way back in 1833, they stopped at Akron, OH along the canal and started a business at Old Forge to manufacture blasting powder. Thus started the Austin Powder Company. The company slowly expanded and in 1865, Austin Powder Co. purchased the plant of the Cleveland Powder Company on the southern edge of Cleveland at the Five Mile Lock of the Ohio Canal in Cuyahoga County. To provide capital for expansion, the company was then incorporated in Ohio in 1867 for “the sale of blasting, mining, shipping, cannon, meal and sporting powder.” Daniel H. Austin was the first president and Linus Austin the first secretary. Both plants at Old Forge and Cleveland were operated together for the next 4 years but eventually the Old Forge plant was closed and all production was centered at Cleveland which was operated until 1907. An era ended in 1887 with the death of Linus Austin, the last of the five founding brothers that had directed the firm for 54 years. The company’s business was expanding and in 1892, a new set of mills was constructed at Glenwillow, Cuyahoga County, just south of Cleveland to manufacture blasting powder. The company’s production in 1922 totaled 480,000 kegs, with 98% of the capacity being used in the coal fields of Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Mining needs in the 1920s required dynamite and Austin continued to manufacture only blasting powder. To make the switch to dynamite, Austin developed a plant in Vinton County east of McArthur, OH with first production in 1931. The plant was named Red Diamond to identify it with the Austin-produced dynamite brand. During WW II the Glenwillow plant converted entirely to military explosives. Following the war’s end, the plant returned to black powder production but post-war use of black powder continued to decline dramatically. The company started production of detonating cord in 1951 at Glenwillow where it remained until the line was moved to Red Diamond in 1972. The Glenwillow plant was closed in 1979 after 87 years of continuous operation. The company has continued to expand operations until today, Austin Powder Company is a large explosives company with a marketing and manufacturing presence in all 50 states. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, 1927, pp 265-268 and Arthur Austin, Austin Powder Blast, 1983) AUSTIN POWDER 100 X 6 - Austin Powder Co.100 No. 6 cap tin, red with white letters, 1 1/2 in. H x 2 1/8 in. x 2 1/2 in. box, marked on lid BLASTING CAPS AUSTIN POWDER COMPANY CLEVELAND, OHIO, U.S.A. with AUSTIN USED IN 1833 & EVER SINCE in diamond shaped label, ca. 1910-1930 (The Austin Powder Co. was formed near Akron, OH in 1833. It is second only to Dupont as the oldest and largest explosives manufacturer in America. The company was founded by the five sons of Linus Austin (1773-1854). The five brothers, Daniel H., Alvin, Lorenzo B., Cyrus, and Linus were born in Wilmington, VT and traveled west as far as Kansas City, Missouri in 1832 to start a powder business. Unhappy with their business prospects, they returned. On the way back in 1833, they stopped at Akron, OH along the canal and started a business at Old Forge to manufacture blasting powder. Thus started the Austin Powder Company. The company slowly expanded and in 1865, Austin Powder Co. purchased the plant of the Cleveland Powder Company on the southern edge of Cleveland at the Five Mile Lock of the Ohio Canal in Cuyahoga County. To provide capital for expansion, the company was then incorporated in Ohio in 1867 for “the sale of blasting, mining, shipping, cannon, meal and sporting powder.” Daniel H. Austin was the first president and Linus Austin the first secretary. Both plants at Old Forge and Cleveland were operated together for the next 4 years but eventually the Old Forge plant was closed and all production was centered at Cleveland which was operated until 1907. An era ended in 1887 with the death of Linus Austin, the last of the five founding brothers that had directed the firm for 54 years. The company’s business was expanding and in 1892, a new set of mills was constructed at Glenwillow, Cuyahoga County, just south of Cleveland to manufacture blasting powder. The company’s production in 1922 totaled 480,000 kegs, with 98% of the capacity being used in the coal fields of Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Mining needs in the 1920s required dynamite and Austin continued to manufacture only blasting powder. To make the switch to dynamite, Austin developed a plant in Vinton County east of McArthur, OH with first production in 1931. The plant was named Red Diamond to identify it with the Austin-produced dynamite brand. During WW II the Glenwillow plant converted entirely to military explosives. Following the war’s end, the plant returned to black powder production but post-war use of black powder continued to decline dramatically. The company started production of detonating cord in 1951 at Glenwillow where it remained until the line was moved to Red Diamond in 1972. The Glenwillow plant was closed in 1979 after 87 years of continuous operation. The company has continued to expand operations until today, Austin Powder Company is a large explosives company with a marketing and manufacturing presence in all 50 states. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, 1927, pp 265-268 and Arthur Austin, Austin Powder Blast, 1983) slides/Austin Powder.jpg slides/Burton Explosives 100x6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 BURTON EXPLOSIVES 100 X 6 - Burton Explosives, Cleveland, OH, red and gold 100 No. 6 cap tin, 2 5/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. x 1 7/8 in. tall; acquired from Walt Goetz (The Burton Powder Company was incorporated on December 9, 1903 under the laws of Pennsylvania by Job Burton, Thomas J. Ohl and Joseph H. Riddle. Job Burton was named president and the first mill was built in 1904 near Quaker Falls, Pennsylvania (this mill is also referred to as the Lowellville mill named for the neighboring Ohio town). The mill had a rated capacity of 540,000 kegs of blasting powder. On July 1, 1917, the Burton Powder Company, the American High Explosives Company and the Cameron Powder Manufacturing Company all merged to form the Grasselli Powder Company. Burton was manufacturing black powder and the other two companies were both dynamite manufacturers. Job Burton was named president of the new corporation and the main office was located in Cleveland, Ohio with the principal sales office in Pittsburgh. Other important branches were located at Birmingham, Alabama; Bluefield, West Virginia; Chicago, Illinois; Miami, Florida; and four other cities in Pennsylvania. In 1928, Grasselli was gobbled up by Dupont and Burton moved on but not for long. In 1930, Burton Explosives was incorporated in Newcastle, PA with Burton as its president. The company continued to manufacture blasting caps into the mid-1940s. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 160-61, 626-27 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 18-20) BURTON EXPLOSIVES 100 X 6 - Burton Explosives, Cleveland, OH, red and gold 100 No. 6 cap tin, 2 5/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. x 1 7/8 in. tall; acquired from Walt Goetz (The Burton Powder Company was incorporated on December 9, 1903 under the laws of Pennsylvania by Job Burton, Thomas J. Ohl and Joseph H. Riddle. Job Burton was named president and the first mill was built in 1904 near Quaker Falls, Pennsylvania (this mill is also referred to as the Lowellville mill named for the neighboring Ohio town). The mill had a rated capacity of 540,000 kegs of blasting powder. On July 1, 1917, the Burton Powder Company, the American High Explosives Company and the Cameron Powder Manufacturing Company all merged to form the Grasselli Powder Company. Burton was manufacturing black powder and the other two companies were both dynamite manufacturers. Job Burton was named president of the new corporation and the main office was located in Cleveland, Ohio with the principal sales office in Pittsburgh. Other important branches were located at Birmingham, Alabama; Bluefield, West Virginia; Chicago, Illinois; Miami, Florida; and four other cities in Pennsylvania. In 1928, Grasselli was gobbled up by Dupont and Burton moved on but not for long. In 1930, Burton Explosives was incorporated in Newcastle, PA with Burton as its president. The company continued to manufacture blasting caps into the mid-1940s. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 160-61, 626-27 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 18-20) slides/Burton Explosives 100x6.jpg slides/California Cap Co. 1923 Keystone Mining Catalogue.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 CALIFORNIA CAP AD - Ad in the 1923 Keystone Mining Catalogue for California Cap Co. blasting caps and explosive accessories CALIFORNIA CAP AD - Ad in the 1923 Keystone Mining Catalogue for California Cap Co. blasting caps and explosive accessories slides/California Cap Co. 1923 Keystone Mining Catalogue.JPG slides/California Cap Co.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 CALIFORNIA CAP CO - Round cap tin 1 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. cyl, 1906-1920, embossed top marked CALIFORNIA CAP CO. SAN FRANCISCO with standing lion, complete bottom paper label marked 100 CALIFORNIA No 6 BLASTING CAPS in blue; acquired from Melody Kahtava, Peyton, CO (The common blasting cap evolved through the necessity of having a stronger initiating agent for nitroglycerine and high explosives than the black powder fuse which acted merely by flame. Nobel’s 1867 patent for the blasting cap was a copper shell filled with fulminate of mercury. This is essentially still the blasting cap of today, except that later, 10% of potassium chlorate was added to the fulminate via an 1869 patent by Tal Shaffner (patent No. 98,428). The initial detonation by means of the fulminate cap of firing nitroglycerine and dynamite was of immense importance and made the use of high explosives for blasting practical. The first common blasting caps used in America were imported from Germany. Dependence on a foreign source for caps was deemed unsatisfactory, especially on the west coast, and as a result, the first American manufacture of blasting caps was started about 1877 by William Oliver and Freeborn Fletter. Together they built a small cap factory near Stege, CA and incorporated their business as the California Cap Company in April 1880. Fletter died in 1899 and Oliver in 1918. Following Oliver’s death, his son Roland Oliver succeeded him as president. The California Cap Company became the major supplier of blasting caps for the western U.S. for many years. It’s interesting to note that William Oliver while founding the California Cap Company also became interested in tonite, a mixture of 52.5% guncotton and 47.5% barium nitrate, which was imported from England where it was made by the Cotton Powder Company. Tonite was a competitor to dynamite, claiming to be safer, cheaper, produced less fumes and was very stable in extreme heat and cold. A group led by Oliver made arrangements with the Cotton Powder Company to build a plant in the U.S. The Tonite Powder Company was incorporated in California in February 1880 and a plant was built at Stege, next to the California Cap Company plant. Dynamite manufacturers took issue with Tonite’s claims, especially making a case that tonite had a tendency for spontaneous ignition. However, the increasing price of cotton, the decreasing price of glycerine, and the lower costs of graded dynamite led to the demise of the Tonite plant in 1885. The Tonite buildings and land were sold to the California Cap Company. After a long stretch of supplying blasting caps to the western mines, the company ceased operations in the 1940s. It’s also interesting to note the paper labels on the bottom of California Cap Company tins as they came in many varieties, often repeating the same or slightly different messages. Finding a tin with the original paper label in nice condition can be quite a pursuit for the collector. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 757-58, 654-55 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 20-22) CALIFORNIA CAP CO - Round cap tin 1 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. cyl, 1906-1920, embossed top marked CALIFORNIA CAP CO. SAN FRANCISCO with standing lion, complete bottom paper label marked 100 CALIFORNIA No 6 BLASTING CAPS in blue; acquired from Melody Kahtava, Peyton, CO (The common blasting cap evolved through the necessity of having a stronger initiating agent for nitroglycerine and high explosives than the black powder fuse which acted merely by flame. Nobel’s 1867 patent for the blasting cap was a copper shell filled with fulminate of mercury. This is essentially still the blasting cap of today, except that later, 10% of potassium chlorate was added to the fulminate via an 1869 patent by Tal Shaffner (patent No. 98,428). The initial detonation by means of the fulminate cap of firing nitroglycerine and dynamite was of immense importance and made the use of high explosives for blasting practical. The first common blasting caps used in America were imported from Germany. Dependence on a foreign source for caps was deemed unsatisfactory, especially on the west coast, and as a result, the first American manufacture of blasting caps was started about 1877 by William Oliver and Freeborn Fletter. Together they built a small cap factory near Stege, CA and incorporated their business as the California Cap Company in April 1880. Fletter died in 1899 and Oliver in 1918. Following Oliver’s death, his son Roland Oliver succeeded him as president. The California Cap Company became the major supplier of blasting caps for the western U.S. for many years. It’s interesting to note that William Oliver while founding the California Cap Company also became interested in tonite, a mixture of 52.5% guncotton and 47.5% barium nitrate, which was imported from England where it was made by the Cotton Powder Company. Tonite was a competitor to dynamite, claiming to be safer, cheaper, produced less fumes and was very stable in extreme heat and cold. A group led by Oliver made arrangements with the Cotton Powder Company to build a plant in the U.S. The Tonite Powder Company was incorporated in California in February 1880 and a plant was built at Stege, next to the California Cap Company plant. Dynamite manufacturers took issue with Tonite’s claims, especially making a case that tonite had a tendency for spontaneous ignition. However, the increasing price of cotton, the decreasing price of glycerine, and the lower costs of graded dynamite led to the demise of the Tonite plant in 1885. The Tonite buildings and land were sold to the California Cap Company. After a long stretch of supplying blasting caps to the western mines, the company ceased operations in the 1940s. It’s also interesting to note the paper labels on the bottom of California Cap Company tins as they came in many varieties, often repeating the same or slightly different messages. Finding a tin with the original paper label in nice condition can be quite a pursuit for the collector. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 757-58, 654-55 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 20-22) slides/California Cap Co.JPG slides/California Cap 100 x 6 I.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 CALIFORNIA CAP CO BLASTING CAPS - Round cap tin 1 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. cyl, 1920-1945, embossed top marked BLASTING CAPS DANGEROUS, last design used by California Cap, complete bottom paper label marked 100 CALIFORNIA No 6 BLASTING CAPS in blue (The common blasting cap evolved through the necessity of having a stronger initiating agent for nitroglycerine and high explosives than the black powder fuse which acted merely by flame. Nobel’s 1867 patent for the blasting cap was a copper shell filled with fulminate of mercury. This is essentially still the blasting cap of today, except that later, 10% of potassium chlorate was added to the fulminate via an 1869 patent by Tal Shaffner (patent No. 98,428). The initial detonation by means of the fulminate cap of firing nitroglycerine and dynamite was of immense importance and made the use of high explosives for blasting practical. The first common blasting caps used in America were imported from Germany. Dependence on a foreign source for caps was deemed unsatisfactory, especially on the west coast, and as a result, the first American manufacture of blasting caps was started about 1877 by William Oliver and Freeborn Fletter. Together they built a small cap factory near Stege, CA and incorporated their business as the California Cap Company in April 1880. Fletter died in 1899 and Oliver in 1918. Following Oliver’s death, his son Roland Oliver succeeded him as president. The California Cap Company became the major supplier of blasting caps for the western U.S. for many years. It’s interesting to note that William Oliver while founding the California Cap Company also became interested in tonite, a mixture of 52.5% guncotton and 47.5% barium nitrate, which was imported from England where it was made by the Cotton Powder Company. Tonite was a competitor to dynamite, claiming to be safer, cheaper, produced less fumes and was very stable in extreme heat and cold. A group led by Oliver made arrangements with the Cotton Powder Company to build a plant in the U.S. The Tonite Powder Company was incorporated in California in February 1880 and a plant was built at Stege, next to the California Cap Company plant. Dynamite manufacturers took issue with Tonite’s claims, especially making a case that tonite had a tendency for spontaneous ignition. However, the increasing price of cotton, the decreasing price of glycerine, and the lower costs of graded dynamite led to the demise of the Tonite plant in 1885. The Tonite buildings and land were sold to the California Cap Company. After a long stretch of supplying blasting caps to the western mines, the company ceased operations in the 1940s. It’s also interesting to note the paper labels on the bottom of California Cap Company tins as they came in many varieties, often repeating the same or slightly different messages. Finding a tin with the original paper label in nice condition can be quite a pursuit for the collector. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 757-58, 654-55 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 20-22) CALIFORNIA CAP CO BLASTING CAPS - Round cap tin 1 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. cyl, 1920-1945, embossed top marked BLASTING CAPS DANGEROUS, last design used by California Cap, complete bottom paper label marked 100 CALIFORNIA No 6 BLASTING CAPS in blue (The common blasting cap evolved through the necessity of having a stronger initiating agent for nitroglycerine and high explosives than the black powder fuse which acted merely by flame. Nobel’s 1867 patent for the blasting cap was a copper shell filled with fulminate of mercury. This is essentially still the blasting cap of today, except that later, 10% of potassium chlorate was added to the fulminate via an 1869 patent by Tal Shaffner (patent No. 98,428). The initial detonation by means of the fulminate cap of firing nitroglycerine and dynamite was of immense importance and made the use of high explosives for blasting practical. The first common blasting caps used in America were imported from Germany. Dependence on a foreign source for caps was deemed unsatisfactory, especially on the west coast, and as a result, the first American manufacture of blasting caps was started about 1877 by William Oliver and Freeborn Fletter. Together they built a small cap factory near Stege, CA and incorporated their business as the California Cap Company in April 1880. Fletter died in 1899 and Oliver in 1918. Following Oliver’s death, his son Roland Oliver succeeded him as president. The California Cap Company became the major supplier of blasting caps for the western U.S. for many years. It’s interesting to note that William Oliver while founding the California Cap Company also became interested in tonite, a mixture of 52.5% guncotton and 47.5% barium nitrate, which was imported from England where it was made by the Cotton Powder Company. Tonite was a competitor to dynamite, claiming to be safer, cheaper, produced less fumes and was very stable in extreme heat and cold. A group led by Oliver made arrangements with the Cotton Powder Company to build a plant in the U.S. The Tonite Powder Company was incorporated in California in February 1880 and a plant was built at Stege, next to the California Cap Company plant. Dynamite manufacturers took issue with Tonite’s claims, especially making a case that tonite had a tendency for spontaneous ignition. However, the increasing price of cotton, the decreasing price of glycerine, and the lower costs of graded dynamite led to the demise of the Tonite plant in 1885. The Tonite buildings and land were sold to the California Cap Company. After a long stretch of supplying blasting caps to the western mines, the company ceased operations in the 1940s. It’s also interesting to note the paper labels on the bottom of California Cap Company tins as they came in many varieties, often repeating the same or slightly different messages. Finding a tin with the original paper label in nice condition can be quite a pursuit for the collector. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 757-58, 654-55 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 20-22) slides/California Cap 100 x 6 I.jpg slides/California Cap 100 x 6 II.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 CALIFORNIA CAP CO BLASTING CAPS - Round cap tin 1 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. cyl, 1920-1945, embossed top marked BLASTING CAPS DANGEROUS, last design used by California Cap, complete bottom paper label marked 100 CALIFORNIA No 6 BLASTING CAPS in blue (The common blasting cap evolved through the necessity of having a stronger initiating agent for nitroglycerine and high explosives than the black powder fuse which acted merely by flame. Nobel’s 1867 patent for the blasting cap was a copper shell filled with fulminate of mercury. This is essentially still the blasting cap of today, except that later, 10% of potassium chlorate was added to the fulminate via an 1869 patent by Tal Shaffner (patent No. 98,428). The initial detonation by means of the fulminate cap of firing nitroglycerine and dynamite was of immense importance and made the use of high explosives for blasting practical. The first common blasting caps used in America were imported from Germany. Dependence on a foreign source for caps was deemed unsatisfactory, especially on the west coast, and as a result, the first American manufacture of blasting caps was started about 1877 by William Oliver and Freeborn Fletter. Together they built a small cap factory near Stege, CA and incorporated their business as the California Cap Company in April 1880. Fletter died in 1899 and Oliver in 1918. Following Oliver’s death, his son Roland Oliver succeeded him as president. The California Cap Company became the major supplier of blasting caps for the western U.S. for many years. It’s interesting to note that William Oliver while founding the California Cap Company also became interested in tonite, a mixture of 52.5% guncotton and 47.5% barium nitrate, which was imported from England where it was made by the Cotton Powder Company. Tonite was a competitor to dynamite, claiming to be safer, cheaper, produced less fumes and was very stable in extreme heat and cold. A group led by Oliver made arrangements with the Cotton Powder Company to build a plant in the U.S. The Tonite Powder Company was incorporated in California in February 1880 and a plant was built at Stege, next to the California Cap Company plant. Dynamite manufacturers took issue with Tonite’s claims, especially making a case that tonite had a tendency for spontaneous ignition. However, the increasing price of cotton, the decreasing price of glycerine, and the lower costs of graded dynamite led to the demise of the Tonite plant in 1885. The Tonite buildings and land were sold to the California Cap Company. After a long stretch of supplying blasting caps to the western mines, the company ceased operations in the 1940s. It’s also interesting to note the paper labels on the bottom of California Cap Company tins as they came in many varieties, often repeating the same or slightly different messages. Finding a tin with the original paper label in nice condition can be quite a pursuit for the collector. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 757-58, 654-55 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 20-22) CALIFORNIA CAP CO BLASTING CAPS - Round cap tin 1 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. cyl, 1920-1945, embossed top marked BLASTING CAPS DANGEROUS, last design used by California Cap, complete bottom paper label marked 100 CALIFORNIA No 6 BLASTING CAPS in blue (The common blasting cap evolved through the necessity of having a stronger initiating agent for nitroglycerine and high explosives than the black powder fuse which acted merely by flame. Nobel’s 1867 patent for the blasting cap was a copper shell filled with fulminate of mercury. This is essentially still the blasting cap of today, except that later, 10% of potassium chlorate was added to the fulminate via an 1869 patent by Tal Shaffner (patent No. 98,428). The initial detonation by means of the fulminate cap of firing nitroglycerine and dynamite was of immense importance and made the use of high explosives for blasting practical. The first common blasting caps used in America were imported from Germany. Dependence on a foreign source for caps was deemed unsatisfactory, especially on the west coast, and as a result, the first American manufacture of blasting caps was started about 1877 by William Oliver and Freeborn Fletter. Together they built a small cap factory near Stege, CA and incorporated their business as the California Cap Company in April 1880. Fletter died in 1899 and Oliver in 1918. Following Oliver’s death, his son Roland Oliver succeeded him as president. The California Cap Company became the major supplier of blasting caps for the western U.S. for many years. It’s interesting to note that William Oliver while founding the California Cap Company also became interested in tonite, a mixture of 52.5% guncotton and 47.5% barium nitrate, which was imported from England where it was made by the Cotton Powder Company. Tonite was a competitor to dynamite, claiming to be safer, cheaper, produced less fumes and was very stable in extreme heat and cold. A group led by Oliver made arrangements with the Cotton Powder Company to build a plant in the U.S. The Tonite Powder Company was incorporated in California in February 1880 and a plant was built at Stege, next to the California Cap Company plant. Dynamite manufacturers took issue with Tonite’s claims, especially making a case that tonite had a tendency for spontaneous ignition. However, the increasing price of cotton, the decreasing price of glycerine, and the lower costs of graded dynamite led to the demise of the Tonite plant in 1885. The Tonite buildings and land were sold to the California Cap Company. After a long stretch of supplying blasting caps to the western mines, the company ceased operations in the 1940s. It’s also interesting to note the paper labels on the bottom of California Cap Company tins as they came in many varieties, often repeating the same or slightly different messages. Finding a tin with the original paper label in nice condition can be quite a pursuit for the collector. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 757-58, 654-55 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 20-22) slides/California Cap 100 x 6 II.jpg slides/California Cap 100 x 6 III.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 CALIFORNIA CAP CO BLASTING CAPS - Round cap tin 1 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. cyl, 1920-1945, embossed top marked BLASTING CAPS DANGEROUS, last design used by California Cap, complete bottom paper label marked 100 CALIFORNIA No 6 BLASTING CAPS in blue (The common blasting cap evolved through the necessity of having a stronger initiating agent for nitroglycerine and high explosives than the black powder fuse which acted merely by flame. Nobel’s 1867 patent for the blasting cap was a copper shell filled with fulminate of mercury. This is essentially still the blasting cap of today, except that later, 10% of potassium chlorate was added to the fulminate via an 1869 patent by Tal Shaffner (patent No. 98,428). The initial detonation by means of the fulminate cap of firing nitroglycerine and dynamite was of immense importance and made the use of high explosives for blasting practical. The first common blasting caps used in America were imported from Germany. Dependence on a foreign source for caps was deemed unsatisfactory, especially on the west coast, and as a result, the first American manufacture of blasting caps was started about 1877 by William Oliver and Freeborn Fletter. Together they built a small cap factory near Stege, CA and incorporated their business as the California Cap Company in April 1880. Fletter died in 1899 and Oliver in 1918. Following Oliver’s death, his son Roland Oliver succeeded him as president. The California Cap Company became the major supplier of blasting caps for the western U.S. for many years. It’s interesting to note that William Oliver while founding the California Cap Company also became interested in tonite, a mixture of 52.5% guncotton and 47.5% barium nitrate, which was imported from England where it was made by the Cotton Powder Company. Tonite was a competitor to dynamite, claiming to be safer, cheaper, produced less fumes and was very stable in extreme heat and cold. A group led by Oliver made arrangements with the Cotton Powder Company to build a plant in the U.S. The Tonite Powder Company was incorporated in California in February 1880 and a plant was built at Stege, next to the California Cap Company plant. Dynamite manufacturers took issue with Tonite’s claims, especially making a case that tonite had a tendency for spontaneous ignition. However, the increasing price of cotton, the decreasing price of glycerine, and the lower costs of graded dynamite led to the demise of the Tonite plant in 1885. The Tonite buildings and land were sold to the California Cap Company. After a long stretch of supplying blasting caps to the western mines, the company ceased operations in the 1940s. It’s also interesting to note the paper labels on the bottom of California Cap Company tins as they came in many varieties, often repeating the same or slightly different messages. Finding a tin with the original paper label in nice condition can be quite a pursuit for the collector. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 757-58, 654-55 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 20-22) CALIFORNIA CAP CO BLASTING CAPS - Round cap tin 1 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. cyl, 1920-1945, embossed top marked BLASTING CAPS DANGEROUS, last design used by California Cap, complete bottom paper label marked 100 CALIFORNIA No 6 BLASTING CAPS in blue (The common blasting cap evolved through the necessity of having a stronger initiating agent for nitroglycerine and high explosives than the black powder fuse which acted merely by flame. Nobel’s 1867 patent for the blasting cap was a copper shell filled with fulminate of mercury. This is essentially still the blasting cap of today, except that later, 10% of potassium chlorate was added to the fulminate via an 1869 patent by Tal Shaffner (patent No. 98,428). The initial detonation by means of the fulminate cap of firing nitroglycerine and dynamite was of immense importance and made the use of high explosives for blasting practical. The first common blasting caps used in America were imported from Germany. Dependence on a foreign source for caps was deemed unsatisfactory, especially on the west coast, and as a result, the first American manufacture of blasting caps was started about 1877 by William Oliver and Freeborn Fletter. Together they built a small cap factory near Stege, CA and incorporated their business as the California Cap Company in April 1880. Fletter died in 1899 and Oliver in 1918. Following Oliver’s death, his son Roland Oliver succeeded him as president. The California Cap Company became the major supplier of blasting caps for the western U.S. for many years. It’s interesting to note that William Oliver while founding the California Cap Company also became interested in tonite, a mixture of 52.5% guncotton and 47.5% barium nitrate, which was imported from England where it was made by the Cotton Powder Company. Tonite was a competitor to dynamite, claiming to be safer, cheaper, produced less fumes and was very stable in extreme heat and cold. A group led by Oliver made arrangements with the Cotton Powder Company to build a plant in the U.S. The Tonite Powder Company was incorporated in California in February 1880 and a plant was built at Stege, next to the California Cap Company plant. Dynamite manufacturers took issue with Tonite’s claims, especially making a case that tonite had a tendency for spontaneous ignition. However, the increasing price of cotton, the decreasing price of glycerine, and the lower costs of graded dynamite led to the demise of the Tonite plant in 1885. The Tonite buildings and land were sold to the California Cap Company. After a long stretch of supplying blasting caps to the western mines, the company ceased operations in the 1940s. It’s also interesting to note the paper labels on the bottom of California Cap Company tins as they came in many varieties, often repeating the same or slightly different messages. Finding a tin with the original paper label in nice condition can be quite a pursuit for the collector. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 757-58, 654-55 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 20-22) slides/California Cap 100 x 6 III.jpg slides/Metallic Cap May 1902 Engineering and Mining Journal.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 GOLD MEDAL CAP CRIMPER AD - Ad for the Gold Metal cap crimper and fuse cutter manufactured by the Metallic Cap Mfg. Co. in the May 1902 Engineering and Mining Journal GOLD MEDAL CAP CRIMPER AD - Ad for the Gold Metal cap crimper and fuse cutter manufactured by the Metallic Cap Mfg. Co. in the May 1902 Engineering and Mining Journal slides/Metallic Cap May 1902 Engineering and Mining Journal.JPG slides/Cap Crimpers.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 BLASTING CAP CRIMPERS - Blasting cap crimpers: At left, marked ATLAS EXPLOSIVES, ATLAS POWDER CO. No. 2, 7 in. long; center, early set of sheet steel blasting cap crimpers, stamped on front THE METALLIC CAP MFG CO, and on reverse GOLD MEDAL CAPS. This is the type of blasting cap crimper that would both crimp the blasting cap onto the safety fuse as well as cut the safety fuse to length. Measures 5 1/2 in. long, with a brass covered punch for inserting the cap into a stick of dynamite. Sheet steel crimpers are among the earliest of the cap crimpers, these likely date to the 1890's. Nickel plate is very worn; at right, marked WM. SCHOLLHORN US, 7 in. long BLASTING CAP CRIMPERS - Blasting cap crimpers: At left, marked ATLAS EXPLOSIVES, ATLAS POWDER CO. No. 2, 7 in. long; center, early set of sheet steel blasting cap crimpers, stamped on front THE METALLIC CAP MFG CO, and on reverse GOLD MEDAL CAPS. This is the type of blasting cap crimper that would both crimp the blasting cap onto the safety fuse as well as cut the safety fuse to length. Measures 5 1/2 in. long, with a brass covered punch for inserting the cap into a stick of dynamite. Sheet steel crimpers are among the earliest of the cap crimpers, these likely date to the 1890's. Nickel plate is very worn; at right, marked WM. SCHOLLHORN US, 7 in. long slides/Cap Crimpers.JPG slides/Clarks Blasting Tubing Label.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 CLARK PATENT BLASTING TUBE - Paper blasting tube package for black powder explosives; tube dia. 1 5/16 in., manufactured by Clark Patent Tubing Co., Wheeling, WV, tubing marked in 1 in. increments to measure powder charge length, patented by George Sherman Clark of Huntington, WV No. 1,567,991 filed on Feb. 10, 1922 and awarded Dec. 29, 1925 (The Clark patent was intended to provide a simplified method to create a paper tube of convenient shape and size to form and hold the black powder charge for blasting in coal mines) CLARK PATENT BLASTING TUBE - Paper blasting tube package for black powder explosives; tube dia. 1 5/16 in., manufactured by Clark Patent Tubing Co., Wheeling, WV, tubing marked in 1 in. increments to measure powder charge length, patented by George Sherman Clark of Huntington, WV No. 1,567,991 filed on Feb. 10, 1922 and awarded Dec. 29, 1925 (The Clark patent was intended to provide a simplified method to create a paper tube of convenient shape and size to form and hold the black powder charge for blasting in coal mines) slides/Clarks Blasting Tubing Label.jpg slides/Clarks Blasting Tubing Closeup.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 CLARK PATENT BLASTING TUBE - Paper blasting tube package for black powder explosives; tube dia. 1 5/16 in., manufactured by Clark Patent Tubing Co., Wheeling, WV, tubing marked in 1 in. increments to measure powder charge length, patented by George Sherman Clark of Huntington, WV No. 1,567,991 filed on Feb. 10, 1922 and awarded Dec. 29, 1925 (The Clark patent was intended to provide a simplified method to create a paper tube of convenient shape and size to form and hold the black powder charge for blasting in coal mines) CLARK PATENT BLASTING TUBE - Paper blasting tube package for black powder explosives; tube dia. 1 5/16 in., manufactured by Clark Patent Tubing Co., Wheeling, WV, tubing marked in 1 in. increments to measure powder charge length, patented by George Sherman Clark of Huntington, WV No. 1,567,991 filed on Feb. 10, 1922 and awarded Dec. 29, 1925 (The Clark patent was intended to provide a simplified method to create a paper tube of convenient shape and size to form and hold the black powder charge for blasting in coal mines) slides/Clarks Blasting Tubing Closeup.jpg slides/Clarks Blasting Tubing Roll.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 CLARK PATENT BLASTING TUBE - Paper blasting tube package for black powder explosives; tube dia. 1 5/16 in., manufactured by Clark Patent Tubing Co., Wheeling, WV, tubing marked in 1 in. increments to measure powder charge length, patented by George Sherman Clark of Huntington, WV No. 1,567,991 filed on Feb. 10, 1922 and awarded Dec. 29, 1925 (The Clark patent was intended to provide a simplified method to create a paper tube of convenient shape and size to form and hold the black powder charge for blasting in coal mines) CHECK OUT CLARKS PATENT IN THE NEXT PIC CLARK PATENT BLASTING TUBE - Paper blasting tube package for black powder explosives; tube dia. 1 5/16 in., manufactured by Clark Patent Tubing Co., Wheeling, WV, tubing marked in 1 in. increments to measure powder charge length, patented by George Sherman Clark of Huntington, WV No. 1,567,991 filed on Feb. 10, 1922 and awarded Dec. 29, 1925 (The Clark patent was intended to provide a simplified method to create a paper tube of convenient shape and size to form and hold the black powder charge for blasting in coal mines) CHECK OUT CLARKS PATENT IN THE NEXT PIC slides/Clarks Blasting Tubing Roll.jpg slides/Clarks Blasting Tube Patent.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 slides/Clarks Blasting Tube Patent.JPG slides/Davis Single Shot.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DAVIS SINGLE-SHOT BLASTING UNIT - Brass Davis Single-Shot Blasting Unit marked on front label: Bureau of Mines Approval No. 1207 Issued to the Davis Instrument Mfg Co., Approved for Safety, Reliability and Durability; Caution ‘not permissible unless used with rubber covered leading wires of lengths not exceeding 600 feet of No. 14, 350 feet of No. 16 or 200 feet of No. 18 wire,’ unit measures 4 ¼” x 1 15/16" x 1 3/8"; brass label on other side marked Mine Safety Appliances Co. Pittsburgh U.S.A., with metal and wood twist slot handle, marked PAT at top edge and 602 on bottom, working condition DAVIS SINGLE-SHOT BLASTING UNIT - Brass Davis Single-Shot Blasting Unit marked on front label: Bureau of Mines Approval No. 1207 Issued to the Davis Instrument Mfg Co., Approved for Safety, Reliability and Durability; Caution ‘not permissible unless used with rubber covered leading wires of lengths not exceeding 600 feet of No. 14, 350 feet of No. 16 or 200 feet of No. 18 wire,’ unit measures 4 ¼” x 1 15/16" x 1 3/8"; brass label on other side marked Mine Safety Appliances Co. Pittsburgh U.S.A., with metal and wood twist slot handle, marked PAT at top edge and 602 on bottom, working condition slides/Davis Single Shot.JPG slides/Du Pont Explosives 1922 Williams Hardware Co. Catalogue.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT EXPLOSIVES AD - Ad in the 1922 Williams Hardware Co. catalogue for DuPont explosive products DUPONT EXPLOSIVES AD - Ad in the 1922 Williams Hardware Co. catalogue for DuPont explosive products slides/Du Pont Explosives 1922 Williams Hardware Co. Catalogue.JPG slides/Dupont No. 0 Blasting Machine LSide.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking wind-up Dupont No. 0 blasting machine; fires up to 4 electric caps, mfg. by E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Co., Wilmington, DE, oak dove-tailed cabinet, 6 1/4 in. H x 5 3/4 in. W x 6 in. D, marked on top DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE FIRES 1 TO 4 HOLES along with instructions on cranking and firing the machine, working condition with all original equipment and replacement leather strap [Background information on this blaster has proven to be quite a challenge. Hours of searching on google has produced but one reference to the Dupont No. 0 blasting machine in a table contained in the 1914 Handbook of Construction Plant by Dana. A 1911 Dupont blasting supplies catalog does not mention the No. 0 blaster. Thanks to my friend and explosives expert John Kynor, new information has come to light. A 1909 Dupont catalog obtained by John offers the No. 0 blaster. The page out of that catalog is shown at the end of the blaster pics. The No. 0 blaster is no longer offered by Dupont in the 1910 or later catalogs. The search continues for any earlier catalogs that might show the blaster. It is thought that Dupont for whatever reason only offered the No. 0 blaster for a very short period of time. One other No. 0 blaster is currently known to exist.) DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking wind-up Dupont No. 0 blasting machine; fires up to 4 electric caps, mfg. by E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Co., Wilmington, DE, oak dove-tailed cabinet, 6 1/4 in. H x 5 3/4 in. W x 6 in. D, marked on top DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE FIRES 1 TO 4 HOLES along with instructions on cranking and firing the machine, working condition with all original equipment and replacement leather strap [Background information on this blaster has proven to be quite a challenge. Hours of searching on google has produced but one reference to the Dupont No. 0 blasting machine in a table contained in the 1914 Handbook of Construction Plant by Dana. A 1911 Dupont blasting supplies catalog does not mention the No. 0 blaster. Thanks to my friend and explosives expert John Kynor, new information has come to light. A 1909 Dupont catalog obtained by John offers the No. 0 blaster. The page out of that catalog is shown at the end of the blaster pics. The No. 0 blaster is no longer offered by Dupont in the 1910 or later catalogs. The search continues for any earlier catalogs that might show the blaster. It is thought that Dupont for whatever reason only offered the No. 0 blaster for a very short period of time. One other No. 0 blaster is currently known to exist.) slides/Dupont No. 0 Blasting Machine LSide.jpg slides/Dupont No. 0 Blasting Machine RSide.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking wind-up Dupont No. 0 blasting machine; fires up to 4 electric caps, mfg. by E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Co., Wilmington, DE, oak dove-tailed cabinet, 6 1/4 in. H x 5 3/4 in. W x 6 in. D, marked on top DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE FIRES 1 TO 4 HOLES along with instructions on cranking and firing the machine, working condition with all original equipment and replacement leather strap [Background information on this blaster has proven to be quite a challenge. Hours of searching on google has produced but one reference to the Dupont No. 0 blasting machine in a table contained in the 1914 Handbook of Construction Plant by Dana. A 1911 Dupont blasting supplies catalog does not mention the No. 0 blaster. Thanks to my friend and explosives expert John Kynor, new information has come to light. A 1909 Dupont catalog obtained by John offers the No. 0 blaster. The page out of that catalog is shown at the end of the blaster pics. The No. 0 blaster is no longer offered by Dupont in the 1910 or later catalogs. The search continues for any earlier catalogs that might show the blaster. It is thought that Dupont for whatever reason only offered the No. 0 blaster for a very short period of time. One other No. 0 blaster is currently known to exist.) DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking wind-up Dupont No. 0 blasting machine; fires up to 4 electric caps, mfg. by E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Co., Wilmington, DE, oak dove-tailed cabinet, 6 1/4 in. H x 5 3/4 in. W x 6 in. D, marked on top DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE FIRES 1 TO 4 HOLES along with instructions on cranking and firing the machine, working condition with all original equipment and replacement leather strap [Background information on this blaster has proven to be quite a challenge. Hours of searching on google has produced but one reference to the Dupont No. 0 blasting machine in a table contained in the 1914 Handbook of Construction Plant by Dana. A 1911 Dupont blasting supplies catalog does not mention the No. 0 blaster. Thanks to my friend and explosives expert John Kynor, new information has come to light. A 1909 Dupont catalog obtained by John offers the No. 0 blaster. The page out of that catalog is shown at the end of the blaster pics. The No. 0 blaster is no longer offered by Dupont in the 1910 or later catalogs. The search continues for any earlier catalogs that might show the blaster. It is thought that Dupont for whatever reason only offered the No. 0 blaster for a very short period of time. One other No. 0 blaster is currently known to exist.) slides/Dupont No. 0 Blasting Machine RSide.jpg slides/Dupont No. 0 Blasting Machine Front.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking wind-up Dupont No. 0 blasting machine; fires up to 4 electric caps, mfg. by E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Co., Wilmington, DE, oak dove-tailed cabinet, 6 1/4 in. H x 5 3/4 in. W x 6 in. D, marked on top DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE FIRES 1 TO 4 HOLES along with instructions on cranking and firing the machine, working condition with all original equipment and replacement leather strap [Background information on this blaster has proven to be quite a challenge. Hours of searching on google has produced but one reference to the Dupont No. 0 blasting machine in a table contained in the 1914 Handbook of Construction Plant by Dana. A 1911 Dupont blasting supplies catalog does not mention the No. 0 blaster. Thanks to my friend and explosives expert John Kynor, new information has come to light. A 1909 Dupont catalog obtained by John offers the No. 0 blaster. The page out of that catalog is shown at the end of the blaster pics. The No. 0 blaster is no longer offered by Dupont in the 1910 or later catalogs. The search continues for any earlier catalogs that might show the blaster. It is thought that Dupont for whatever reason only offered the No. 0 blaster for a very short period of time. One other No. 0 blaster is currently known to exist.) DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking wind-up Dupont No. 0 blasting machine; fires up to 4 electric caps, mfg. by E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Co., Wilmington, DE, oak dove-tailed cabinet, 6 1/4 in. H x 5 3/4 in. W x 6 in. D, marked on top DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE FIRES 1 TO 4 HOLES along with instructions on cranking and firing the machine, working condition with all original equipment and replacement leather strap [Background information on this blaster has proven to be quite a challenge. Hours of searching on google has produced but one reference to the Dupont No. 0 blasting machine in a table contained in the 1914 Handbook of Construction Plant by Dana. A 1911 Dupont blasting supplies catalog does not mention the No. 0 blaster. Thanks to my friend and explosives expert John Kynor, new information has come to light. A 1909 Dupont catalog obtained by John offers the No. 0 blaster. The page out of that catalog is shown at the end of the blaster pics. The No. 0 blaster is no longer offered by Dupont in the 1910 or later catalogs. The search continues for any earlier catalogs that might show the blaster. It is thought that Dupont for whatever reason only offered the No. 0 blaster for a very short period of time. One other No. 0 blaster is currently known to exist.) slides/Dupont No. 0 Blasting Machine Front.jpg slides/Dupont No. 0 Blasting Machine Top Firing Button Covered.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking wind-up Dupont No. 0 blasting machine; fires up to 4 electric caps, mfg. by E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Co., Wilmington, DE, oak dove-tailed cabinet, 6 1/4 in. H x 5 3/4 in. W x 6 in. D, marked on top DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE FIRES 1 TO 4 HOLES along with instructions on cranking and firing the machine, working condition with all original equipment and replacement leather strap [Background information on this blaster has proven to be quite a challenge. Hours of searching on google has produced but one reference to the Dupont No. 0 blasting machine in a table contained in the 1914 Handbook of Construction Plant by Dana. A 1911 Dupont blasting supplies catalog does not mention the No. 0 blaster. Thanks to my friend and explosives expert John Kynor, new information has come to light. A 1909 Dupont catalog obtained by John offers the No. 0 blaster. The page out of that catalog is shown at the end of the blaster pics. The No. 0 blaster is no longer offered by Dupont in the 1910 or later catalogs. The search continues for any earlier catalogs that might show the blaster. It is thought that Dupont for whatever reason only offered the No. 0 blaster for a very short period of time. One other No. 0 blaster is currently known to exist.) DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking wind-up Dupont No. 0 blasting machine; fires up to 4 electric caps, mfg. by E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Co., Wilmington, DE, oak dove-tailed cabinet, 6 1/4 in. H x 5 3/4 in. W x 6 in. D, marked on top DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE FIRES 1 TO 4 HOLES along with instructions on cranking and firing the machine, working condition with all original equipment and replacement leather strap [Background information on this blaster has proven to be quite a challenge. Hours of searching on google has produced but one reference to the Dupont No. 0 blasting machine in a table contained in the 1914 Handbook of Construction Plant by Dana. A 1911 Dupont blasting supplies catalog does not mention the No. 0 blaster. Thanks to my friend and explosives expert John Kynor, new information has come to light. A 1909 Dupont catalog obtained by John offers the No. 0 blaster. The page out of that catalog is shown at the end of the blaster pics. The No. 0 blaster is no longer offered by Dupont in the 1910 or later catalogs. The search continues for any earlier catalogs that might show the blaster. It is thought that Dupont for whatever reason only offered the No. 0 blaster for a very short period of time. One other No. 0 blaster is currently known to exist.) slides/Dupont No. 0 Blasting Machine Top Firing Button Covered.jpg slides/Dupont No. 0 Blasting Machine Top Firing Button Uncovered.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking wind-up Dupont No. 0 blasting machine; fires up to 4 electric caps, mfg. by E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Co., Wilmington, DE, oak dove-tailed cabinet, 6 1/4 in. H x 5 3/4 in. W x 6 in. D, marked on top DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE FIRES 1 TO 4 HOLES along with instructions on cranking and firing the machine, working condition with all original equipment and replacement leather strap [Background information on this blaster has proven to be quite a challenge. Hours of searching on google has produced but one reference to the Dupont No. 0 blasting machine in a table contained in the 1914 Handbook of Construction Plant by Dana. A 1911 Dupont blasting supplies catalog does not mention the No. 0 blaster. Thanks to my friend and explosives expert John Kynor, new information has come to light. A 1909 Dupont catalog obtained by John offers the No. 0 blaster. The page out of that catalog is shown at the end of the blaster pics. The No. 0 blaster is no longer offered by Dupont in the 1910 or later catalogs. The search continues for any earlier catalogs that might show the blaster. It is thought that Dupont for whatever reason only offered the No. 0 blaster for a very short period of time. One other No. 0 blaster is currently known to exist.) DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking wind-up Dupont No. 0 blasting machine; fires up to 4 electric caps, mfg. by E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Co., Wilmington, DE, oak dove-tailed cabinet, 6 1/4 in. H x 5 3/4 in. W x 6 in. D, marked on top DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE FIRES 1 TO 4 HOLES along with instructions on cranking and firing the machine, working condition with all original equipment and replacement leather strap [Background information on this blaster has proven to be quite a challenge. Hours of searching on google has produced but one reference to the Dupont No. 0 blasting machine in a table contained in the 1914 Handbook of Construction Plant by Dana. A 1911 Dupont blasting supplies catalog does not mention the No. 0 blaster. Thanks to my friend and explosives expert John Kynor, new information has come to light. A 1909 Dupont catalog obtained by John offers the No. 0 blaster. The page out of that catalog is shown at the end of the blaster pics. The No. 0 blaster is no longer offered by Dupont in the 1910 or later catalogs. The search continues for any earlier catalogs that might show the blaster. It is thought that Dupont for whatever reason only offered the No. 0 blaster for a very short period of time. One other No. 0 blaster is currently known to exist.) slides/Dupont No. 0 Blasting Machine Top Firing Button Uncovered.jpg slides/Dupont No. 0 Blasting Machine Top Closeup.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking wind-up Dupont No. 0 blasting machine; fires up to 4 electric caps, mfg. by E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Co., Wilmington, DE, oak dove-tailed cabinet, 6 1/4 in. H x 5 3/4 in. W x 6 in. D, marked on top DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE FIRES 1 TO 4 HOLES along with instructions on cranking and firing the machine, working condition with all original equipment and replacement leather strap [Background information on this blaster has proven to be quite a challenge. Hours of searching on google has produced but one reference to the Dupont No. 0 blasting machine in a table contained in the 1914 Handbook of Construction Plant by Dana. A 1911 Dupont blasting supplies catalog does not mention the No. 0 blaster. Thanks to my friend and explosives expert John Kynor, new information has come to light. A 1909 Dupont catalog obtained by John offers the No. 0 blaster. The page out of that catalog is shown at the end of the blaster pics. The No. 0 blaster is no longer offered by Dupont in the 1910 or later catalogs. The search continues for any earlier catalogs that might show the blaster. It is thought that Dupont for whatever reason only offered the No. 0 blaster for a very short period of time. One other No. 0 blaster is currently known to exist.) DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking wind-up Dupont No. 0 blasting machine; fires up to 4 electric caps, mfg. by E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Co., Wilmington, DE, oak dove-tailed cabinet, 6 1/4 in. H x 5 3/4 in. W x 6 in. D, marked on top DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE FIRES 1 TO 4 HOLES along with instructions on cranking and firing the machine, working condition with all original equipment and replacement leather strap [Background information on this blaster has proven to be quite a challenge. Hours of searching on google has produced but one reference to the Dupont No. 0 blasting machine in a table contained in the 1914 Handbook of Construction Plant by Dana. A 1911 Dupont blasting supplies catalog does not mention the No. 0 blaster. Thanks to my friend and explosives expert John Kynor, new information has come to light. A 1909 Dupont catalog obtained by John offers the No. 0 blaster. The page out of that catalog is shown at the end of the blaster pics. The No. 0 blaster is no longer offered by Dupont in the 1910 or later catalogs. The search continues for any earlier catalogs that might show the blaster. It is thought that Dupont for whatever reason only offered the No. 0 blaster for a very short period of time. One other No. 0 blaster is currently known to exist.) slides/Dupont No. 0 Blasting Machine Top Closeup.jpg slides/Dupont No. 0 Blasting Machine Top Marking.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking wind-up Dupont No. 0 blasting machine; fires up to 4 electric caps, mfg. by E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Co., Wilmington, DE, oak dove-tailed cabinet, 6 1/4 in. H x 5 3/4 in. W x 6 in. D, marked on top DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE FIRES 1 TO 4 HOLES along with instructions on cranking and firing the machine, working condition with all original equipment and replacement leather strap [Background information on this blaster has proven to be quite a challenge. Hours of searching on google has produced but one reference to the Dupont No. 0 blasting machine in a table contained in the 1914 Handbook of Construction Plant by Dana. A 1911 Dupont blasting supplies catalog does not mention the No. 0 blaster. Thanks to my friend and explosives expert John Kynor, new information has come to light. A 1909 Dupont catalog obtained by John offers the No. 0 blaster. The page out of that catalog is shown at the end of the blaster pics. The No. 0 blaster is no longer offered by Dupont in the 1910 or later catalogs. The search continues for any earlier catalogs that might show the blaster. It is thought that Dupont for whatever reason only offered the No. 0 blaster for a very short period of time. One other No. 0 blaster is currently known to exist.) DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking wind-up Dupont No. 0 blasting machine; fires up to 4 electric caps, mfg. by E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Co., Wilmington, DE, oak dove-tailed cabinet, 6 1/4 in. H x 5 3/4 in. W x 6 in. D, marked on top DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE FIRES 1 TO 4 HOLES along with instructions on cranking and firing the machine, working condition with all original equipment and replacement leather strap [Background information on this blaster has proven to be quite a challenge. Hours of searching on google has produced but one reference to the Dupont No. 0 blasting machine in a table contained in the 1914 Handbook of Construction Plant by Dana. A 1911 Dupont blasting supplies catalog does not mention the No. 0 blaster. Thanks to my friend and explosives expert John Kynor, new information has come to light. A 1909 Dupont catalog obtained by John offers the No. 0 blaster. The page out of that catalog is shown at the end of the blaster pics. The No. 0 blaster is no longer offered by Dupont in the 1910 or later catalogs. The search continues for any earlier catalogs that might show the blaster. It is thought that Dupont for whatever reason only offered the No. 0 blaster for a very short period of time. One other No. 0 blaster is currently known to exist.) slides/Dupont No. 0 Blasting Machine Top Marking.jpg slides/DuPont No. 0 Blaster Shown in 1909 DuPont Catalog.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE AD IN 1909 CATALOG - Rare cranking wind-up Dupont No. 0 blasting machine; fires up to 4 electric caps, mfg. by E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Co., Wilmington, DE, oak dove-tailed cabinet, 6 1/4 in. H x 5 3/4 in. W x 6 in. D, marked on top DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE FIRES 1 TO 4 HOLES along with instructions on cranking and firing the machine, working condition with all original equipment and replacement leather strap [Background information on this blaster has proven to be quite a challenge. Hours of searching on google has produced but one reference to the Dupont No. 0 blasting machine in a table contained in the 1914 Handbook of Construction Plant by Dana. A 1911 Dupont blasting supplies catalog does not mention the No. 0 blaster. Thanks to my friend and explosives expert John Kynor, new information has come to light. A 1909 Dupont catalog obtained by John offers the No. 0 blaster. The page out of that catalog is shown here. The No. 0 blaster is no longer offered by Dupont in the 1910 or later catalogs. The search continues for any earlier catalogs that might show the blaster. It is thought that Dupont for whatever reason only offered the No. 0 blaster for a very short period of time. One other No. 0 blaster is currently known to exist.) DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE AD IN 1909 CATALOG - Rare cranking wind-up Dupont No. 0 blasting machine; fires up to 4 electric caps, mfg. by E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Co., Wilmington, DE, oak dove-tailed cabinet, 6 1/4 in. H x 5 3/4 in. W x 6 in. D, marked on top DUPONT NO. 0 BLASTING MACHINE FIRES 1 TO 4 HOLES along with instructions on cranking and firing the machine, working condition with all original equipment and replacement leather strap [Background information on this blaster has proven to be quite a challenge. Hours of searching on google has produced but one reference to the Dupont No. 0 blasting machine in a table contained in the 1914 Handbook of Construction Plant by Dana. A 1911 Dupont blasting supplies catalog does not mention the No. 0 blaster. Thanks to my friend and explosives expert John Kynor, new information has come to light. A 1909 Dupont catalog obtained by John offers the No. 0 blaster. The page out of that catalog is shown here. The No. 0 blaster is no longer offered by Dupont in the 1910 or later catalogs. The search continues for any earlier catalogs that might show the blaster. It is thought that Dupont for whatever reason only offered the No. 0 blaster for a very short period of time. One other No. 0 blaster is currently known to exist.) slides/DuPont No. 0 Blaster Shown in 1909 DuPont Catalog.jpg slides/Dupont Blue 100 X 5.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT 100 X 5 - Rare ight blue and white rectangular Dupont 100 No. 5 caps, 2 1/2 x 2 1/8 x 1 3/8 in. high, 1905-1920, shown in 1911 Dupont catalog, crimped bottom, this tin was formerly in the collection of the noted late Colorado artist George Foott and was used by George as a prop in his fabulous mining scene paintings (Dupont was founded by Eleuthere Irenee Dupont de Nemours, or E.I. Dupont, a French refugee who came to the U.S. in 1800 to escape growing instabilities in France. Two years later, Dupont opened a gunpowder factory near Wilmington, Delaware that transformed a burned out, abandoned cotton mill into a complex of isolated powder making shops known as the Eleutherian Mills . By early 1804, he was turning out the highest quality powder in America. Although a few domestic powder plants existed in 18th century America, most of it was imported. The French, sharing a dislike for the British, and holding a claim on much of the North American continent, furnished 90% of the powder that enabled America to gain independence in the Revolution. Eleuthere Dupont can attribute the initial success of his venture to his training in explosives manufacture in France (under the renowned chemist, Lavoisier, who was superintendent of the French government’s gunpowder plant), financing from his father’s contacts, and the good fortune to be in production at the time of Jefferson’s 1807 embargo of trade with Europe, the only other source of quality powders. By 1811, the Dupont mills were the largest mills in America. When Dupont died in 1834, his two sons Alfred and Henry took over the business. At the time of his death, the plant produced a million pounds of powder for the first time. In the Civil War it was protected by Union troops, and was the largest supplier of powder for their cause. Throughout the 1800s, the company diversified into other explosive materials such as dynamite, nitroglycerine, guncotton and smokeless powder, building plants and acquiring smaller companies. In 1867, Alfred Nobel patented dynamite, a stable form of formerly unstable nitroglycerine. The improvements this brought with it changed not just the explosives industry, but industries of all kinds. Gunpowder, or “black powder,” which is what was made at Eleutherian Mills, only burns when ignited. This works fine for cannons and guns, but for tearing up the earth, it has its limitations. Dynamite detonates. Immediately following its introduction into the US, transportation projects accelerated, mining projects multiplied their output, and new materials, previously inextractable, became available, creating new industries and products. Lammot Dupont, grandson of the company’s founder, led the company into dynamite production, building a new plant for it in Repauno, New Jersey. In 1884, an explosion at the plant killed Lammot and five others but the plant remained. By the turn of the century, Dupont dominated the U.S. explosives market. But an antitrust ruling during the Teddy Roosevelt administration forced the company to divest some of its dynamite and black powder business in 1912 into two spin-offs, Atlas and Hercules. Nevertheless, Dupont remained a force in the explosives industry, and the outbreak of World War I resulted in a profits windfall for the company. It’s estimated that Dupont supplied Allied forces with as much as 40 percent of the explosive material used in the production of munitions during World War I. After the war, the company used the influx of cash from its government ties to expand into new industries. In 1902, with the death of Eugene Dupont, 100 years of dynastic family control ended, and the family partners put the company up for sale. Though it was bought by a new group of Duponts, the company began a drastic transformation, and was reorganized into a more modern, diversified company. Research facilities were established to investigate new product lines that lead to rayon, nylon, teflon and dacron. The increasingly antiquated Eleutherian Mills, still producing black powder, finally became obsolete, and closed in 1921. During 117 years of operation, the Eleutherian Mills exploded hundreds of times killing over 200 workers. After each explosion, the damaged parts of the plant were rebuilt, and production resumed. By 1971, black powder was a very minor product in the world, used mostly by historical reenactments, and Dupont stopped making it altogether. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 174-218) DUPONT 100 X 5 - Rare ight blue and white rectangular Dupont 100 No. 5 caps, 2 1/2 x 2 1/8 x 1 3/8 in. high, 1905-1920, shown in 1911 Dupont catalog, crimped bottom, this tin was formerly in the collection of the noted late Colorado artist George Foott and was used by George as a prop in his fabulous mining scene paintings (Dupont was founded by Eleuthere Irenee Dupont de Nemours, or E.I. Dupont, a French refugee who came to the U.S. in 1800 to escape growing instabilities in France. Two years later, Dupont opened a gunpowder factory near Wilmington, Delaware that transformed a burned out, abandoned cotton mill into a complex of isolated powder making shops known as the Eleutherian Mills . By early 1804, he was turning out the highest quality powder in America. Although a few domestic powder plants existed in 18th century America, most of it was imported. The French, sharing a dislike for the British, and holding a claim on much of the North American continent, furnished 90% of the powder that enabled America to gain independence in the Revolution. Eleuthere Dupont can attribute the initial success of his venture to his training in explosives manufacture in France (under the renowned chemist, Lavoisier, who was superintendent of the French government’s gunpowder plant), financing from his father’s contacts, and the good fortune to be in production at the time of Jefferson’s 1807 embargo of trade with Europe, the only other source of quality powders. By 1811, the Dupont mills were the largest mills in America. When Dupont died in 1834, his two sons Alfred and Henry took over the business. At the time of his death, the plant produced a million pounds of powder for the first time. In the Civil War it was protected by Union troops, and was the largest supplier of powder for their cause. Throughout the 1800s, the company diversified into other explosive materials such as dynamite, nitroglycerine, guncotton and smokeless powder, building plants and acquiring smaller companies. In 1867, Alfred Nobel patented dynamite, a stable form of formerly unstable nitroglycerine. The improvements this brought with it changed not just the explosives industry, but industries of all kinds. Gunpowder, or “black powder,” which is what was made at Eleutherian Mills, only burns when ignited. This works fine for cannons and guns, but for tearing up the earth, it has its limitations. Dynamite detonates. Immediately following its introduction into the US, transportation projects accelerated, mining projects multiplied their output, and new materials, previously inextractable, became available, creating new industries and products. Lammot Dupont, grandson of the company’s founder, led the company into dynamite production, building a new plant for it in Repauno, New Jersey. In 1884, an explosion at the plant killed Lammot and five others but the plant remained. By the turn of the century, Dupont dominated the U.S. explosives market. But an antitrust ruling during the Teddy Roosevelt administration forced the company to divest some of its dynamite and black powder business in 1912 into two spin-offs, Atlas and Hercules. Nevertheless, Dupont remained a force in the explosives industry, and the outbreak of World War I resulted in a profits windfall for the company. It’s estimated that Dupont supplied Allied forces with as much as 40 percent of the explosive material used in the production of munitions during World War I. After the war, the company used the influx of cash from its government ties to expand into new industries. In 1902, with the death of Eugene Dupont, 100 years of dynastic family control ended, and the family partners put the company up for sale. Though it was bought by a new group of Duponts, the company began a drastic transformation, and was reorganized into a more modern, diversified company. Research facilities were established to investigate new product lines that lead to rayon, nylon, teflon and dacron. The increasingly antiquated Eleutherian Mills, still producing black powder, finally became obsolete, and closed in 1921. During 117 years of operation, the Eleutherian Mills exploded hundreds of times killing over 200 workers. After each explosion, the damaged parts of the plant were rebuilt, and production resumed. By 1971, black powder was a very minor product in the world, used mostly by historical reenactments, and Dupont stopped making it altogether. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 174-218) slides/Dupont Blue 100 X 5.jpg slides/DuPont Caps 100 x 6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT 100 X 6 - Deep red and white rectangular Dupont 100 No. 6 caps, 2 5/8 x 2 3/8 x 1 5/8 in. high, 1905-1920, shown in 1911 and 1917 Dupont catalogs, crimped bottom (Dupont was founded by Eleuthere Irenee Dupont de Nemours, or E.I. Dupont, a French refugee who came to the U.S. in 1800 to escape growing instabilities in France. Two years later, Dupont opened a gunpowder factory near Wilmington, Delaware that transformed a burned out, abandoned cotton mill into a complex of isolated powder making shops known as the Eleutherian Mills . By early 1804, he was turning out the highest quality powder in America. Although a few domestic powder plants existed in 18th century America, most of it was imported. The French, sharing a dislike for the British, and holding a claim on much of the North American continent, furnished 90% of the powder that enabled America to gain independence in the Revolution. Eleuthere Dupont can attribute the initial success of his venture to his training in explosives manufacture in France (under the renowned chemist, Lavoisier, who was superintendent of the French government’s gunpowder plant), financing from his father’s contacts, and the good fortune to be in production at the time of Jefferson’s 1807 embargo of trade with Europe, the only other source of quality powders. By 1811, the Dupont mills were the largest mills in America. When Dupont died in 1834, his two sons Alfred and Henry took over the business. At the time of his death, the plant produced a million pounds of powder for the first time. In the Civil War it was protected by Union troops, and was the largest supplier of powder for their cause. Throughout the 1800s, the company diversified into other explosive materials such as dynamite, nitroglycerine, guncotton and smokeless powder, building plants and acquiring smaller companies. In 1867, Alfred Nobel patented dynamite, a stable form of formerly unstable nitroglycerine. The improvements this brought with it changed not just the explosives industry, but industries of all kinds. Gunpowder, or “black powder,” which is what was made at Eleutherian Mills, only burns when ignited. This works fine for cannons and guns, but for tearing up the earth, it has its limitations. Dynamite detonates. Immediately following its introduction into the US, transportation projects accelerated, mining projects multiplied their output, and new materials, previously inextractable, became available, creating new industries and products. Lammot Dupont, grandson of the company’s founder, led the company into dynamite production, building a new plant for it in Repauno, New Jersey. In 1884, an explosion at the plant killed Lammot and five others but the plant remained. By the turn of the century, Dupont dominated the U.S. explosives market. But an antitrust ruling during the Teddy Roosevelt administration forced the company to divest some of its dynamite and black powder business in 1912 into two spin-offs, Atlas and Hercules. Nevertheless, Dupont remained a force in the explosives industry, and the outbreak of World War I resulted in a profits windfall for the company. It’s estimated that Dupont supplied Allied forces with as much as 40 percent of the explosive material used in the production of munitions during World War I. After the war, the company used the influx of cash from its government ties to expand into new industries. In 1902, with the death of Eugene Dupont, 100 years of dynastic family control ended, and the family partners put the company up for sale. Though it was bought by a new group of Duponts, the company began a drastic transformation, and was reorganized into a more modern, diversified company. Research facilities were established to investigate new product lines that lead to rayon, nylon, teflon and dacron. The increasingly antiquated Eleutherian Mills, still producing black powder, finally became obsolete, and closed in 1921. During 117 years of operation, the Eleutherian Mills exploded hundreds of times killing over 200 workers. After each explosion, the damaged parts of the plant were rebuilt, and production resumed. By 1971, black powder was a very minor product in the world, used mostly by historical reenactments, and Dupont stopped making it altogether. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 174-218) DUPONT 100 X 6 - Deep red and white rectangular Dupont 100 No. 6 caps, 2 5/8 x 2 3/8 x 1 5/8 in. high, 1905-1920, shown in 1911 and 1917 Dupont catalogs, crimped bottom (Dupont was founded by Eleuthere Irenee Dupont de Nemours, or E.I. Dupont, a French refugee who came to the U.S. in 1800 to escape growing instabilities in France. Two years later, Dupont opened a gunpowder factory near Wilmington, Delaware that transformed a burned out, abandoned cotton mill into a complex of isolated powder making shops known as the Eleutherian Mills . By early 1804, he was turning out the highest quality powder in America. Although a few domestic powder plants existed in 18th century America, most of it was imported. The French, sharing a dislike for the British, and holding a claim on much of the North American continent, furnished 90% of the powder that enabled America to gain independence in the Revolution. Eleuthere Dupont can attribute the initial success of his venture to his training in explosives manufacture in France (under the renowned chemist, Lavoisier, who was superintendent of the French government’s gunpowder plant), financing from his father’s contacts, and the good fortune to be in production at the time of Jefferson’s 1807 embargo of trade with Europe, the only other source of quality powders. By 1811, the Dupont mills were the largest mills in America. When Dupont died in 1834, his two sons Alfred and Henry took over the business. At the time of his death, the plant produced a million pounds of powder for the first time. In the Civil War it was protected by Union troops, and was the largest supplier of powder for their cause. Throughout the 1800s, the company diversified into other explosive materials such as dynamite, nitroglycerine, guncotton and smokeless powder, building plants and acquiring smaller companies. In 1867, Alfred Nobel patented dynamite, a stable form of formerly unstable nitroglycerine. The improvements this brought with it changed not just the explosives industry, but industries of all kinds. Gunpowder, or “black powder,” which is what was made at Eleutherian Mills, only burns when ignited. This works fine for cannons and guns, but for tearing up the earth, it has its limitations. Dynamite detonates. Immediately following its introduction into the US, transportation projects accelerated, mining projects multiplied their output, and new materials, previously inextractable, became available, creating new industries and products. Lammot Dupont, grandson of the company’s founder, led the company into dynamite production, building a new plant for it in Repauno, New Jersey. In 1884, an explosion at the plant killed Lammot and five others but the plant remained. By the turn of the century, Dupont dominated the U.S. explosives market. But an antitrust ruling during the Teddy Roosevelt administration forced the company to divest some of its dynamite and black powder business in 1912 into two spin-offs, Atlas and Hercules. Nevertheless, Dupont remained a force in the explosives industry, and the outbreak of World War I resulted in a profits windfall for the company. It’s estimated that Dupont supplied Allied forces with as much as 40 percent of the explosive material used in the production of munitions during World War I. After the war, the company used the influx of cash from its government ties to expand into new industries. In 1902, with the death of Eugene Dupont, 100 years of dynastic family control ended, and the family partners put the company up for sale. Though it was bought by a new group of Duponts, the company began a drastic transformation, and was reorganized into a more modern, diversified company. Research facilities were established to investigate new product lines that lead to rayon, nylon, teflon and dacron. The increasingly antiquated Eleutherian Mills, still producing black powder, finally became obsolete, and closed in 1921. During 117 years of operation, the Eleutherian Mills exploded hundreds of times killing over 200 workers. After each explosion, the damaged parts of the plant were rebuilt, and production resumed. By 1971, black powder was a very minor product in the world, used mostly by historical reenactments, and Dupont stopped making it altogether. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 174-218) slides/DuPont Caps 100 x 6.jpg slides/DuPont 100x6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT 100 X 6 - DuPont red/white rectangular 100 No. 6 cap tin, 2 5/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. x 1 9/16 in. high; acquired from Charlie Smith, Milton-Freewater, OR (Dupont was founded by Eleuthere Irenee Dupont de Nemours, or E.I. Dupont, a French refugee who came to the U.S. in 1800 to escape growing instabilities in France. Two years later, Dupont opened a gunpowder factory near Wilmington, Delaware that transformed a burned out, abandoned cotton mill into a complex of isolated powder making shops known as the Eleutherian Mills . By early 1804, he was turning out the highest quality powder in America. Although a few domestic powder plants existed in 18th century America, most of it was imported. The French, sharing a dislike for the British, and holding a claim on much of the North American continent, furnished 90% of the powder that enabled America to gain independence in the Revolution. Eleuthere Dupont can attribute the initial success of his venture to his training in explosives manufacture in France (under the renowned chemist, Lavoisier, who was superintendent of the French government’s gunpowder plant), financing from his father’s contacts, and the good fortune to be in production at the time of Jefferson’s 1807 embargo of trade with Europe, the only other source of quality powders. By 1811, the Dupont mills were the largest mills in America. When Dupont died in 1834, his two sons Alfred and Henry took over the business. At the time of his death, the plant produced a million pounds of powder for the first time. In the Civil War it was protected by Union troops, and was the largest supplier of powder for their cause. Throughout the 1800s, the company diversified into other explosive materials such as dynamite, nitroglycerine, guncotton and smokeless powder, building plants and acquiring smaller companies. In 1867, Alfred Nobel patented dynamite, a stable form of formerly unstable nitroglycerine. The improvements this brought with it changed not just the explosives industry, but industries of all kinds. Gunpowder, or “black powder,” which is what was made at Eleutherian Mills, only burns when ignited. This works fine for cannons and guns, but for tearing up the earth, it has its limitations. Dynamite detonates. Immediately following its introduction into the US, transportation projects accelerated, mining projects multiplied their output, and new materials, previously inextractable, became available, creating new industries and products. Lammot Dupont, grandson of the company’s founder, led the company into dynamite production, building a new plant for it in Repauno, New Jersey. In 1884, an explosion at the plant killed Lammot and five others but the plant remained. By the turn of the century, Dupont dominated the U.S. explosives market. But an antitrust ruling during the Teddy Roosevelt administration forced the company to divest some of its dynamite and black powder business in 1912 into two spin-offs, Atlas and Hercules. Nevertheless, Dupont remained a force in the explosives industry, and the outbreak of World War I resulted in a profits windfall for the company. It’s estimated that Dupont supplied Allied forces with as much as 40 percent of the explosive material used in the production of munitions during World War I. After the war, the company used the influx of cash from its government ties to expand into new industries. In 1902, with the death of Eugene Dupont, 100 years of dynastic family control ended, and the family partners put the company up for sale. Though it was bought by a new group of Duponts, the company began a drastic transformation, and was reorganized into a more modern, diversified company. Research facilities were established to investigate new product lines that lead to rayon, nylon, teflon and dacron. The increasingly antiquated Eleutherian Mills, still producing black powder, finally became obsolete, and closed in 1921. During 117 years of operation, the Eleutherian Mills exploded hundreds of times killing over 200 workers. After each explosion, the damaged parts of the plant were rebuilt, and production resumed. By 1971, black powder was a very minor product in the world, used mostly by historical reenactments, and Dupont stopped making it altogether. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 174-218) DUPONT 100 X 6 - DuPont red/white rectangular 100 No. 6 cap tin, 2 5/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. x 1 9/16 in. high; acquired from Charlie Smith, Milton-Freewater, OR (Dupont was founded by Eleuthere Irenee Dupont de Nemours, or E.I. Dupont, a French refugee who came to the U.S. in 1800 to escape growing instabilities in France. Two years later, Dupont opened a gunpowder factory near Wilmington, Delaware that transformed a burned out, abandoned cotton mill into a complex of isolated powder making shops known as the Eleutherian Mills . By early 1804, he was turning out the highest quality powder in America. Although a few domestic powder plants existed in 18th century America, most of it was imported. The French, sharing a dislike for the British, and holding a claim on much of the North American continent, furnished 90% of the powder that enabled America to gain independence in the Revolution. Eleuthere Dupont can attribute the initial success of his venture to his training in explosives manufacture in France (under the renowned chemist, Lavoisier, who was superintendent of the French government’s gunpowder plant), financing from his father’s contacts, and the good fortune to be in production at the time of Jefferson’s 1807 embargo of trade with Europe, the only other source of quality powders. By 1811, the Dupont mills were the largest mills in America. When Dupont died in 1834, his two sons Alfred and Henry took over the business. At the time of his death, the plant produced a million pounds of powder for the first time. In the Civil War it was protected by Union troops, and was the largest supplier of powder for their cause. Throughout the 1800s, the company diversified into other explosive materials such as dynamite, nitroglycerine, guncotton and smokeless powder, building plants and acquiring smaller companies. In 1867, Alfred Nobel patented dynamite, a stable form of formerly unstable nitroglycerine. The improvements this brought with it changed not just the explosives industry, but industries of all kinds. Gunpowder, or “black powder,” which is what was made at Eleutherian Mills, only burns when ignited. This works fine for cannons and guns, but for tearing up the earth, it has its limitations. Dynamite detonates. Immediately following its introduction into the US, transportation projects accelerated, mining projects multiplied their output, and new materials, previously inextractable, became available, creating new industries and products. Lammot Dupont, grandson of the company’s founder, led the company into dynamite production, building a new plant for it in Repauno, New Jersey. In 1884, an explosion at the plant killed Lammot and five others but the plant remained. By the turn of the century, Dupont dominated the U.S. explosives market. But an antitrust ruling during the Teddy Roosevelt administration forced the company to divest some of its dynamite and black powder business in 1912 into two spin-offs, Atlas and Hercules. Nevertheless, Dupont remained a force in the explosives industry, and the outbreak of World War I resulted in a profits windfall for the company. It’s estimated that Dupont supplied Allied forces with as much as 40 percent of the explosive material used in the production of munitions during World War I. After the war, the company used the influx of cash from its government ties to expand into new industries. In 1902, with the death of Eugene Dupont, 100 years of dynastic family control ended, and the family partners put the company up for sale. Though it was bought by a new group of Duponts, the company began a drastic transformation, and was reorganized into a more modern, diversified company. Research facilities were established to investigate new product lines that lead to rayon, nylon, teflon and dacron. The increasingly antiquated Eleutherian Mills, still producing black powder, finally became obsolete, and closed in 1921. During 117 years of operation, the Eleutherian Mills exploded hundreds of times killing over 200 workers. After each explosion, the damaged parts of the plant were rebuilt, and production resumed. By 1971, black powder was a very minor product in the world, used mostly by historical reenactments, and Dupont stopped making it altogether. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 174-218) slides/DuPont 100x6.jpg slides/DuPont Green 100 x 8.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT 100 X 8 - Green and white Dupont 100 No. 8 caps, 2 5/8 x 2 1/4 x 1 15/16 in. high, marked REG U.S. PAT. OFF below DUPONT oval and U.S. PAT No. 1,964,825 above oval; acquired from Melody Kahtava, Peyton, CO (Dupont was founded by Eleuthere Irenee Dupont de Nemours, or E.I. Dupont, a French refugee who came to the U.S. in 1800 to escape growing instabilities in France. Two years later, Dupont opened a gunpowder factory near Wilmington, Delaware that transformed a burned out, abandoned cotton mill into a complex of isolated powder making shops known as the Eleutherian Mills . By early 1804, he was turning out the highest quality powder in America. Although a few domestic powder plants existed in 18th century America, most of it was imported. The French, sharing a dislike for the British, and holding a claim on much of the North American continent, furnished 90% of the powder that enabled America to gain independence in the Revolution. Eleuthere Dupont can attribute the initial success of his venture to his training in explosives manufacture in France (under the renowned chemist, Lavoisier, who was superintendent of the French government’s gunpowder plant), financing from his father’s contacts, and the good fortune to be in production at the time of Jefferson’s 1807 embargo of trade with Europe, the only other source of quality powders. By 1811, the Dupont mills were the largest mills in America. When Dupont died in 1834, his two sons Alfred and Henry took over the business. At the time of his death, the plant produced a million pounds of powder for the first time. In the Civil War it was protected by Union troops, and was the largest supplier of powder for their cause. Throughout the 1800s, the company diversified into other explosive materials such as dynamite, nitroglycerine, guncotton and smokeless powder, building plants and acquiring smaller companies. In 1867, Alfred Nobel patented dynamite, a stable form of formerly unstable nitroglycerine. The improvements this brought with it changed not just the explosives industry, but industries of all kinds. Gunpowder, or “black powder,” which is what was made at Eleutherian Mills, only burns when ignited. This works fine for cannons and guns, but for tearing up the earth, it has its limitations. Dynamite detonates. Immediately following its introduction into the US, transportation projects accelerated, mining projects multiplied their output, and new materials, previously inextractable, became available, creating new industries and products. Lammot Dupont, grandson of the company’s founder, led the company into dynamite production, building a new plant for it in Repauno, New Jersey. In 1884, an explosion at the plant killed Lammot and five others but the plant remained. By the turn of the century, Dupont dominated the U.S. explosives market. But an antitrust ruling during the Teddy Roosevelt administration forced the company to divest some of its dynamite and black powder business in 1912 into two spin-offs, Atlas and Hercules. Nevertheless, Dupont remained a force in the explosives industry, and the outbreak of World War I resulted in a profits windfall for the company. It’s estimated that Dupont supplied Allied forces with as much as 40 percent of the explosive material used in the production of munitions during World War I. After the war, the company used the influx of cash from its government ties to expand into new industries. In 1902, with the death of Eugene Dupont, 100 years of dynastic family control ended, and the family partners put the company up for sale. Though it was bought by a new group of Duponts, the company began a drastic transformation, and was reorganized into a more modern, diversified company. Research facilities were established to investigate new product lines that lead to rayon, nylon, teflon and dacron. The increasingly antiquated Eleutherian Mills, still producing black powder, finally became obsolete, and closed in 1921. During 117 years of operation, the Eleutherian Mills exploded hundreds of times killing over 200 workers. After each explosion, the damaged parts of the plant were rebuilt, and production resumed. By 1971, black powder was a very minor product in the world, used mostly by historical reenactments, and Dupont stopped making it altogether. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 174-218) DUPONT 100 X 8 - Green and white Dupont 100 No. 8 caps, 2 5/8 x 2 1/4 x 1 15/16 in. high, marked REG U.S. PAT. OFF below DUPONT oval and U.S. PAT No. 1,964,825 above oval; acquired from Melody Kahtava, Peyton, CO (Dupont was founded by Eleuthere Irenee Dupont de Nemours, or E.I. Dupont, a French refugee who came to the U.S. in 1800 to escape growing instabilities in France. Two years later, Dupont opened a gunpowder factory near Wilmington, Delaware that transformed a burned out, abandoned cotton mill into a complex of isolated powder making shops known as the Eleutherian Mills . By early 1804, he was turning out the highest quality powder in America. Although a few domestic powder plants existed in 18th century America, most of it was imported. The French, sharing a dislike for the British, and holding a claim on much of the North American continent, furnished 90% of the powder that enabled America to gain independence in the Revolution. Eleuthere Dupont can attribute the initial success of his venture to his training in explosives manufacture in France (under the renowned chemist, Lavoisier, who was superintendent of the French government’s gunpowder plant), financing from his father’s contacts, and the good fortune to be in production at the time of Jefferson’s 1807 embargo of trade with Europe, the only other source of quality powders. By 1811, the Dupont mills were the largest mills in America. When Dupont died in 1834, his two sons Alfred and Henry took over the business. At the time of his death, the plant produced a million pounds of powder for the first time. In the Civil War it was protected by Union troops, and was the largest supplier of powder for their cause. Throughout the 1800s, the company diversified into other explosive materials such as dynamite, nitroglycerine, guncotton and smokeless powder, building plants and acquiring smaller companies. In 1867, Alfred Nobel patented dynamite, a stable form of formerly unstable nitroglycerine. The improvements this brought with it changed not just the explosives industry, but industries of all kinds. Gunpowder, or “black powder,” which is what was made at Eleutherian Mills, only burns when ignited. This works fine for cannons and guns, but for tearing up the earth, it has its limitations. Dynamite detonates. Immediately following its introduction into the US, transportation projects accelerated, mining projects multiplied their output, and new materials, previously inextractable, became available, creating new industries and products. Lammot Dupont, grandson of the company’s founder, led the company into dynamite production, building a new plant for it in Repauno, New Jersey. In 1884, an explosion at the plant killed Lammot and five others but the plant remained. By the turn of the century, Dupont dominated the U.S. explosives market. But an antitrust ruling during the Teddy Roosevelt administration forced the company to divest some of its dynamite and black powder business in 1912 into two spin-offs, Atlas and Hercules. Nevertheless, Dupont remained a force in the explosives industry, and the outbreak of World War I resulted in a profits windfall for the company. It’s estimated that Dupont supplied Allied forces with as much as 40 percent of the explosive material used in the production of munitions during World War I. After the war, the company used the influx of cash from its government ties to expand into new industries. In 1902, with the death of Eugene Dupont, 100 years of dynastic family control ended, and the family partners put the company up for sale. Though it was bought by a new group of Duponts, the company began a drastic transformation, and was reorganized into a more modern, diversified company. Research facilities were established to investigate new product lines that lead to rayon, nylon, teflon and dacron. The increasingly antiquated Eleutherian Mills, still producing black powder, finally became obsolete, and closed in 1921. During 117 years of operation, the Eleutherian Mills exploded hundreds of times killing over 200 workers. After each explosion, the damaged parts of the plant were rebuilt, and production resumed. By 1971, black powder was a very minor product in the world, used mostly by historical reenactments, and Dupont stopped making it altogether. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 174-218) slides/DuPont Green 100 x 8.jpg slides/DuPont 25x6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT 25 X 6 - DuPont red/white rectangular 25 No. 6 cap tin, 1 3/8 in. x 1 1/8 in. x 1 5/8 in. high (Dupont was founded by Eleuthere Irenee Dupont de Nemours, or E.I. Dupont, a French refugee who came to the U.S. in 1800 to escape growing instabilities in France. Two years later, Dupont opened a gunpowder factory near Wilmington, Delaware that transformed a burned out, abandoned cotton mill into a complex of isolated powder making shops known as the Eleutherian Mills . By early 1804, he was turning out the highest quality powder in America. Although a few domestic powder plants existed in 18th century America, most of it was imported. The French, sharing a dislike for the British, and holding a claim on much of the North American continent, furnished 90% of the powder that enabled America to gain independence in the Revolution. Eleuthere Dupont can attribute the initial success of his venture to his training in explosives manufacture in France (under the renowned chemist, Lavoisier, who was superintendent of the French government’s gunpowder plant), financing from his father’s contacts, and the good fortune to be in production at the time of Jefferson’s 1807 embargo of trade with Europe, the only other source of quality powders. By 1811, the Dupont mills were the largest mills in America. When Dupont died in 1834, his two sons Alfred and Henry took over the business. At the time of his death, the plant produced a million pounds of powder for the first time. In the Civil War it was protected by Union troops, and was the largest supplier of powder for their cause. Throughout the 1800s, the company diversified into other explosive materials such as dynamite, nitroglycerine, guncotton and smokeless powder, building plants and acquiring smaller companies. In 1867, Alfred Nobel patented dynamite, a stable form of formerly unstable nitroglycerine. The improvements this brought with it changed not just the explosives industry, but industries of all kinds. Gunpowder, or “black powder,” which is what was made at Eleutherian Mills, only burns when ignited. This works fine for cannons and guns, but for tearing up the earth, it has its limitations. Dynamite detonates. Immediately following its introduction into the US, transportation projects accelerated, mining projects multiplied their output, and new materials, previously inextractable, became available, creating new industries and products. Lammot Dupont, grandson of the company’s founder, led the company into dynamite production, building a new plant for it in Repauno, New Jersey. In 1884, an explosion at the plant killed Lammot and five others but the plant remained. By the turn of the century, Dupont dominated the U.S. explosives market. But an antitrust ruling during the Teddy Roosevelt administration forced the company to divest some of its dynamite and black powder business in 1912 into two spin-offs, Atlas and Hercules. Nevertheless, Dupont remained a force in the explosives industry, and the outbreak of World War I resulted in a profits windfall for the company. It’s estimated that Dupont supplied Allied forces with as much as 40 percent of the explosive material used in the production of munitions during World War I. After the war, the company used the influx of cash from its government ties to expand into new industries. In 1902, with the death of Eugene Dupont, 100 years of dynastic family control ended, and the family partners put the company up for sale. Though it was bought by a new group of Duponts, the company began a drastic transformation, and was reorganized into a more modern, diversified company. Research facilities were established to investigate new product lines that lead to rayon, nylon, teflon and dacron. The increasingly antiquated Eleutherian Mills, still producing black powder, finally became obsolete, and closed in 1921. During 117 years of operation, the Eleutherian Mills exploded hundreds of times killing over 200 workers. After each explosion, the damaged parts of the plant were rebuilt, and production resumed. By 1971, black powder was a very minor product in the world, used mostly by historical reenactments, and Dupont stopped making it altogether. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 174-218) DUPONT 25 X 6 - DuPont red/white rectangular 25 No. 6 cap tin, 1 3/8 in. x 1 1/8 in. x 1 5/8 in. high (Dupont was founded by Eleuthere Irenee Dupont de Nemours, or E.I. Dupont, a French refugee who came to the U.S. in 1800 to escape growing instabilities in France. Two years later, Dupont opened a gunpowder factory near Wilmington, Delaware that transformed a burned out, abandoned cotton mill into a complex of isolated powder making shops known as the Eleutherian Mills . By early 1804, he was turning out the highest quality powder in America. Although a few domestic powder plants existed in 18th century America, most of it was imported. The French, sharing a dislike for the British, and holding a claim on much of the North American continent, furnished 90% of the powder that enabled America to gain independence in the Revolution. Eleuthere Dupont can attribute the initial success of his venture to his training in explosives manufacture in France (under the renowned chemist, Lavoisier, who was superintendent of the French government’s gunpowder plant), financing from his father’s contacts, and the good fortune to be in production at the time of Jefferson’s 1807 embargo of trade with Europe, the only other source of quality powders. By 1811, the Dupont mills were the largest mills in America. When Dupont died in 1834, his two sons Alfred and Henry took over the business. At the time of his death, the plant produced a million pounds of powder for the first time. In the Civil War it was protected by Union troops, and was the largest supplier of powder for their cause. Throughout the 1800s, the company diversified into other explosive materials such as dynamite, nitroglycerine, guncotton and smokeless powder, building plants and acquiring smaller companies. In 1867, Alfred Nobel patented dynamite, a stable form of formerly unstable nitroglycerine. The improvements this brought with it changed not just the explosives industry, but industries of all kinds. Gunpowder, or “black powder,” which is what was made at Eleutherian Mills, only burns when ignited. This works fine for cannons and guns, but for tearing up the earth, it has its limitations. Dynamite detonates. Immediately following its introduction into the US, transportation projects accelerated, mining projects multiplied their output, and new materials, previously inextractable, became available, creating new industries and products. Lammot Dupont, grandson of the company’s founder, led the company into dynamite production, building a new plant for it in Repauno, New Jersey. In 1884, an explosion at the plant killed Lammot and five others but the plant remained. By the turn of the century, Dupont dominated the U.S. explosives market. But an antitrust ruling during the Teddy Roosevelt administration forced the company to divest some of its dynamite and black powder business in 1912 into two spin-offs, Atlas and Hercules. Nevertheless, Dupont remained a force in the explosives industry, and the outbreak of World War I resulted in a profits windfall for the company. It’s estimated that Dupont supplied Allied forces with as much as 40 percent of the explosive material used in the production of munitions during World War I. After the war, the company used the influx of cash from its government ties to expand into new industries. In 1902, with the death of Eugene Dupont, 100 years of dynastic family control ended, and the family partners put the company up for sale. Though it was bought by a new group of Duponts, the company began a drastic transformation, and was reorganized into a more modern, diversified company. Research facilities were established to investigate new product lines that lead to rayon, nylon, teflon and dacron. The increasingly antiquated Eleutherian Mills, still producing black powder, finally became obsolete, and closed in 1921. During 117 years of operation, the Eleutherian Mills exploded hundreds of times killing over 200 workers. After each explosion, the damaged parts of the plant were rebuilt, and production resumed. By 1971, black powder was a very minor product in the world, used mostly by historical reenactments, and Dupont stopped making it altogether. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 174-218) slides/DuPont 25x6.JPG slides/Dupont Triple.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT TRIPLE - Very rare rect. tin, 1 1/4 x 2 1/8 x 2 1/2 in. box, 1900-1920, held one hundred No. 3 strength blasting caps, embossed lid marked E.I. du PONT CO. TRIPLE WILMINGTON DEL. U.S.A. tabbed bottom (Dupont was founded by Eleuthere Irenee Dupont de Nemours, or E.I. Dupont, a French refugee who came to the U.S. in 1800 to escape growing instabilities in France. Two years later, Dupont opened a gunpowder factory near Wilmington, Delaware that transformed a burned out, abandoned cotton mill into a complex of isolated powder making shops known as the Eleutherian Mills . By early 1804, he was turning out the highest quality powder in America. Although a few domestic powder plants existed in 18th century America, most of it was imported. The French, sharing a dislike for the British, and holding a claim on much of the North American continent, furnished 90% of the powder that enabled America to gain independence in the Revolution. Eleuthere Dupont can attribute the initial success of his venture to his training in explosives manufacture in France (under the renowned chemist, Lavoisier, who was superintendent of the French government’s gunpowder plant), financing from his father’s contacts, and the good fortune to be in production at the time of Jefferson’s 1807 embargo of trade with Europe, the only other source of quality powders. By 1811, the Dupont mills were the largest mills in America. When Dupont died in 1834, his two sons Alfred and Henry took over the business. At the time of his death, the plant produced a million pounds of powder for the first time. In the Civil War it was protected by Union troops, and was the largest supplier of powder for their cause. Throughout the 1800s, the company diversified into other explosive materials such as dynamite, nitroglycerine, guncotton and smokeless powder, building plants and acquiring smaller companies. In 1867, Alfred Nobel patented dynamite, a stable form of formerly unstable nitroglycerine. The improvements this brought with it changed not just the explosives industry, but industries of all kinds. Gunpowder, or “black powder,” which is what was made at Eleutherian Mills, only burns when ignited. This works fine for cannons and guns, but for tearing up the earth, it has its limitations. Dynamite detonates. Immediately following its introduction into the US, transportation projects accelerated, mining projects multiplied their output, and new materials, previously inextractable, became available, creating new industries and products. Lammot Dupont, grandson of the company’s founder, led the company into dynamite production, building a new plant for it in Repauno, New Jersey. In 1884, an explosion at the plant killed Lammot and five others but the plant remained. By the turn of the century, Dupont dominated the U.S. explosives market. But an antitrust ruling during the Teddy Roosevelt administration forced the company to divest some of its dynamite and black powder business in 1912 into two spin-offs, Atlas and Hercules. Nevertheless, Dupont remained a force in the explosives industry, and the outbreak of World War I resulted in a profits windfall for the company. It’s estimated that Dupont supplied Allied forces with as much as 40 percent of the explosive material used in the production of munitions during World War I. After the war, the company used the influx of cash from its government ties to expand into new industries. In 1902, with the death of Eugene Dupont, 100 years of dynastic family control ended, and the family partners put the company up for sale. Though it was bought by a new group of Duponts, the company began a drastic transformation, and was reorganized into a more modern, diversified company. Research facilities were established to investigate new product lines that lead to rayon, nylon, teflon and dacron. The increasingly antiquated Eleutherian Mills, still producing black powder, finally became obsolete, and closed in 1921. During 117 years of operation, the Eleutherian Mills exploded hundreds of times killing over 200 workers. After each explosion, the damaged parts of the plant were rebuilt, and production resumed. By 1971, black powder was a very minor product in the world, used mostly by historical reenactments, and Dupont stopped making it altogether. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 174-218) DUPONT TRIPLE - Very rare rect. tin, 1 1/4 x 2 1/8 x 2 1/2 in. box, 1900-1920, held one hundred No. 3 strength blasting caps, embossed lid marked E.I. du PONT CO. TRIPLE WILMINGTON DEL. U.S.A. tabbed bottom (Dupont was founded by Eleuthere Irenee Dupont de Nemours, or E.I. Dupont, a French refugee who came to the U.S. in 1800 to escape growing instabilities in France. Two years later, Dupont opened a gunpowder factory near Wilmington, Delaware that transformed a burned out, abandoned cotton mill into a complex of isolated powder making shops known as the Eleutherian Mills . By early 1804, he was turning out the highest quality powder in America. Although a few domestic powder plants existed in 18th century America, most of it was imported. The French, sharing a dislike for the British, and holding a claim on much of the North American continent, furnished 90% of the powder that enabled America to gain independence in the Revolution. Eleuthere Dupont can attribute the initial success of his venture to his training in explosives manufacture in France (under the renowned chemist, Lavoisier, who was superintendent of the French government’s gunpowder plant), financing from his father’s contacts, and the good fortune to be in production at the time of Jefferson’s 1807 embargo of trade with Europe, the only other source of quality powders. By 1811, the Dupont mills were the largest mills in America. When Dupont died in 1834, his two sons Alfred and Henry took over the business. At the time of his death, the plant produced a million pounds of powder for the first time. In the Civil War it was protected by Union troops, and was the largest supplier of powder for their cause. Throughout the 1800s, the company diversified into other explosive materials such as dynamite, nitroglycerine, guncotton and smokeless powder, building plants and acquiring smaller companies. In 1867, Alfred Nobel patented dynamite, a stable form of formerly unstable nitroglycerine. The improvements this brought with it changed not just the explosives industry, but industries of all kinds. Gunpowder, or “black powder,” which is what was made at Eleutherian Mills, only burns when ignited. This works fine for cannons and guns, but for tearing up the earth, it has its limitations. Dynamite detonates. Immediately following its introduction into the US, transportation projects accelerated, mining projects multiplied their output, and new materials, previously inextractable, became available, creating new industries and products. Lammot Dupont, grandson of the company’s founder, led the company into dynamite production, building a new plant for it in Repauno, New Jersey. In 1884, an explosion at the plant killed Lammot and five others but the plant remained. By the turn of the century, Dupont dominated the U.S. explosives market. But an antitrust ruling during the Teddy Roosevelt administration forced the company to divest some of its dynamite and black powder business in 1912 into two spin-offs, Atlas and Hercules. Nevertheless, Dupont remained a force in the explosives industry, and the outbreak of World War I resulted in a profits windfall for the company. It’s estimated that Dupont supplied Allied forces with as much as 40 percent of the explosive material used in the production of munitions during World War I. After the war, the company used the influx of cash from its government ties to expand into new industries. In 1902, with the death of Eugene Dupont, 100 years of dynastic family control ended, and the family partners put the company up for sale. Though it was bought by a new group of Duponts, the company began a drastic transformation, and was reorganized into a more modern, diversified company. Research facilities were established to investigate new product lines that lead to rayon, nylon, teflon and dacron. The increasingly antiquated Eleutherian Mills, still producing black powder, finally became obsolete, and closed in 1921. During 117 years of operation, the Eleutherian Mills exploded hundreds of times killing over 200 workers. After each explosion, the damaged parts of the plant were rebuilt, and production resumed. By 1971, black powder was a very minor product in the world, used mostly by historical reenactments, and Dupont stopped making it altogether. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 174-218) slides/Dupont Triple.jpg slides/DuPont Quadruple.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT QUADRUPLE - Rectangular tin, 1 1/4 x 2 1/8 x 2 1/2 in. box, 1900-1920, embossed lid marked E.I. du PONT CO. QUADRUPLE WILMINGTON DEL. U.S.A. tabbed bottom (Dupont was founded by Eleuthere Irenee Dupont de Nemours, or E.I. Dupont, a French refugee who came to the U.S. in 1800 to escape growing instabilities in France. Two years later, Dupont opened a gunpowder factory near Wilmington, Delaware that transformed a burned out, abandoned cotton mill into a complex of isolated powder making shops known as the Eleutherian Mills . By early 1804, he was turning out the highest quality powder in America. Although a few domestic powder plants existed in 18th century America, most of it was imported. The French, sharing a dislike for the British, and holding a claim on much of the North American continent, furnished 90% of the powder that enabled America to gain independence in the Revolution. Eleuthere Dupont can attribute the initial success of his venture to his training in explosives manufacture in France (under the renowned chemist, Lavoisier, who was superintendent of the French government’s gunpowder plant), financing from his father’s contacts, and the good fortune to be in production at the time of Jefferson’s 1807 embargo of trade with Europe, the only other source of quality powders. By 1811, the Dupont mills were the largest mills in America. When Dupont died in 1834, his two sons Alfred and Henry took over the business. At the time of his death, the plant produced a million pounds of powder for the first time. In the Civil War it was protected by Union troops, and was the largest supplier of powder for their cause. Throughout the 1800s, the company diversified into other explosive materials such as dynamite, nitroglycerine, guncotton and smokeless powder, building plants and acquiring smaller companies. In 1867, Alfred Nobel patented dynamite, a stable form of formerly unstable nitroglycerine. The improvements this brought with it changed not just the explosives industry, but industries of all kinds. Gunpowder, or “black powder,” which is what was made at Eleutherian Mills, only burns when ignited. This works fine for cannons and guns, but for tearing up the earth, it has its limitations. Dynamite detonates. Immediately following its introduction into the US, transportation projects accelerated, mining projects multiplied their output, and new materials, previously inextractable, became available, creating new industries and products. Lammot Dupont, grandson of the company’s founder, led the company into dynamite production, building a new plant for it in Repauno, New Jersey. In 1884, an explosion at the plant killed Lammot and five others but the plant remained. By the turn of the century, Dupont dominated the U.S. explosives market. But an antitrust ruling during the Teddy Roosevelt administration forced the company to divest some of its dynamite and black powder business in 1912 into two spin-offs, Atlas and Hercules. Nevertheless, Dupont remained a force in the explosives industry, and the outbreak of World War I resulted in a profits windfall for the company. It’s estimated that Dupont supplied Allied forces with as much as 40 percent of the explosive material used in the production of munitions during World War I. After the war, the company used the influx of cash from its government ties to expand into new industries. In 1902, with the death of Eugene Dupont, 100 years of dynastic family control ended, and the family partners put the company up for sale. Though it was bought by a new group of Duponts, the company began a drastic transformation, and was reorganized into a more modern, diversified company. Research facilities were established to investigate new product lines that lead to rayon, nylon, teflon and dacron. The increasingly antiquated Eleutherian Mills, still producing black powder, finally became obsolete, and closed in 1921. During 117 years of operation, the Eleutherian Mills exploded hundreds of times killing over 200 workers. After each explosion, the damaged parts of the plant were rebuilt, and production resumed. By 1971, black powder was a very minor product in the world, used mostly by historical reenactments, and Dupont stopped making it altogether. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 174-218) DUPONT QUADRUPLE - Rectangular tin, 1 1/4 x 2 1/8 x 2 1/2 in. box, 1900-1920, embossed lid marked E.I. du PONT CO. QUADRUPLE WILMINGTON DEL. U.S.A. tabbed bottom (Dupont was founded by Eleuthere Irenee Dupont de Nemours, or E.I. Dupont, a French refugee who came to the U.S. in 1800 to escape growing instabilities in France. Two years later, Dupont opened a gunpowder factory near Wilmington, Delaware that transformed a burned out, abandoned cotton mill into a complex of isolated powder making shops known as the Eleutherian Mills . By early 1804, he was turning out the highest quality powder in America. Although a few domestic powder plants existed in 18th century America, most of it was imported. The French, sharing a dislike for the British, and holding a claim on much of the North American continent, furnished 90% of the powder that enabled America to gain independence in the Revolution. Eleuthere Dupont can attribute the initial success of his venture to his training in explosives manufacture in France (under the renowned chemist, Lavoisier, who was superintendent of the French government’s gunpowder plant), financing from his father’s contacts, and the good fortune to be in production at the time of Jefferson’s 1807 embargo of trade with Europe, the only other source of quality powders. By 1811, the Dupont mills were the largest mills in America. When Dupont died in 1834, his two sons Alfred and Henry took over the business. At the time of his death, the plant produced a million pounds of powder for the first time. In the Civil War it was protected by Union troops, and was the largest supplier of powder for their cause. Throughout the 1800s, the company diversified into other explosive materials such as dynamite, nitroglycerine, guncotton and smokeless powder, building plants and acquiring smaller companies. In 1867, Alfred Nobel patented dynamite, a stable form of formerly unstable nitroglycerine. The improvements this brought with it changed not just the explosives industry, but industries of all kinds. Gunpowder, or “black powder,” which is what was made at Eleutherian Mills, only burns when ignited. This works fine for cannons and guns, but for tearing up the earth, it has its limitations. Dynamite detonates. Immediately following its introduction into the US, transportation projects accelerated, mining projects multiplied their output, and new materials, previously inextractable, became available, creating new industries and products. Lammot Dupont, grandson of the company’s founder, led the company into dynamite production, building a new plant for it in Repauno, New Jersey. In 1884, an explosion at the plant killed Lammot and five others but the plant remained. By the turn of the century, Dupont dominated the U.S. explosives market. But an antitrust ruling during the Teddy Roosevelt administration forced the company to divest some of its dynamite and black powder business in 1912 into two spin-offs, Atlas and Hercules. Nevertheless, Dupont remained a force in the explosives industry, and the outbreak of World War I resulted in a profits windfall for the company. It’s estimated that Dupont supplied Allied forces with as much as 40 percent of the explosive material used in the production of munitions during World War I. After the war, the company used the influx of cash from its government ties to expand into new industries. In 1902, with the death of Eugene Dupont, 100 years of dynastic family control ended, and the family partners put the company up for sale. Though it was bought by a new group of Duponts, the company began a drastic transformation, and was reorganized into a more modern, diversified company. Research facilities were established to investigate new product lines that lead to rayon, nylon, teflon and dacron. The increasingly antiquated Eleutherian Mills, still producing black powder, finally became obsolete, and closed in 1921. During 117 years of operation, the Eleutherian Mills exploded hundreds of times killing over 200 workers. After each explosion, the damaged parts of the plant were rebuilt, and production resumed. By 1971, black powder was a very minor product in the world, used mostly by historical reenactments, and Dupont stopped making it altogether. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 174-218) slides/DuPont Quadruple.jpg slides/DuPont Reliable.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT RELIABLE NO. 3 BLASTING MACHINE - Reliable Blasting Machine No. 3, fires up to 30 caps, mfg. by E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Co., established 1802, Wilmington,DE, oak cabinet (Dupont was founded by Eleuthere Irenee Dupont de Nemours, or E.I. Dupont, a French refugee who came to the U.S. in 1800 to escape growing instabilities in France. Two years later, Dupont opened a gunpowder factory near Wilmington, Delaware that transformed a burned out, abandoned cotton mill into a complex of isolated powder making shops known as the Eleutherian Mills . By early 1804, he was turning out the highest quality powder in America. Although a few domestic powder plants existed in 18th century America, most of it was imported. The French, sharing a dislike for the British, and holding a claim on much of the North American continent, furnished 90% of the powder that enabled America to gain independence in the Revolution. Eleuthere Dupont can attribute the initial success of his venture to his training in explosives manufacture in France (under the renowned chemist, Lavoisier, who was superintendent of the French government’s gunpowder plant), financing from his father’s contacts, and the good fortune to be in production at the time of Jefferson’s 1807 embargo of trade with Europe, the only other source of quality powders. By 1811, the Dupont mills were the largest mills in America. When Dupont died in 1834, his two sons Alfred and Henry took over the business. At the time of his death, the plant produced a million pounds of powder for the first time. In the Civil War it was protected by Union troops, and was the largest supplier of powder for their cause. Throughout the 1800s, the company diversified into other explosive materials such as dynamite, nitroglycerine, guncotton and smokeless powder, building plants and acquiring smaller companies. In 1867, Alfred Nobel patented dynamite, a stable form of formerly unstable nitroglycerine. The improvements this brought with it changed not just the explosives industry, but industries of all kinds. Gunpowder, or “black powder,” which is what was made at Eleutherian Mills, only burns when ignited. This works fine for cannons and guns, but for tearing up the earth, it has its limitations. Dynamite detonates. Immediately following its introduction into the US, transportation projects accelerated, mining projects multiplied their output, and new materials, previously inextractable, became available, creating new industries and products. Lammot Dupont, grandson of the company’s founder, led the company into dynamite production, building a new plant for it in Repauno, New Jersey. In 1884, an explosion at the plant killed Lammot and five others but the plant remained. By the turn of the century, Dupont dominated the U.S. explosives market. But an antitrust ruling during the Teddy Roosevelt administration forced the company to divest some of its dynamite and black powder business in 1912 into two spin-offs, Atlas and Hercules. Nevertheless, Dupont remained a force in the explosives industry, and the outbreak of World War I resulted in a profits windfall for the company. It’s estimated that Dupont supplied Allied forces with as much as 40 percent of the explosive material used in the production of munitions during World War I. After the war, the company used the influx of cash from its government ties to expand into new industries. In 1902, with the death of Eugene Dupont, 100 years of dynastic family control ended, and the family partners put the company up for sale. Though it was bought by a new group of Duponts, the company began a drastic transformation, and was reorganized into a more modern, diversified company. Research facilities were established to investigate new product lines that lead to rayon, nylon, teflon and dacron. The increasingly antiquated Eleutherian Mills, still producing black powder, finally became obsolete, and closed in 1921. During 117 years of operation, the Eleutherian Mills exploded hundreds of times killing over 200 workers. After each explosion, the damaged parts of the plant were rebuilt, and production resumed. By 1971, black powder was a very minor product in the world, used mostly by historical reenactments, and Dupont stopped making it altogether. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 174-218) DUPONT RELIABLE NO. 3 BLASTING MACHINE - Reliable Blasting Machine No. 3, fires up to 30 caps, mfg. by E. I. Dupont de Nemours Powder Co., established 1802, Wilmington,DE, oak cabinet (Dupont was founded by Eleuthere Irenee Dupont de Nemours, or E.I. Dupont, a French refugee who came to the U.S. in 1800 to escape growing instabilities in France. Two years later, Dupont opened a gunpowder factory near Wilmington, Delaware that transformed a burned out, abandoned cotton mill into a complex of isolated powder making shops known as the Eleutherian Mills . By early 1804, he was turning out the highest quality powder in America. Although a few domestic powder plants existed in 18th century America, most of it was imported. The French, sharing a dislike for the British, and holding a claim on much of the North American continent, furnished 90% of the powder that enabled America to gain independence in the Revolution. Eleuthere Dupont can attribute the initial success of his venture to his training in explosives manufacture in France (under the renowned chemist, Lavoisier, who was superintendent of the French government’s gunpowder plant), financing from his father’s contacts, and the good fortune to be in production at the time of Jefferson’s 1807 embargo of trade with Europe, the only other source of quality powders. By 1811, the Dupont mills were the largest mills in America. When Dupont died in 1834, his two sons Alfred and Henry took over the business. At the time of his death, the plant produced a million pounds of powder for the first time. In the Civil War it was protected by Union troops, and was the largest supplier of powder for their cause. Throughout the 1800s, the company diversified into other explosive materials such as dynamite, nitroglycerine, guncotton and smokeless powder, building plants and acquiring smaller companies. In 1867, Alfred Nobel patented dynamite, a stable form of formerly unstable nitroglycerine. The improvements this brought with it changed not just the explosives industry, but industries of all kinds. Gunpowder, or “black powder,” which is what was made at Eleutherian Mills, only burns when ignited. This works fine for cannons and guns, but for tearing up the earth, it has its limitations. Dynamite detonates. Immediately following its introduction into the US, transportation projects accelerated, mining projects multiplied their output, and new materials, previously inextractable, became available, creating new industries and products. Lammot Dupont, grandson of the company’s founder, led the company into dynamite production, building a new plant for it in Repauno, New Jersey. In 1884, an explosion at the plant killed Lammot and five others but the plant remained. By the turn of the century, Dupont dominated the U.S. explosives market. But an antitrust ruling during the Teddy Roosevelt administration forced the company to divest some of its dynamite and black powder business in 1912 into two spin-offs, Atlas and Hercules. Nevertheless, Dupont remained a force in the explosives industry, and the outbreak of World War I resulted in a profits windfall for the company. It’s estimated that Dupont supplied Allied forces with as much as 40 percent of the explosive material used in the production of munitions during World War I. After the war, the company used the influx of cash from its government ties to expand into new industries. In 1902, with the death of Eugene Dupont, 100 years of dynastic family control ended, and the family partners put the company up for sale. Though it was bought by a new group of Duponts, the company began a drastic transformation, and was reorganized into a more modern, diversified company. Research facilities were established to investigate new product lines that lead to rayon, nylon, teflon and dacron. The increasingly antiquated Eleutherian Mills, still producing black powder, finally became obsolete, and closed in 1921. During 117 years of operation, the Eleutherian Mills exploded hundreds of times killing over 200 workers. After each explosion, the damaged parts of the plant were rebuilt, and production resumed. By 1971, black powder was a very minor product in the world, used mostly by historical reenactments, and Dupont stopped making it altogether. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 174-218) slides/DuPont Reliable.JPG slides/Dupont Tag on Reliable Blasting Machine.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT RELIABLE NO. 3 BLASTING MACHINE - Oval Dupont tag on front of machine DUPONT RELIABLE NO. 3 BLASTING MACHINE - Oval Dupont tag on front of machine slides/Dupont Tag on Reliable Blasting Machine.jpg slides/Reliable Blasting Machine Tag.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT RELIABLE NO. 3 BLASTING MACHINE TAG DUPONT RELIABLE NO. 3 BLASTING MACHINE TAG slides/Reliable Blasting Machine Tag.jpg slides/DuPont Blaster I.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT BLASTER WITH SCALE MODEL - Full size blaster on left (shown in previous pic) is 13 5/8 in. high, 5 5/8 in. wide, and 8 1/4 in. deep. The model on right is a one-third scale model made and signed by master model builder David White in Jan 2002. The scale model follows every external design detail of the full size blaster and every word on the scaled down tags is readable with a magnifying glass, a truly beautiful piece of work. DUPONT BLASTER WITH SCALE MODEL - Full size blaster on left (shown in previous pic) is 13 5/8 in. high, 5 5/8 in. wide, and 8 1/4 in. deep. The model on right is a one-third scale model made and signed by master model builder David White in Jan 2002. The scale model follows every external design detail of the full size blaster and every word on the scaled down tags is readable with a magnifying glass, a truly beautiful piece of work. slides/DuPont Blaster I.jpg slides/DuPont Blaster II.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT BLASTER WITH SCALE MODEL - Full size blaster on left (shown in previous pic) is 13 5/8 in. high, 5 5/8 in. wide, and 8 1/4 in. deep. The model on right is a one-third scale model made and signed by master model builder David White in Jan 2002. The scale model follows every external design detail of the full size blaster and every word on the scaled down tags is readable with a magnifying glass, a truly beautiful piece of work. DUPONT BLASTER WITH SCALE MODEL - Full size blaster on left (shown in previous pic) is 13 5/8 in. high, 5 5/8 in. wide, and 8 1/4 in. deep. The model on right is a one-third scale model made and signed by master model builder David White in Jan 2002. The scale model follows every external design detail of the full size blaster and every word on the scaled down tags is readable with a magnifying glass, a truly beautiful piece of work. slides/DuPont Blaster II.jpg slides/DuPont Blaster One-Third Scale Model.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DUPONT BLASTER MODEL - This DuPont blaster model is a one-third scale model made and signed by master model builder David White in Jan 2002. The scale model follows every external design detail of the full size blaster and every word on the scaled down tags is readable with a magnifying glass, a truly beautiful piece of work. DUPONT BLASTER MODEL - This DuPont blaster model is a one-third scale model made and signed by master model builder David White in Jan 2002. The scale model follows every external design detail of the full size blaster and every word on the scaled down tags is readable with a magnifying glass, a truly beautiful piece of work. slides/DuPont Blaster One-Third Scale Model.jpg slides/Ensign Bickford Crimpers Closed.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 ENSIGN-BICKFORD BLASTING TOOL - Heavy duty steel multi-purpose blasting tool, spring loaded with thumb lock, marked on one side THE ENSIGN-BICKFORD CO. SIMSBURY, CONN, 7 3/8 in. long, ca. early 1930s; well-made tool includes wire cutter, fuse splitter, sleeve crimp jaw, fuse cutter, wire stripper, cap punch and pry bar (The Ensign-Bickford Company pioneered the introduction of the safety fuse for mining in the U.S. Prior to the development of safety fuse, black powder charges were ignited by such methods as trails of powder to cartridges, kerosene soaked rags stuffed into blast holes, and goose quills filled with black powder to form a sort of fuse. Premature and unpredictable explosions with these early methods led to a heavy miners’ death toll in underground accidents. These accidents led William Bickford of Tuckingmill, Cornwall, to invent a method whereby blasting ignition could be controlled by a uniform and determinate rate of speed. His patent for the Miner’s Safety Fuse (British patent No. 6159/1831) was awarded on Sept. 6, 1831 for a fuse “consisting of a number of jute threads, passed through an orifice and stretched to rotate slowly while at the same time a small amount of fine gunpowder fell into the tube thus formed and was retained therein as a slender core.” Following Bickford’s death in 1834 at age 60, Bickford’s safety fuse was introduced into the U.S. through Richard Bacon, then superintendent of the copper mines of the Phoenix Mining Company at Old Newgate Prison, Granby, CT. Bacon made arrangements with Bickford, Smith & Davey, the original British manufacturers of safety fuse, to build a plant in 1836 at Simsbury, CT to manufacture the fuse under the name of Bacon, Bickford & Eales Co. By 1839, Joseph Toy came from the Tuckingmill plant in England to soon become manager of the Simsbury factory, continuing in that capacity until Toy’s death in 1887. Under Toy’s management the name was changed to Toy, Bickford & Co. in 1852. Toy was responsible for dramatically improving production safety and market expansion while developing different varieties of safety fuse as the growing amount of coal and metal mining in the U.S. increased. After Toy’s death, Ralph Ensign, his son-in-law, became manager of the Simsbury facility and the name was changed to Ensign, Bickford & Co. In 1907 the business was incorporated as the Ensign-Bickford Co. and a consolidation with the Climax Fuse Co. of New York took place with Ensign as the president of the corporation. He held that position till his death in 1917 when his son, Joseph Ensign, succeeded him. By this time, the quality of the standard safety fuse product had been steadily improved with a very regular burning rate, good appearance and excellent water resistance. Ensign-Bickford not only supplied the mining industry across the U.S., it also provided many million feet of fuse for the construction of the Panama Canal and special fuse for munitions during World War I. In 1936, The Ensign-Bickford Company celebrated its 100th anniversary and introduced its promising new detonating cord, which eventually accounted for two-thirds of the company’s income. Ensign-Bickford's Primacord became the functional generic name for detonating cord in North America. The company continues in business today as Ensign-Bickford Industries. See VanGelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, 1927, pp 721-729 and Kynor, Multi Purpose Cap Crimper from Ensign-Bickford Co., Collectors’ Mining Review #1, pp 23-25) ENSIGN-BICKFORD BLASTING TOOL - Heavy duty steel multi-purpose blasting tool, spring loaded with thumb lock, marked on one side THE ENSIGN-BICKFORD CO. SIMSBURY, CONN, 7 3/8 in. long, ca. early 1930s; well-made tool includes wire cutter, fuse splitter, sleeve crimp jaw, fuse cutter, wire stripper, cap punch and pry bar (The Ensign-Bickford Company pioneered the introduction of the safety fuse for mining in the U.S. Prior to the development of safety fuse, black powder charges were ignited by such methods as trails of powder to cartridges, kerosene soaked rags stuffed into blast holes, and goose quills filled with black powder to form a sort of fuse. Premature and unpredictable explosions with these early methods led to a heavy miners’ death toll in underground accidents. These accidents led William Bickford of Tuckingmill, Cornwall, to invent a method whereby blasting ignition could be controlled by a uniform and determinate rate of speed. His patent for the Miner’s Safety Fuse (British patent No. 6159/1831) was awarded on Sept. 6, 1831 for a fuse “consisting of a number of jute threads, passed through an orifice and stretched to rotate slowly while at the same time a small amount of fine gunpowder fell into the tube thus formed and was retained therein as a slender core.” Following Bickford’s death in 1834 at age 60, Bickford’s safety fuse was introduced into the U.S. through Richard Bacon, then superintendent of the copper mines of the Phoenix Mining Company at Old Newgate Prison, Granby, CT. Bacon made arrangements with Bickford, Smith & Davey, the original British manufacturers of safety fuse, to build a plant in 1836 at Simsbury, CT to manufacture the fuse under the name of Bacon, Bickford & Eales Co. By 1839, Joseph Toy came from the Tuckingmill plant in England to soon become manager of the Simsbury factory, continuing in that capacity until Toy’s death in 1887. Under Toy’s management the name was changed to Toy, Bickford & Co. in 1852. Toy was responsible for dramatically improving production safety and market expansion while developing different varieties of safety fuse as the growing amount of coal and metal mining in the U.S. increased. After Toy’s death, Ralph Ensign, his son-in-law, became manager of the Simsbury facility and the name was changed to Ensign, Bickford & Co. In 1907 the business was incorporated as the Ensign-Bickford Co. and a consolidation with the Climax Fuse Co. of New York took place with Ensign as the president of the corporation. He held that position till his death in 1917 when his son, Joseph Ensign, succeeded him. By this time, the quality of the standard safety fuse product had been steadily improved with a very regular burning rate, good appearance and excellent water resistance. Ensign-Bickford not only supplied the mining industry across the U.S., it also provided many million feet of fuse for the construction of the Panama Canal and special fuse for munitions during World War I. In 1936, The Ensign-Bickford Company celebrated its 100th anniversary and introduced its promising new detonating cord, which eventually accounted for two-thirds of the company’s income. Ensign-Bickford's Primacord became the functional generic name for detonating cord in North America. The company continues in business today as Ensign-Bickford Industries. See VanGelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, 1927, pp 721-729 and Kynor, Multi Purpose Cap Crimper from Ensign-Bickford Co., Collectors’ Mining Review #1, pp 23-25) slides/Ensign Bickford Crimpers Closed.jpg slides/Ensign Bickford Crimpers Closed Back Side.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 ENSIGN-BICKFORD BLASTING TOOL - Heavy duty steel multi-purpose blasting tool, spring loaded with thumb lock, marked on one side THE ENSIGN-BICKFORD CO. SIMSBURY, CONN, 7 3/8 in. long, ca. early 1930s; well-made tool includes wire cutter, fuse splitter, sleeve crimp jaw, fuse cutter, wire stripper, cap punch and pry bar (The Ensign-Bickford Company pioneered the introduction of the safety fuse for mining in the U.S. Prior to the development of safety fuse, black powder charges were ignited by such methods as trails of powder to cartridges, kerosene soaked rags stuffed into blast holes, and goose quills filled with black powder to form a sort of fuse. Premature and unpredictable explosions with these early methods led to a heavy miners’ death toll in underground accidents. These accidents led William Bickford of Tuckingmill, Cornwall, to invent a method whereby blasting ignition could be controlled by a uniform and determinate rate of speed. His patent for the Miner’s Safety Fuse (British patent No. 6159/1831) was awarded on Sept. 6, 1831 for a fuse “consisting of a number of jute threads, passed through an orifice and stretched to rotate slowly while at the same time a small amount of fine gunpowder fell into the tube thus formed and was retained therein as a slender core.” Following Bickford’s death in 1834 at age 60, Bickford’s safety fuse was introduced into the U.S. through Richard Bacon, then superintendent of the copper mines of the Phoenix Mining Company at Old Newgate Prison, Granby, CT. Bacon made arrangements with Bickford, Smith & Davey, the original British manufacturers of safety fuse, to build a plant in 1836 at Simsbury, CT to manufacture the fuse under the name of Bacon, Bickford & Eales Co. By 1839, Joseph Toy came from the Tuckingmill plant in England to soon become manager of the Simsbury factory, continuing in that capacity until Toy’s death in 1887. Under Toy’s management the name was changed to Toy, Bickford & Co. in 1852. Toy was responsible for dramatically improving production safety and market expansion while developing different varieties of safety fuse as the growing amount of coal and metal mining in the U.S. increased. After Toy’s death, Ralph Ensign, his son-in-law, became manager of the Simsbury facility and the name was changed to Ensign, Bickford & Co. In 1907 the business was incorporated as the Ensign-Bickford Co. and a consolidation with the Climax Fuse Co. of New York took place with Ensign as the president of the corporation. He held that position till his death in 1917 when his son, Joseph Ensign, succeeded him. By this time, the quality of the standard safety fuse product had been steadily improved with a very regular burning rate, good appearance and excellent water resistance. Ensign-Bickford not only supplied the mining industry across the U.S., it also provided many million feet of fuse for the construction of the Panama Canal and special fuse for munitions during World War I. In 1936, The Ensign-Bickford Company celebrated its 100th anniversary and introduced its promising new detonating cord, which eventually accounted for two-thirds of the company’s income. Ensign-Bickford's Primacord became the functional generic name for detonating cord in North America. The company continues in business today as Ensign-Bickford Industries. See VanGelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, 1927, pp 721-729 and Kynor, Multi Purpose Cap Crimper from Ensign-Bickford Co., Collectors’ Mining Review #1, pp 23-25) ENSIGN-BICKFORD BLASTING TOOL - Heavy duty steel multi-purpose blasting tool, spring loaded with thumb lock, marked on one side THE ENSIGN-BICKFORD CO. SIMSBURY, CONN, 7 3/8 in. long, ca. early 1930s; well-made tool includes wire cutter, fuse splitter, sleeve crimp jaw, fuse cutter, wire stripper, cap punch and pry bar (The Ensign-Bickford Company pioneered the introduction of the safety fuse for mining in the U.S. Prior to the development of safety fuse, black powder charges were ignited by such methods as trails of powder to cartridges, kerosene soaked rags stuffed into blast holes, and goose quills filled with black powder to form a sort of fuse. Premature and unpredictable explosions with these early methods led to a heavy miners’ death toll in underground accidents. These accidents led William Bickford of Tuckingmill, Cornwall, to invent a method whereby blasting ignition could be controlled by a uniform and determinate rate of speed. His patent for the Miner’s Safety Fuse (British patent No. 6159/1831) was awarded on Sept. 6, 1831 for a fuse “consisting of a number of jute threads, passed through an orifice and stretched to rotate slowly while at the same time a small amount of fine gunpowder fell into the tube thus formed and was retained therein as a slender core.” Following Bickford’s death in 1834 at age 60, Bickford’s safety fuse was introduced into the U.S. through Richard Bacon, then superintendent of the copper mines of the Phoenix Mining Company at Old Newgate Prison, Granby, CT. Bacon made arrangements with Bickford, Smith & Davey, the original British manufacturers of safety fuse, to build a plant in 1836 at Simsbury, CT to manufacture the fuse under the name of Bacon, Bickford & Eales Co. By 1839, Joseph Toy came from the Tuckingmill plant in England to soon become manager of the Simsbury factory, continuing in that capacity until Toy’s death in 1887. Under Toy’s management the name was changed to Toy, Bickford & Co. in 1852. Toy was responsible for dramatically improving production safety and market expansion while developing different varieties of safety fuse as the growing amount of coal and metal mining in the U.S. increased. After Toy’s death, Ralph Ensign, his son-in-law, became manager of the Simsbury facility and the name was changed to Ensign, Bickford & Co. In 1907 the business was incorporated as the Ensign-Bickford Co. and a consolidation with the Climax Fuse Co. of New York took place with Ensign as the president of the corporation. He held that position till his death in 1917 when his son, Joseph Ensign, succeeded him. By this time, the quality of the standard safety fuse product had been steadily improved with a very regular burning rate, good appearance and excellent water resistance. Ensign-Bickford not only supplied the mining industry across the U.S., it also provided many million feet of fuse for the construction of the Panama Canal and special fuse for munitions during World War I. In 1936, The Ensign-Bickford Company celebrated its 100th anniversary and introduced its promising new detonating cord, which eventually accounted for two-thirds of the company’s income. Ensign-Bickford's Primacord became the functional generic name for detonating cord in North America. The company continues in business today as Ensign-Bickford Industries. See VanGelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, 1927, pp 721-729 and Kynor, Multi Purpose Cap Crimper from Ensign-Bickford Co., Collectors’ Mining Review #1, pp 23-25) slides/Ensign Bickford Crimpers Closed Back Side.jpg slides/Ensign Bickford Crimpers Open.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 ENSIGN-BICKFORD BLASTING TOOL - Heavy duty steel multi-purpose blasting tool, spring loaded with thumb lock, marked on one side THE ENSIGN-BICKFORD CO. SIMSBURY, CONN, 7 3/8 in. long, ca. early 1930s; well-made tool includes wire cutter, fuse splitter, sleeve crimp jaw, fuse cutter, wire stripper, cap punch and pry bar (The Ensign-Bickford Company pioneered the introduction of the safety fuse for mining in the U.S. Prior to the development of safety fuse, black powder charges were ignited by such methods as trails of powder to cartridges, kerosene soaked rags stuffed into blast holes, and goose quills filled with black powder to form a sort of fuse. Premature and unpredictable explosions with these early methods led to a heavy miners’ death toll in underground accidents. These accidents led William Bickford of Tuckingmill, Cornwall, to invent a method whereby blasting ignition could be controlled by a uniform and determinate rate of speed. His patent for the Miner’s Safety Fuse (British patent No. 6159/1831) was awarded on Sept. 6, 1831 for a fuse “consisting of a number of jute threads, passed through an orifice and stretched to rotate slowly while at the same time a small amount of fine gunpowder fell into the tube thus formed and was retained therein as a slender core.” Following Bickford’s death in 1834 at age 60, Bickford’s safety fuse was introduced into the U.S. through Richard Bacon, then superintendent of the copper mines of the Phoenix Mining Company at Old Newgate Prison, Granby, CT. Bacon made arrangements with Bickford, Smith & Davey, the original British manufacturers of safety fuse, to build a plant in 1836 at Simsbury, CT to manufacture the fuse under the name of Bacon, Bickford & Eales Co. By 1839, Joseph Toy came from the Tuckingmill plant in England to soon become manager of the Simsbury factory, continuing in that capacity until Toy’s death in 1887. Under Toy’s management the name was changed to Toy, Bickford & Co. in 1852. Toy was responsible for dramatically improving production safety and market expansion while developing different varieties of safety fuse as the growing amount of coal and metal mining in the U.S. increased. After Toy’s death, Ralph Ensign, his son-in-law, became manager of the Simsbury facility and the name was changed to Ensign, Bickford & Co. In 1907 the business was incorporated as the Ensign-Bickford Co. and a consolidation with the Climax Fuse Co. of New York took place with Ensign as the president of the corporation. He held that position till his death in 1917 when his son, Joseph Ensign, succeeded him. By this time, the quality of the standard safety fuse product had been steadily improved with a very regular burning rate, good appearance and excellent water resistance. Ensign-Bickford not only supplied the mining industry across the U.S., it also provided many million feet of fuse for the construction of the Panama Canal and special fuse for munitions during World War I. In 1936, The Ensign-Bickford Company celebrated its 100th anniversary and introduced its promising new detonating cord, which eventually accounted for two-thirds of the company’s income. Ensign-Bickford's Primacord became the functional generic name for detonating cord in North America. The company continues in business today as Ensign-Bickford Industries. See VanGelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, 1927, pp 721-729 and Kynor, Multi Purpose Cap Crimper from Ensign-Bickford Co., Collectors’ Mining Review #1, pp 23-25) ENSIGN-BICKFORD BLASTING TOOL - Heavy duty steel multi-purpose blasting tool, spring loaded with thumb lock, marked on one side THE ENSIGN-BICKFORD CO. SIMSBURY, CONN, 7 3/8 in. long, ca. early 1930s; well-made tool includes wire cutter, fuse splitter, sleeve crimp jaw, fuse cutter, wire stripper, cap punch and pry bar (The Ensign-Bickford Company pioneered the introduction of the safety fuse for mining in the U.S. Prior to the development of safety fuse, black powder charges were ignited by such methods as trails of powder to cartridges, kerosene soaked rags stuffed into blast holes, and goose quills filled with black powder to form a sort of fuse. Premature and unpredictable explosions with these early methods led to a heavy miners’ death toll in underground accidents. These accidents led William Bickford of Tuckingmill, Cornwall, to invent a method whereby blasting ignition could be controlled by a uniform and determinate rate of speed. His patent for the Miner’s Safety Fuse (British patent No. 6159/1831) was awarded on Sept. 6, 1831 for a fuse “consisting of a number of jute threads, passed through an orifice and stretched to rotate slowly while at the same time a small amount of fine gunpowder fell into the tube thus formed and was retained therein as a slender core.” Following Bickford’s death in 1834 at age 60, Bickford’s safety fuse was introduced into the U.S. through Richard Bacon, then superintendent of the copper mines of the Phoenix Mining Company at Old Newgate Prison, Granby, CT. Bacon made arrangements with Bickford, Smith & Davey, the original British manufacturers of safety fuse, to build a plant in 1836 at Simsbury, CT to manufacture the fuse under the name of Bacon, Bickford & Eales Co. By 1839, Joseph Toy came from the Tuckingmill plant in England to soon become manager of the Simsbury factory, continuing in that capacity until Toy’s death in 1887. Under Toy’s management the name was changed to Toy, Bickford & Co. in 1852. Toy was responsible for dramatically improving production safety and market expansion while developing different varieties of safety fuse as the growing amount of coal and metal mining in the U.S. increased. After Toy’s death, Ralph Ensign, his son-in-law, became manager of the Simsbury facility and the name was changed to Ensign, Bickford & Co. In 1907 the business was incorporated as the Ensign-Bickford Co. and a consolidation with the Climax Fuse Co. of New York took place with Ensign as the president of the corporation. He held that position till his death in 1917 when his son, Joseph Ensign, succeeded him. By this time, the quality of the standard safety fuse product had been steadily improved with a very regular burning rate, good appearance and excellent water resistance. Ensign-Bickford not only supplied the mining industry across the U.S., it also provided many million feet of fuse for the construction of the Panama Canal and special fuse for munitions during World War I. In 1936, The Ensign-Bickford Company celebrated its 100th anniversary and introduced its promising new detonating cord, which eventually accounted for two-thirds of the company’s income. Ensign-Bickford's Primacord became the functional generic name for detonating cord in North America. The company continues in business today as Ensign-Bickford Industries. See VanGelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, 1927, pp 721-729 and Kynor, Multi Purpose Cap Crimper from Ensign-Bickford Co., Collectors’ Mining Review #1, pp 23-25) slides/Ensign Bickford Crimpers Open.jpg slides/Ensign Bickford Crimpers Marking.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 ENSIGN-BICKFORD BLASTING TOOL - Heavy duty steel multi-purpose blasting tool, spring loaded with thumb lock, marked on one side THE ENSIGN-BICKFORD CO. SIMSBURY, CONN, 7 3/8 in. long, ca. early 1930s; well-made tool includes wire cutter, fuse splitter, sleeve crimp jaw, fuse cutter, wire stripper, cap punch and pry bar (The Ensign-Bickford Company pioneered the introduction of the safety fuse for mining in the U.S. Prior to the development of safety fuse, black powder charges were ignited by such methods as trails of powder to cartridges, kerosene soaked rags stuffed into blast holes, and goose quills filled with black powder to form a sort of fuse. Premature and unpredictable explosions with these early methods led to a heavy miners’ death toll in underground accidents. These accidents led William Bickford of Tuckingmill, Cornwall, to invent a method whereby blasting ignition could be controlled by a uniform and determinate rate of speed. His patent for the Miner’s Safety Fuse (British patent No. 6159/1831) was awarded on Sept. 6, 1831 for a fuse “consisting of a number of jute threads, passed through an orifice and stretched to rotate slowly while at the same time a small amount of fine gunpowder fell into the tube thus formed and was retained therein as a slender core.” Following Bickford’s death in 1834 at age 60, Bickford’s safety fuse was introduced into the U.S. through Richard Bacon, then superintendent of the copper mines of the Phoenix Mining Company at Old Newgate Prison, Granby, CT. Bacon made arrangements with Bickford, Smith & Davey, the original British manufacturers of safety fuse, to build a plant in 1836 at Simsbury, CT to manufacture the fuse under the name of Bacon, Bickford & Eales Co. By 1839, Joseph Toy came from the Tuckingmill plant in England to soon become manager of the Simsbury factory, continuing in that capacity until Toy’s death in 1887. Under Toy’s management the name was changed to Toy, Bickford & Co. in 1852. Toy was responsible for dramatically improving production safety and market expansion while developing different varieties of safety fuse as the growing amount of coal and metal mining in the U.S. increased. After Toy’s death, Ralph Ensign, his son-in-law, became manager of the Simsbury facility and the name was changed to Ensign, Bickford & Co. In 1907 the business was incorporated as the Ensign-Bickford Co. and a consolidation with the Climax Fuse Co. of New York took place with Ensign as the president of the corporation. He held that position till his death in 1917 when his son, Joseph Ensign, succeeded him. By this time, the quality of the standard safety fuse product had been steadily improved with a very regular burning rate, good appearance and excellent water resistance. Ensign-Bickford not only supplied the mining industry across the U.S., it also provided many million feet of fuse for the construction of the Panama Canal and special fuse for munitions during World War I. In 1936, The Ensign-Bickford Company celebrated its 100th anniversary and introduced its promising new detonating cord, which eventually accounted for two-thirds of the company’s income. Ensign-Bickford's Primacord became the functional generic name for detonating cord in North America. The company continues in business today as Ensign-Bickford Industries. See VanGelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, 1927, pp 721-729 and Kynor, Multi Purpose Cap Crimper from Ensign-Bickford Co., Collectors’ Mining Review #1, pp 23-25) ENSIGN-BICKFORD BLASTING TOOL - Heavy duty steel multi-purpose blasting tool, spring loaded with thumb lock, marked on one side THE ENSIGN-BICKFORD CO. SIMSBURY, CONN, 7 3/8 in. long, ca. early 1930s; well-made tool includes wire cutter, fuse splitter, sleeve crimp jaw, fuse cutter, wire stripper, cap punch and pry bar (The Ensign-Bickford Company pioneered the introduction of the safety fuse for mining in the U.S. Prior to the development of safety fuse, black powder charges were ignited by such methods as trails of powder to cartridges, kerosene soaked rags stuffed into blast holes, and goose quills filled with black powder to form a sort of fuse. Premature and unpredictable explosions with these early methods led to a heavy miners’ death toll in underground accidents. These accidents led William Bickford of Tuckingmill, Cornwall, to invent a method whereby blasting ignition could be controlled by a uniform and determinate rate of speed. His patent for the Miner’s Safety Fuse (British patent No. 6159/1831) was awarded on Sept. 6, 1831 for a fuse “consisting of a number of jute threads, passed through an orifice and stretched to rotate slowly while at the same time a small amount of fine gunpowder fell into the tube thus formed and was retained therein as a slender core.” Following Bickford’s death in 1834 at age 60, Bickford’s safety fuse was introduced into the U.S. through Richard Bacon, then superintendent of the copper mines of the Phoenix Mining Company at Old Newgate Prison, Granby, CT. Bacon made arrangements with Bickford, Smith & Davey, the original British manufacturers of safety fuse, to build a plant in 1836 at Simsbury, CT to manufacture the fuse under the name of Bacon, Bickford & Eales Co. By 1839, Joseph Toy came from the Tuckingmill plant in England to soon become manager of the Simsbury factory, continuing in that capacity until Toy’s death in 1887. Under Toy’s management the name was changed to Toy, Bickford & Co. in 1852. Toy was responsible for dramatically improving production safety and market expansion while developing different varieties of safety fuse as the growing amount of coal and metal mining in the U.S. increased. After Toy’s death, Ralph Ensign, his son-in-law, became manager of the Simsbury facility and the name was changed to Ensign, Bickford & Co. In 1907 the business was incorporated as the Ensign-Bickford Co. and a consolidation with the Climax Fuse Co. of New York took place with Ensign as the president of the corporation. He held that position till his death in 1917 when his son, Joseph Ensign, succeeded him. By this time, the quality of the standard safety fuse product had been steadily improved with a very regular burning rate, good appearance and excellent water resistance. Ensign-Bickford not only supplied the mining industry across the U.S., it also provided many million feet of fuse for the construction of the Panama Canal and special fuse for munitions during World War I. In 1936, The Ensign-Bickford Company celebrated its 100th anniversary and introduced its promising new detonating cord, which eventually accounted for two-thirds of the company’s income. Ensign-Bickford's Primacord became the functional generic name for detonating cord in North America. The company continues in business today as Ensign-Bickford Industries. See VanGelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, 1927, pp 721-729 and Kynor, Multi Purpose Cap Crimper from Ensign-Bickford Co., Collectors’ Mining Review #1, pp 23-25) slides/Ensign Bickford Crimpers Marking.jpg slides/Fidelity.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 FIDELITY 10 CAP BLASTER - US Army 10 cap, unit no. R19158, mfg. by Fidelity Electric Co., patented Jul-29-1930 FIDELITY 10 CAP BLASTER - US Army 10 cap, unit no. R19158, mfg. by Fidelity Electric Co., patented Jul-29-1930 slides/Fidelity.JPG slides/Fort Pitt Ad - 1915 Keystone Coal Catalogue.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 Ad for the Fort Pitt Powder Company from the 1915 Keystone Coal Catalogue Ad for the Fort Pitt Powder Company from the 1915 Keystone Coal Catalogue slides/Fort Pitt Ad - 1915 Keystone Coal Catalogue.jpg slides/Fort Pitt Caps.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 FORT PITT - Very rare tin, marked on top in light blue with white letters 100 FORT PITT BLASTING CAPS, 1 1/8 x 2 1/8 x 2 ½ in. box with crimped bottom (The Fort Pitt Powder Company of Pittsburgh was incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1911 with George W. Reese as president. The company operated a blasting powder mill at Putneyville, PA that eventually reached a daily capacity of 1000 kegs. In 1912, they acquired the American Cap Company and their blasting cap plant at Scottdale, PA which just started in business 2 years earlier with Charles Loucke as president. Fort Pitt Powder Co. also sold their brand of dynamite that was made by the Cameron Powder Company. In 1916, they were purchased by the Atlas Powder Company. The Fort Pitt cap tin is very rare due to the very short time they were manufactured. The tin originally came with a paper label on the bottom. The top depicts an ore car at the mouth of a mine below a representation of Fort Pitt, an historic fort located in downtown Pittsburgh. This tin is one of Andy Martin’s arguable top ten cap tins. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 310, 472-74, 761 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, p 44) FORT PITT - Very rare tin, marked on top in light blue with white letters 100 FORT PITT BLASTING CAPS, 1 1/8 x 2 1/8 x 2 ½ in. box with crimped bottom (The Fort Pitt Powder Company of Pittsburgh was incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1911 with George W. Reese as president. The company operated a blasting powder mill at Putneyville, PA that eventually reached a daily capacity of 1000 kegs. In 1912, they acquired the American Cap Company and their blasting cap plant at Scottdale, PA which just started in business 2 years earlier with Charles Loucke as president. Fort Pitt Powder Co. also sold their brand of dynamite that was made by the Cameron Powder Company. In 1916, they were purchased by the Atlas Powder Company. The Fort Pitt cap tin is very rare due to the very short time they were manufactured. The tin originally came with a paper label on the bottom. The top depicts an ore car at the mouth of a mine below a representation of Fort Pitt, an historic fort located in downtown Pittsburgh. This tin is one of Andy Martin’s arguable top ten cap tins. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 310, 472-74, 761 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, p 44) slides/Fort Pitt Caps.jpg slides/Fuse Cutter and Dynamite Poke Tool.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 FUSE CUTTER POWDERMAN'S TOOL - Steel powderman’s tool with fuse cutter and dynamite poke; 8 in. long; marked H-B on side thought to stand for Hendrie and Bolthoff Tool Co., Denver, CO; with cutting blade tapering from 1/4 in. thickness at top with blunt end on one end and a blunt dynamite poke on the other; NOS found in Durango, CO, acquired from Ted Bobrink FUSE CUTTER POWDERMAN'S TOOL - Steel powderman’s tool with fuse cutter and dynamite poke; 8 in. long; marked H-B on side thought to stand for Hendrie and Bolthoff Tool Co., Denver, CO; with cutting blade tapering from 1/4 in. thickness at top with blunt end on one end and a blunt dynamite poke on the other; NOS found in Durango, CO, acquired from Ted Bobrink slides/Fuse Cutter and Dynamite Poke Tool.jpg slides/Grasselli.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 GRASSELLI - Very rare tin, marked on top in light blue-green and white paint with dark blue letters GRASSELLI BLASTING CAPS 100 No 6 THE GRASSELLI POWDER CO CLEVELAND, OHIO with an oval trademark GRASSELLI CHEMICALS ZINC EXPLOSIVES DYESTUFFS EST.1839, crimped bottom, 1 1/2 x 2 1/8 x 2 1/2 in. box (The Grasselli Chemical Co. began in Cincinnati where Eugene Ramiro Grasselli established a chemical works to manufacture sulfuric acid in 1839. In 1866, Grasselli erected a plant in Cleveland on Independence Rd. near Broadway and moved his headquarters there the following year to manufacture sulfuric acid in quantity for the city's growing number of oil refineries. The company shared in the growth of the Standard Oil Co. refinery, and in 1873 Eugene's son, Caesar Augustin Grasselli, became a partner in the works, which continued business under the name E. Grasselli & Son. After the founder's death in 1882, the partnership was dissolved and the Grasselli Chemical Co. was formed in 1885 with Caesar as president. The company grew by acquisition and consolidation, establishing plants throughout the U.S. As other chemical-dependent industries grew, the company established plants throughout the eastern U.S. and diversified its product line to include acetic acid, silicate of soda, fertilizers, and zinc. During World War I Grasselli entered the explosives field. In 1917, the company acquired the Burton Powder Co., the American High Explosives Co. and the Cameron Powder Mfg. Co. all of which were merged into the Grasselli Powder Co. and incorporated on July 12, 1917. From 1917 to 1928 the Grasselli Powder Co. was a major producer of explosives including different types and strengths of dynamite, blasting powder, and permissible powders. They also manufactured blasting supplies including blasting caps, electric blasting caps, safety fuse and blasting machines. In 1928, a year after the death of Caesar Grasselli, the Grasselli Chemical Co. consolidated with the E. I. Du Pont de Nemours Co. Thomas S. Grasselli, who had succeeded his father, Caesar, as president in 1916, became vice-president and a director of Du Pont. At the time of the merger, the Grasselli empire encompassed 14 plants. In 1936 the company was dissolved and the Grasselli Chemical Dept. took over this phase of the Du Pont business. In 1984 Du Pont's Chemicals & Pigments Dept. operated at the original Grasselli site, producing sulfuric acid, zinc chloride, galvanizing fluxes, sodium bisulfate, and silicates. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 626-630) GRASSELLI - Very rare tin, marked on top in light blue-green and white paint with dark blue letters GRASSELLI BLASTING CAPS 100 No 6 THE GRASSELLI POWDER CO CLEVELAND, OHIO with an oval trademark GRASSELLI CHEMICALS ZINC EXPLOSIVES DYESTUFFS EST.1839, crimped bottom, 1 1/2 x 2 1/8 x 2 1/2 in. box (The Grasselli Chemical Co. began in Cincinnati where Eugene Ramiro Grasselli established a chemical works to manufacture sulfuric acid in 1839. In 1866, Grasselli erected a plant in Cleveland on Independence Rd. near Broadway and moved his headquarters there the following year to manufacture sulfuric acid in quantity for the city's growing number of oil refineries. The company shared in the growth of the Standard Oil Co. refinery, and in 1873 Eugene's son, Caesar Augustin Grasselli, became a partner in the works, which continued business under the name E. Grasselli & Son. After the founder's death in 1882, the partnership was dissolved and the Grasselli Chemical Co. was formed in 1885 with Caesar as president. The company grew by acquisition and consolidation, establishing plants throughout the U.S. As other chemical-dependent industries grew, the company established plants throughout the eastern U.S. and diversified its product line to include acetic acid, silicate of soda, fertilizers, and zinc. During World War I Grasselli entered the explosives field. In 1917, the company acquired the Burton Powder Co., the American High Explosives Co. and the Cameron Powder Mfg. Co. all of which were merged into the Grasselli Powder Co. and incorporated on July 12, 1917. From 1917 to 1928 the Grasselli Powder Co. was a major producer of explosives including different types and strengths of dynamite, blasting powder, and permissible powders. They also manufactured blasting supplies including blasting caps, electric blasting caps, safety fuse and blasting machines. In 1928, a year after the death of Caesar Grasselli, the Grasselli Chemical Co. consolidated with the E. I. Du Pont de Nemours Co. Thomas S. Grasselli, who had succeeded his father, Caesar, as president in 1916, became vice-president and a director of Du Pont. At the time of the merger, the Grasselli empire encompassed 14 plants. In 1936 the company was dissolved and the Grasselli Chemical Dept. took over this phase of the Du Pont business. In 1984 Du Pont's Chemicals & Pigments Dept. operated at the original Grasselli site, producing sulfuric acid, zinc chloride, galvanizing fluxes, sodium bisulfate, and silicates. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 626-630) slides/Grasselli.JPG slides/Grasselli 25x6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 GRASSELLI ROUND - Rare Grasselli Powder Co. cap tin, Cleveland, OH, light blue with dark blue letters, 25 No. 6 cap tin 1 5/8 in. tall x 1 1/2 in. dia. cylinder, crimped bottom, top marked 25 No. 6 BLASTING CAPS around Grasselli trademark in center (The Grasselli Chemical Co. began in Cincinnati where Eugene Ramiro Grasselli established a chemical works to manufacture sulfuric acid in 1839. In 1866, Grasselli erected a plant in Cleveland on Independence Rd. near Broadway and moved his headquarters there the following year to manufacture sulfuric acid in quantity for the city's growing number of oil refineries. The company shared in the growth of the Standard Oil Co. refinery, and in 1873 Eugene's son, Caesar Augustin Grasselli, became a partner in the works, which continued business under the name E. Grasselli & Son. After the founder's death in 1882, the partnership was dissolved and the Grasselli Chemical Co. was formed in 1885 with Caesar as president. The company grew by acquisition and consolidation, establishing plants throughout the U.S. As other chemical-dependent industries grew, the company established plants throughout the eastern U.S. and diversified its product line to include acetic acid, silicate of soda, fertilizers, and zinc. During World War I Grasselli entered the explosives field. In 1917, the company acquired the Burton Powder Co., the American High Explosives Co. and the Cameron Powder Mfg. Co. all of which were merged into the Grasselli Powder Co. and incorporated on July 12, 1917. From 1917 to 1928 the Grasselli Powder Co. was a major producer of explosives including different types and strengths of dynamite, blasting powder, and permissible powders. They also manufactured blasting supplies including blasting caps, electric blasting caps, safety fuse and blasting machines. In 1928, a year after the death of Caesar Grasselli, the Grasselli Chemical Co. consolidated with the E. I. Du Pont de Nemours Co. Thomas S. Grasselli, who had succeeded his father, Caesar, as president in 1916, became vice-president and a director of Du Pont. At the time of the merger, the Grasselli empire encompassed 14 plants. In 1936 the company was dissolved and the Grasselli Chemical Dept. took over this phase of the Du Pont business. In 1984 Du Pont's Chemicals & Pigments Dept. operated at the original Grasselli site, producing sulfuric acid, zinc chloride, galvanizing fluxes, sodium bisulfate, and silicates. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 626-630) GRASSELLI ROUND - Rare Grasselli Powder Co. cap tin, Cleveland, OH, light blue with dark blue letters, 25 No. 6 cap tin 1 5/8 in. tall x 1 1/2 in. dia. cylinder, crimped bottom, top marked 25 No. 6 BLASTING CAPS around Grasselli trademark in center (The Grasselli Chemical Co. began in Cincinnati where Eugene Ramiro Grasselli established a chemical works to manufacture sulfuric acid in 1839. In 1866, Grasselli erected a plant in Cleveland on Independence Rd. near Broadway and moved his headquarters there the following year to manufacture sulfuric acid in quantity for the city's growing number of oil refineries. The company shared in the growth of the Standard Oil Co. refinery, and in 1873 Eugene's son, Caesar Augustin Grasselli, became a partner in the works, which continued business under the name E. Grasselli & Son. After the founder's death in 1882, the partnership was dissolved and the Grasselli Chemical Co. was formed in 1885 with Caesar as president. The company grew by acquisition and consolidation, establishing plants throughout the U.S. As other chemical-dependent industries grew, the company established plants throughout the eastern U.S. and diversified its product line to include acetic acid, silicate of soda, fertilizers, and zinc. During World War I Grasselli entered the explosives field. In 1917, the company acquired the Burton Powder Co., the American High Explosives Co. and the Cameron Powder Mfg. Co. all of which were merged into the Grasselli Powder Co. and incorporated on July 12, 1917. From 1917 to 1928 the Grasselli Powder Co. was a major producer of explosives including different types and strengths of dynamite, blasting powder, and permissible powders. They also manufactured blasting supplies including blasting caps, electric blasting caps, safety fuse and blasting machines. In 1928, a year after the death of Caesar Grasselli, the Grasselli Chemical Co. consolidated with the E. I. Du Pont de Nemours Co. Thomas S. Grasselli, who had succeeded his father, Caesar, as president in 1916, became vice-president and a director of Du Pont. At the time of the merger, the Grasselli empire encompassed 14 plants. In 1936 the company was dissolved and the Grasselli Chemical Dept. took over this phase of the Du Pont business. In 1984 Du Pont's Chemicals & Pigments Dept. operated at the original Grasselli site, producing sulfuric acid, zinc chloride, galvanizing fluxes, sodium bisulfate, and silicates. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 626-630) slides/Grasselli 25x6.jpg slides/Grasselli Cap Crimper Side1.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 GRASSELLI CAP CRIMPER - Steel cap crimper and fuse cutter marked on one side THE GRASSELLI POWDER COMPANY and on the other side CLEVELAND, OHIO, 5 1/4 in. long, ca. 1917-1928 (The Grasselli Chemical Co. began in Cincinnati where Eugene Ramiro Grasselli established a chemical works to manufacture sulfuric acid in 1839. In 1866, Grasselli erected a plant in Cleveland on Independence Rd. near Broadway and moved his headquarters there the following year to manufacture sulfuric acid in quantity for the city's growing number of oil refineries. The company shared in the growth of the Standard Oil Co. refinery, and in 1873 Eugene's son, Caesar Augustin Grasselli, became a partner in the works, which continued business under the name E. Grasselli & Son. After the founder's death in 1882, the partnership was dissolved and the Grasselli Chemical Co. was formed in 1885 with Caesar as president. The company grew by acquisition and consolidation, establishing plants throughout the U.S. As other chemical-dependent industries grew, the company established plants throughout the eastern U.S. and diversified its product line to include acetic acid, silicate of soda, fertilizers, and zinc. During World War I Grasselli entered the explosives field. In 1917, the company acquired the Burton Powder Co., the American High Explosives Co. and the Cameron Powder Mfg. Co. all of which were merged into the Grasselli Powder Co. and incorporated on July 12, 1917. From 1917 to 1928 the Grasselli Powder Co. was a major producer of explosives including different types and strengths of dynamite, blasting powder, and permissible powders. They also manufactured blasting supplies including blasting caps, electric blasting caps, safety fuse and blasting machines. In 1928, a year after the death of Caesar Grasselli, the Grasselli Chemical Co. consolidated with the E. I. Du Pont de Nemours Co. Thomas S. Grasselli, who had succeeded his father, Caesar, as president in 1916, became vice-president and a director of Du Pont. At the time of the merger, the Grasselli empire encompassed 14 plants. In 1936 the company was dissolved and the Grasselli Chemical Dept. took over this phase of the Du Pont business. In 1984 Du Pont's Chemicals & Pigments Dept. operated at the original Grasselli site, producing sulfuric acid, zinc chloride, galvanizing fluxes, sodium bisulfate, and silicates. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 626-630) GRASSELLI CAP CRIMPER - Steel cap crimper and fuse cutter marked on one side THE GRASSELLI POWDER COMPANY and on the other side CLEVELAND, OHIO, 5 1/4 in. long, ca. 1917-1928 (The Grasselli Chemical Co. began in Cincinnati where Eugene Ramiro Grasselli established a chemical works to manufacture sulfuric acid in 1839. In 1866, Grasselli erected a plant in Cleveland on Independence Rd. near Broadway and moved his headquarters there the following year to manufacture sulfuric acid in quantity for the city's growing number of oil refineries. The company shared in the growth of the Standard Oil Co. refinery, and in 1873 Eugene's son, Caesar Augustin Grasselli, became a partner in the works, which continued business under the name E. Grasselli & Son. After the founder's death in 1882, the partnership was dissolved and the Grasselli Chemical Co. was formed in 1885 with Caesar as president. The company grew by acquisition and consolidation, establishing plants throughout the U.S. As other chemical-dependent industries grew, the company established plants throughout the eastern U.S. and diversified its product line to include acetic acid, silicate of soda, fertilizers, and zinc. During World War I Grasselli entered the explosives field. In 1917, the company acquired the Burton Powder Co., the American High Explosives Co. and the Cameron Powder Mfg. Co. all of which were merged into the Grasselli Powder Co. and incorporated on July 12, 1917. From 1917 to 1928 the Grasselli Powder Co. was a major producer of explosives including different types and strengths of dynamite, blasting powder, and permissible powders. They also manufactured blasting supplies including blasting caps, electric blasting caps, safety fuse and blasting machines. In 1928, a year after the death of Caesar Grasselli, the Grasselli Chemical Co. consolidated with the E. I. Du Pont de Nemours Co. Thomas S. Grasselli, who had succeeded his father, Caesar, as president in 1916, became vice-president and a director of Du Pont. At the time of the merger, the Grasselli empire encompassed 14 plants. In 1936 the company was dissolved and the Grasselli Chemical Dept. took over this phase of the Du Pont business. In 1984 Du Pont's Chemicals & Pigments Dept. operated at the original Grasselli site, producing sulfuric acid, zinc chloride, galvanizing fluxes, sodium bisulfate, and silicates. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 626-630) slides/Grasselli Cap Crimper Side1.jpg slides/Grasselli Cap Crimper Side2.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 GRASSELLI CAP CRIMPER - Steel cap crimper and fuse cutter marked on one side THE GRASSELLI POWDER COMPANY and on the other side CLEVELAND, OHIO, 5 1/4 in. long, ca. 1917-1928 (The Grasselli Chemical Co. began in Cincinnati where Eugene Ramiro Grasselli established a chemical works to manufacture sulfuric acid in 1839. In 1866, Grasselli erected a plant in Cleveland on Independence Rd. near Broadway and moved his headquarters there the following year to manufacture sulfuric acid in quantity for the city's growing number of oil refineries. The company shared in the growth of the Standard Oil Co. refinery, and in 1873 Eugene's son, Caesar Augustin Grasselli, became a partner in the works, which continued business under the name E. Grasselli & Son. After the founder's death in 1882, the partnership was dissolved and the Grasselli Chemical Co. was formed in 1885 with Caesar as president. The company grew by acquisition and consolidation, establishing plants throughout the U.S. As other chemical-dependent industries grew, the company established plants throughout the eastern U.S. and diversified its product line to include acetic acid, silicate of soda, fertilizers, and zinc. During World War I Grasselli entered the explosives field. In 1917, the company acquired the Burton Powder Co., the American High Explosives Co. and the Cameron Powder Mfg. Co. all of which were merged into the Grasselli Powder Co. and incorporated on July 12, 1917. From 1917 to 1928 the Grasselli Powder Co. was a major producer of explosives including different types and strengths of dynamite, blasting powder, and permissible powders. They also manufactured blasting supplies including blasting caps, electric blasting caps, safety fuse and blasting machines. In 1928, a year after the death of Caesar Grasselli, the Grasselli Chemical Co. consolidated with the E. I. Du Pont de Nemours Co. Thomas S. Grasselli, who had succeeded his father, Caesar, as president in 1916, became vice-president and a director of Du Pont. At the time of the merger, the Grasselli empire encompassed 14 plants. In 1936 the company was dissolved and the Grasselli Chemical Dept. took over this phase of the Du Pont business. In 1984 Du Pont's Chemicals & Pigments Dept. operated at the original Grasselli site, producing sulfuric acid, zinc chloride, galvanizing fluxes, sodium bisulfate, and silicates. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 626-630) GRASSELLI CAP CRIMPER - Steel cap crimper and fuse cutter marked on one side THE GRASSELLI POWDER COMPANY and on the other side CLEVELAND, OHIO, 5 1/4 in. long, ca. 1917-1928 (The Grasselli Chemical Co. began in Cincinnati where Eugene Ramiro Grasselli established a chemical works to manufacture sulfuric acid in 1839. In 1866, Grasselli erected a plant in Cleveland on Independence Rd. near Broadway and moved his headquarters there the following year to manufacture sulfuric acid in quantity for the city's growing number of oil refineries. The company shared in the growth of the Standard Oil Co. refinery, and in 1873 Eugene's son, Caesar Augustin Grasselli, became a partner in the works, which continued business under the name E. Grasselli & Son. After the founder's death in 1882, the partnership was dissolved and the Grasselli Chemical Co. was formed in 1885 with Caesar as president. The company grew by acquisition and consolidation, establishing plants throughout the U.S. As other chemical-dependent industries grew, the company established plants throughout the eastern U.S. and diversified its product line to include acetic acid, silicate of soda, fertilizers, and zinc. During World War I Grasselli entered the explosives field. In 1917, the company acquired the Burton Powder Co., the American High Explosives Co. and the Cameron Powder Mfg. Co. all of which were merged into the Grasselli Powder Co. and incorporated on July 12, 1917. From 1917 to 1928 the Grasselli Powder Co. was a major producer of explosives including different types and strengths of dynamite, blasting powder, and permissible powders. They also manufactured blasting supplies including blasting caps, electric blasting caps, safety fuse and blasting machines. In 1928, a year after the death of Caesar Grasselli, the Grasselli Chemical Co. consolidated with the E. I. Du Pont de Nemours Co. Thomas S. Grasselli, who had succeeded his father, Caesar, as president in 1916, became vice-president and a director of Du Pont. At the time of the merger, the Grasselli empire encompassed 14 plants. In 1936 the company was dissolved and the Grasselli Chemical Dept. took over this phase of the Du Pont business. In 1984 Du Pont's Chemicals & Pigments Dept. operated at the original Grasselli site, producing sulfuric acid, zinc chloride, galvanizing fluxes, sodium bisulfate, and silicates. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 626-630) slides/Grasselli Cap Crimper Side2.jpg slides/Hercules Powders 1915 Colliery Engineer.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 HERCULES POWDER AD - Ad in the 1915 Colliery Engineer for the Hercules Powder Co. permissible explosives HERCULES POWDER AD - Ad in the 1915 Colliery Engineer for the Hercules Powder Co. permissible explosives slides/Hercules Powders 1915 Colliery Engineer.JPG slides/Hercules Powder Yellow 100 x 6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 HERCULES YELLOW ROUND 100 X 6 - Hercules yellow and black 100 No. 6 caps tin, 1 3/4 in. dia, 2 3/4 in. tall; acquired from Mike Krystoff (The Hercules Powder Company was one of the several small explosives companies acquired by the Dupont Company in the 1880s. By the beginning of the 20th century, Dupont had absorbed so many of its competitors that it was producing two-thirds of the dynamite and gunpowder sold in the United States. One such competitor was the Laflin & Rand Powder Company, Dupont's leading post-Civil War competitor in the explosives industry, but also an important partner in the Gunpowder Trade Association (GTA). To better handle the growing complexities of business after the Civil War, the Laflin Powder Company was incorporated in 1866. A year later, Albert Tyler Rand of the competing Smith & Rand Powder Company proposed uniting the two firms, and in 1869 both sides agreed to merge into the Laflin & Rand Powder Company of New York, with Rand as the new firm's first president. In 1872 Laflin & Rand collaborated with friendly rival Dupont to establish the GTA, a trust comprising the nation's top explosives manufacturers that sought to regulate the powder industry with price controls, protected territories and sales quotas. The two companies likewise cooperated in the emerging high explosives, or dynamite, field jointly establishing the Repauno Chemical Company in 1880, the Hercules Powder Company in 1882, and the Eastern Dynamite Company in 1895. Their combined efforts at industry consolidation and control were so successful that by 1900, Laflin & Rand and Dupont together commanded over two-thirds of the entire explosives industry. In October 1902 Dupont purchased Laflin & Rand, operating it as a subsidiary. However, in 1912, a federal court, citing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and Dupont’s GTA activities, ordered Dupont broken up and dissolving Laflin & Rand. It was through this court-ordered action that the Hercules Powder Company was reborn, a manufacturer of explosives ostensibly separate from Dupont. Hercules received Laflin & Rand's patents for smokeless powder, along with several of its old plants. The division of the Dupont Company into Dupont, Atlas Powder Company, and Hercules Powder Company was intended to foster competition in the explosives industry, but in reality the antitrust agreement allowed the connection between Hercules and the parent company to remain intact. The new company was staffed by executives who had been transplanted from the Dupont headquarters across the street into the main offices of Hercules in Wilmington, Delaware. The Hercules Powder Company was set up as a fully developed business entity, complete with several explosives factories, a healthy segment of the explosives market, and a $5 million "loan" in its treasury. Hercules began as an explosives company serving the mining industry, gun owners, and the military. Like other manufacturers of explosives, Hercules preferred many small plants to a few large ones. Due to the company's risks involved in product transportation, these plants were located in proximity to customers, rather than near the source of raw materials. The company's first big break came in 1916 when Hercules signed a lucrative contract to supply Britain with acetone. The company also benefited from its sale of gunpowder to the army. In 1920, Hercules began to manufacture cotton cellulose from the lint left over from cotton seeds once the high-quality cotton has been extracted. Cotton cellulose is a fiber that has hundreds of industrial uses. When treated with nitroglycerine it becomes nitrocellulose, important in the production of lacquers and plastics. Hercules quickly became the world's leading maker of cotton cellulose. By 1935, Hercules had five divisions: explosives, naval stores (naval stores is a term that refers to products derived from tree sap), nitrocellulose, chemical cotton, and paper products. At the time of America's entrance into World War II, Hercules was the country's largest producer of naval stores and the third-largest producer of explosives. In the 1950s the company entered two markets it would later dominate: DMT and polypropylene. DMT is the chemical base for polyester fiber and was sold as a commodity to both chemical and polyester makers, including Dupont. Using waste gases from refineries, they manufactured polypropylene, an increasingly important type of plastic. In 1959, Hercules diversified into rocket fuels and propulsion systems for the Polaris, Minuteman, and Honest John missiles. In 1968, the company changed its name from Hercules Powder Company to Hercules Inc. and abandoned the explosives business. Laflin & Rand, the former subsidiary of Hercules Powder Company, continues today as the Alliant Powder Company, specializing in military gunpowder manufacturing. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 219-252 and 499-528) HERCULES YELLOW ROUND 100 X 6 - Hercules yellow and black 100 No. 6 caps tin, 1 3/4 in. dia, 2 3/4 in. tall; acquired from Mike Krystoff (The Hercules Powder Company was one of the several small explosives companies acquired by the Dupont Company in the 1880s. By the beginning of the 20th century, Dupont had absorbed so many of its competitors that it was producing two-thirds of the dynamite and gunpowder sold in the United States. One such competitor was the Laflin & Rand Powder Company, Dupont's leading post-Civil War competitor in the explosives industry, but also an important partner in the Gunpowder Trade Association (GTA). To better handle the growing complexities of business after the Civil War, the Laflin Powder Company was incorporated in 1866. A year later, Albert Tyler Rand of the competing Smith & Rand Powder Company proposed uniting the two firms, and in 1869 both sides agreed to merge into the Laflin & Rand Powder Company of New York, with Rand as the new firm's first president. In 1872 Laflin & Rand collaborated with friendly rival Dupont to establish the GTA, a trust comprising the nation's top explosives manufacturers that sought to regulate the powder industry with price controls, protected territories and sales quotas. The two companies likewise cooperated in the emerging high explosives, or dynamite, field jointly establishing the Repauno Chemical Company in 1880, the Hercules Powder Company in 1882, and the Eastern Dynamite Company in 1895. Their combined efforts at industry consolidation and control were so successful that by 1900, Laflin & Rand and Dupont together commanded over two-thirds of the entire explosives industry. In October 1902 Dupont purchased Laflin & Rand, operating it as a subsidiary. However, in 1912, a federal court, citing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and Dupont’s GTA activities, ordered Dupont broken up and dissolving Laflin & Rand. It was through this court-ordered action that the Hercules Powder Company was reborn, a manufacturer of explosives ostensibly separate from Dupont. Hercules received Laflin & Rand's patents for smokeless powder, along with several of its old plants. The division of the Dupont Company into Dupont, Atlas Powder Company, and Hercules Powder Company was intended to foster competition in the explosives industry, but in reality the antitrust agreement allowed the connection between Hercules and the parent company to remain intact. The new company was staffed by executives who had been transplanted from the Dupont headquarters across the street into the main offices of Hercules in Wilmington, Delaware. The Hercules Powder Company was set up as a fully developed business entity, complete with several explosives factories, a healthy segment of the explosives market, and a $5 million "loan" in its treasury. Hercules began as an explosives company serving the mining industry, gun owners, and the military. Like other manufacturers of explosives, Hercules preferred many small plants to a few large ones. Due to the company's risks involved in product transportation, these plants were located in proximity to customers, rather than near the source of raw materials. The company's first big break came in 1916 when Hercules signed a lucrative contract to supply Britain with acetone. The company also benefited from its sale of gunpowder to the army. In 1920, Hercules began to manufacture cotton cellulose from the lint left over from cotton seeds once the high-quality cotton has been extracted. Cotton cellulose is a fiber that has hundreds of industrial uses. When treated with nitroglycerine it becomes nitrocellulose, important in the production of lacquers and plastics. Hercules quickly became the world's leading maker of cotton cellulose. By 1935, Hercules had five divisions: explosives, naval stores (naval stores is a term that refers to products derived from tree sap), nitrocellulose, chemical cotton, and paper products. At the time of America's entrance into World War II, Hercules was the country's largest producer of naval stores and the third-largest producer of explosives. In the 1950s the company entered two markets it would later dominate: DMT and polypropylene. DMT is the chemical base for polyester fiber and was sold as a commodity to both chemical and polyester makers, including Dupont. Using waste gases from refineries, they manufactured polypropylene, an increasingly important type of plastic. In 1959, Hercules diversified into rocket fuels and propulsion systems for the Polaris, Minuteman, and Honest John missiles. In 1968, the company changed its name from Hercules Powder Company to Hercules Inc. and abandoned the explosives business. Laflin & Rand, the former subsidiary of Hercules Powder Company, continues today as the Alliant Powder Company, specializing in military gunpowder manufacturing. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 219-252 and 499-528) slides/Hercules Powder Yellow 100 x 6.jpg slides/Hercules Powder Brown 100 x 6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 HERCULES BROWN ROUND 100 X 6 - Round Hercules No. 6 brown tin, 100 count (The Hercules Powder Company was one of the several small explosives companies acquired by the Dupont Company in the 1880s. By the beginning of the 20th century, Dupont had absorbed so many of its competitors that it was producing two-thirds of the dynamite and gunpowder sold in the United States. One such competitor was the Laflin & Rand Powder Company, Dupont's leading post-Civil War competitor in the explosives industry, but also an important partner in the Gunpowder Trade Association (GTA). To better handle the growing complexities of business after the Civil War, the Laflin Powder Company was incorporated in 1866. A year later, Albert Tyler Rand of the competing Smith & Rand Powder Company proposed uniting the two firms, and in 1869 both sides agreed to merge into the Laflin & Rand Powder Company of New York, with Rand as the new firm's first president. In 1872 Laflin & Rand collaborated with friendly rival Dupont to establish the GTA, a trust comprising the nation's top explosives manufacturers that sought to regulate the powder industry with price controls, protected territories and sales quotas. The two companies likewise cooperated in the emerging high explosives, or dynamite, field jointly establishing the Repauno Chemical Company in 1880, the Hercules Powder Company in 1882, and the Eastern Dynamite Company in 1895. Their combined efforts at industry consolidation and control were so successful that by 1900, Laflin & Rand and Dupont together commanded over two-thirds of the entire explosives industry. In October 1902 Dupont purchased Laflin & Rand, operating it as a subsidiary. However, in 1912, a federal court, citing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and Dupont’s GTA activities, ordered Dupont broken up and dissolving Laflin & Rand. It was through this court-ordered action that the Hercules Powder Company was reborn, a manufacturer of explosives ostensibly separate from Dupont. Hercules received Laflin & Rand's patents for smokeless powder, along with several of its old plants. The division of the Dupont Company into Dupont, Atlas Powder Company, and Hercules Powder Company was intended to foster competition in the explosives industry, but in reality the antitrust agreement allowed the connection between Hercules and the parent company to remain intact. The new company was staffed by executives who had been transplanted from the Dupont headquarters across the street into the main offices of Hercules in Wilmington, Delaware. The Hercules Powder Company was set up as a fully developed business entity, complete with several explosives factories, a healthy segment of the explosives market, and a $5 million "loan" in its treasury. Hercules began as an explosives company serving the mining industry, gun owners, and the military. Like other manufacturers of explosives, Hercules preferred many small plants to a few large ones. Due to the company's risks involved in product transportation, these plants were located in proximity to customers, rather than near the source of raw materials. The company's first big break came in 1916 when Hercules signed a lucrative contract to supply Britain with acetone. The company also benefited from its sale of gunpowder to the army. In 1920, Hercules began to manufacture cotton cellulose from the lint left over from cotton seeds once the high-quality cotton has been extracted. Cotton cellulose is a fiber that has hundreds of industrial uses. When treated with nitroglycerine it becomes nitrocellulose, important in the production of lacquers and plastics. Hercules quickly became the world's leading maker of cotton cellulose. By 1935, Hercules had five divisions: explosives, naval stores (naval stores is a term that refers to products derived from tree sap), nitrocellulose, chemical cotton, and paper products. At the time of America's entrance into World War II, Hercules was the country's largest producer of naval stores and the third-largest producer of explosives. In the 1950s the company entered two markets it would later dominate: DMT and polypropylene. DMT is the chemical base for polyester fiber and was sold as a commodity to both chemical and polyester makers, including Dupont. Using waste gases from refineries, they manufactured polypropylene, an increasingly important type of plastic. In 1959, Hercules diversified into rocket fuels and propulsion systems for the Polaris, Minuteman, and Honest John missiles. In 1968, the company changed its name from Hercules Powder Company to Hercules Inc. and abandoned the explosives business. Laflin & Rand, the former subsidiary of Hercules Powder Company, continues today as the Alliant Powder Company, specializing in military gunpowder manufacturing. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 219-252 and 499-528) HERCULES BROWN ROUND 100 X 6 - Round Hercules No. 6 brown tin, 100 count (The Hercules Powder Company was one of the several small explosives companies acquired by the Dupont Company in the 1880s. By the beginning of the 20th century, Dupont had absorbed so many of its competitors that it was producing two-thirds of the dynamite and gunpowder sold in the United States. One such competitor was the Laflin & Rand Powder Company, Dupont's leading post-Civil War competitor in the explosives industry, but also an important partner in the Gunpowder Trade Association (GTA). To better handle the growing complexities of business after the Civil War, the Laflin Powder Company was incorporated in 1866. A year later, Albert Tyler Rand of the competing Smith & Rand Powder Company proposed uniting the two firms, and in 1869 both sides agreed to merge into the Laflin & Rand Powder Company of New York, with Rand as the new firm's first president. In 1872 Laflin & Rand collaborated with friendly rival Dupont to establish the GTA, a trust comprising the nation's top explosives manufacturers that sought to regulate the powder industry with price controls, protected territories and sales quotas. The two companies likewise cooperated in the emerging high explosives, or dynamite, field jointly establishing the Repauno Chemical Company in 1880, the Hercules Powder Company in 1882, and the Eastern Dynamite Company in 1895. Their combined efforts at industry consolidation and control were so successful that by 1900, Laflin & Rand and Dupont together commanded over two-thirds of the entire explosives industry. In October 1902 Dupont purchased Laflin & Rand, operating it as a subsidiary. However, in 1912, a federal court, citing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and Dupont’s GTA activities, ordered Dupont broken up and dissolving Laflin & Rand. It was through this court-ordered action that the Hercules Powder Company was reborn, a manufacturer of explosives ostensibly separate from Dupont. Hercules received Laflin & Rand's patents for smokeless powder, along with several of its old plants. The division of the Dupont Company into Dupont, Atlas Powder Company, and Hercules Powder Company was intended to foster competition in the explosives industry, but in reality the antitrust agreement allowed the connection between Hercules and the parent company to remain intact. The new company was staffed by executives who had been transplanted from the Dupont headquarters across the street into the main offices of Hercules in Wilmington, Delaware. The Hercules Powder Company was set up as a fully developed business entity, complete with several explosives factories, a healthy segment of the explosives market, and a $5 million "loan" in its treasury. Hercules began as an explosives company serving the mining industry, gun owners, and the military. Like other manufacturers of explosives, Hercules preferred many small plants to a few large ones. Due to the company's risks involved in product transportation, these plants were located in proximity to customers, rather than near the source of raw materials. The company's first big break came in 1916 when Hercules signed a lucrative contract to supply Britain with acetone. The company also benefited from its sale of gunpowder to the army. In 1920, Hercules began to manufacture cotton cellulose from the lint left over from cotton seeds once the high-quality cotton has been extracted. Cotton cellulose is a fiber that has hundreds of industrial uses. When treated with nitroglycerine it becomes nitrocellulose, important in the production of lacquers and plastics. Hercules quickly became the world's leading maker of cotton cellulose. By 1935, Hercules had five divisions: explosives, naval stores (naval stores is a term that refers to products derived from tree sap), nitrocellulose, chemical cotton, and paper products. At the time of America's entrance into World War II, Hercules was the country's largest producer of naval stores and the third-largest producer of explosives. In the 1950s the company entered two markets it would later dominate: DMT and polypropylene. DMT is the chemical base for polyester fiber and was sold as a commodity to both chemical and polyester makers, including Dupont. Using waste gases from refineries, they manufactured polypropylene, an increasingly important type of plastic. In 1959, Hercules diversified into rocket fuels and propulsion systems for the Polaris, Minuteman, and Honest John missiles. In 1968, the company changed its name from Hercules Powder Company to Hercules Inc. and abandoned the explosives business. Laflin & Rand, the former subsidiary of Hercules Powder Company, continues today as the Alliant Powder Company, specializing in military gunpowder manufacturing. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 219-252 and 499-528) slides/Hercules Powder Brown 100 x 6.jpg slides/Hercules 10x6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 HERCULES 10 X 6 - Hercules orange and black 10 No. 6 caps tin with bottom and inner sides paper liners, 1 in. dia., 1 ¾ in. tall (The Hercules Powder Company was one of the several small explosives companies acquired by the Dupont Company in the 1880s. By the beginning of the 20th century, Dupont had absorbed so many of its competitors that it was producing two-thirds of the dynamite and gunpowder sold in the United States. One such competitor was the Laflin & Rand Powder Company, Dupont's leading post-Civil War competitor in the explosives industry, but also an important partner in the Gunpowder Trade Association (GTA). To better handle the growing complexities of business after the Civil War, the Laflin Powder Company was incorporated in 1866. A year later, Albert Tyler Rand of the competing Smith & Rand Powder Company proposed uniting the two firms, and in 1869 both sides agreed to merge into the Laflin & Rand Powder Company of New York, with Rand as the new firm's first president. In 1872 Laflin & Rand collaborated with friendly rival Dupont to establish the GTA, a trust comprising the nation's top explosives manufacturers that sought to regulate the powder industry with price controls, protected territories and sales quotas. The two companies likewise cooperated in the emerging high explosives, or dynamite, field jointly establishing the Repauno Chemical Company in 1880, the Hercules Powder Company in 1882, and the Eastern Dynamite Company in 1895. Their combined efforts at industry consolidation and control were so successful that by 1900, Laflin & Rand and Dupont together commanded over two-thirds of the entire explosives industry. In October 1902 Dupont purchased Laflin & Rand, operating it as a subsidiary. However, in 1912, a federal court, citing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and Dupont’s GTA activities, ordered Dupont broken up and dissolving Laflin & Rand. It was through this court-ordered action that the Hercules Powder Company was reborn, a manufacturer of explosives ostensibly separate from Dupont. Hercules received Laflin & Rand's patents for smokeless powder, along with several of its old plants. The division of the Dupont Company into Dupont, Atlas Powder Company, and Hercules Powder Company was intended to foster competition in the explosives industry, but in reality the antitrust agreement allowed the connection between Hercules and the parent company to remain intact. The new company was staffed by executives who had been transplanted from the Dupont headquarters across the street into the main offices of Hercules in Wilmington, Delaware. The Hercules Powder Company was set up as a fully developed business entity, complete with several explosives factories, a healthy segment of the explosives market, and a $5 million "loan" in its treasury. Hercules began as an explosives company serving the mining industry, gun owners, and the military. Like other manufacturers of explosives, Hercules preferred many small plants to a few large ones. Due to the company's risks involved in product transportation, these plants were located in proximity to customers, rather than near the source of raw materials. The company's first big break came in 1916 when Hercules signed a lucrative contract to supply Britain with acetone. The company also benefited from its sale of gunpowder to the army. In 1920, Hercules began to manufacture cotton cellulose from the lint left over from cotton seeds once the high-quality cotton has been extracted. Cotton cellulose is a fiber that has hundreds of industrial uses. When treated with nitroglycerine it becomes nitrocellulose, important in the production of lacquers and plastics. Hercules quickly became the world's leading maker of cotton cellulose. By 1935, Hercules had five divisions: explosives, naval stores (naval stores is a term that refers to products derived from tree sap), nitrocellulose, chemical cotton, and paper products. At the time of America's entrance into World War II, Hercules was the country's largest producer of naval stores and the third-largest producer of explosives. In the 1950s the company entered two markets it would later dominate: DMT and polypropylene. DMT is the chemical base for polyester fiber and was sold as a commodity to both chemical and polyester makers, including Dupont. Using waste gases from refineries, they manufactured polypropylene, an increasingly important type of plastic. In 1959, Hercules diversified into rocket fuels and propulsion systems for the Polaris, Minuteman, and Honest John missiles. In 1968, the company changed its name from Hercules Powder Company to Hercules Inc. and abandoned the explosives business. Laflin & Rand, the former subsidiary of Hercules Powder Company, continues today as the Alliant Powder Company, specializing in military gunpowder manufacturing. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 219-252 and 499-528) HERCULES 10 X 6 - Hercules orange and black 10 No. 6 caps tin with bottom and inner sides paper liners, 1 in. dia., 1 ¾ in. tall (The Hercules Powder Company was one of the several small explosives companies acquired by the Dupont Company in the 1880s. By the beginning of the 20th century, Dupont had absorbed so many of its competitors that it was producing two-thirds of the dynamite and gunpowder sold in the United States. One such competitor was the Laflin & Rand Powder Company, Dupont's leading post-Civil War competitor in the explosives industry, but also an important partner in the Gunpowder Trade Association (GTA). To better handle the growing complexities of business after the Civil War, the Laflin Powder Company was incorporated in 1866. A year later, Albert Tyler Rand of the competing Smith & Rand Powder Company proposed uniting the two firms, and in 1869 both sides agreed to merge into the Laflin & Rand Powder Company of New York, with Rand as the new firm's first president. In 1872 Laflin & Rand collaborated with friendly rival Dupont to establish the GTA, a trust comprising the nation's top explosives manufacturers that sought to regulate the powder industry with price controls, protected territories and sales quotas. The two companies likewise cooperated in the emerging high explosives, or dynamite, field jointly establishing the Repauno Chemical Company in 1880, the Hercules Powder Company in 1882, and the Eastern Dynamite Company in 1895. Their combined efforts at industry consolidation and control were so successful that by 1900, Laflin & Rand and Dupont together commanded over two-thirds of the entire explosives industry. In October 1902 Dupont purchased Laflin & Rand, operating it as a subsidiary. However, in 1912, a federal court, citing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and Dupont’s GTA activities, ordered Dupont broken up and dissolving Laflin & Rand. It was through this court-ordered action that the Hercules Powder Company was reborn, a manufacturer of explosives ostensibly separate from Dupont. Hercules received Laflin & Rand's patents for smokeless powder, along with several of its old plants. The division of the Dupont Company into Dupont, Atlas Powder Company, and Hercules Powder Company was intended to foster competition in the explosives industry, but in reality the antitrust agreement allowed the connection between Hercules and the parent company to remain intact. The new company was staffed by executives who had been transplanted from the Dupont headquarters across the street into the main offices of Hercules in Wilmington, Delaware. The Hercules Powder Company was set up as a fully developed business entity, complete with several explosives factories, a healthy segment of the explosives market, and a $5 million "loan" in its treasury. Hercules began as an explosives company serving the mining industry, gun owners, and the military. Like other manufacturers of explosives, Hercules preferred many small plants to a few large ones. Due to the company's risks involved in product transportation, these plants were located in proximity to customers, rather than near the source of raw materials. The company's first big break came in 1916 when Hercules signed a lucrative contract to supply Britain with acetone. The company also benefited from its sale of gunpowder to the army. In 1920, Hercules began to manufacture cotton cellulose from the lint left over from cotton seeds once the high-quality cotton has been extracted. Cotton cellulose is a fiber that has hundreds of industrial uses. When treated with nitroglycerine it becomes nitrocellulose, important in the production of lacquers and plastics. Hercules quickly became the world's leading maker of cotton cellulose. By 1935, Hercules had five divisions: explosives, naval stores (naval stores is a term that refers to products derived from tree sap), nitrocellulose, chemical cotton, and paper products. At the time of America's entrance into World War II, Hercules was the country's largest producer of naval stores and the third-largest producer of explosives. In the 1950s the company entered two markets it would later dominate: DMT and polypropylene. DMT is the chemical base for polyester fiber and was sold as a commodity to both chemical and polyester makers, including Dupont. Using waste gases from refineries, they manufactured polypropylene, an increasingly important type of plastic. In 1959, Hercules diversified into rocket fuels and propulsion systems for the Polaris, Minuteman, and Honest John missiles. In 1968, the company changed its name from Hercules Powder Company to Hercules Inc. and abandoned the explosives business. Laflin & Rand, the former subsidiary of Hercules Powder Company, continues today as the Alliant Powder Company, specializing in military gunpowder manufacturing. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 219-252 and 499-528) slides/Hercules 10x6.jpg slides/Hercules Powder 25 x 6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 HERCULES 25 X 6 - Hercules yellow and black 25 No. 6 caps tin, 1 1/2 in. dia, 1 5/8 in. tall (The Hercules Powder Company was one of the several small explosives companies acquired by the Dupont Company in the 1880s. By the beginning of the 20th century, Dupont had absorbed so many of its competitors that it was producing two-thirds of the dynamite and gunpowder sold in the United States. One such competitor was the Laflin & Rand Powder Company, Dupont's leading post-Civil War competitor in the explosives industry, but also an important partner in the Gunpowder Trade Association (GTA). To better handle the growing complexities of business after the Civil War, the Laflin Powder Company was incorporated in 1866. A year later, Albert Tyler Rand of the competing Smith & Rand Powder Company proposed uniting the two firms, and in 1869 both sides agreed to merge into the Laflin & Rand Powder Company of New York, with Rand as the new firm's first president. In 1872 Laflin & Rand collaborated with friendly rival Dupont to establish the GTA, a trust comprising the nation's top explosives manufacturers that sought to regulate the powder industry with price controls, protected territories and sales quotas. The two companies likewise cooperated in the emerging high explosives, or dynamite, field jointly establishing the Repauno Chemical Company in 1880, the Hercules Powder Company in 1882, and the Eastern Dynamite Company in 1895. Their combined efforts at industry consolidation and control were so successful that by 1900, Laflin & Rand and Dupont together commanded over two-thirds of the entire explosives industry. In October 1902 Dupont purchased Laflin & Rand, operating it as a subsidiary. However, in 1912, a federal court, citing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and Dupont’s GTA activities, ordered Dupont broken up and dissolving Laflin & Rand. It was through this court-ordered action that the Hercules Powder Company was reborn, a manufacturer of explosives ostensibly separate from Dupont. Hercules received Laflin & Rand's patents for smokeless powder, along with several of its old plants. The division of the Dupont Company into Dupont, Atlas Powder Company, and Hercules Powder Company was intended to foster competition in the explosives industry, but in reality the antitrust agreement allowed the connection between Hercules and the parent company to remain intact. The new company was staffed by executives who had been transplanted from the Dupont headquarters across the street into the main offices of Hercules in Wilmington, Delaware. The Hercules Powder Company was set up as a fully developed business entity, complete with several explosives factories, a healthy segment of the explosives market, and a $5 million "loan" in its treasury. Hercules began as an explosives company serving the mining industry, gun owners, and the military. Like other manufacturers of explosives, Hercules preferred many small plants to a few large ones. Due to the company's risks involved in product transportation, these plants were located in proximity to customers, rather than near the source of raw materials. The company's first big break came in 1916 when Hercules signed a lucrative contract to supply Britain with acetone. The company also benefited from its sale of gunpowder to the army. In 1920, Hercules began to manufacture cotton cellulose from the lint left over from cotton seeds once the high-quality cotton has been extracted. Cotton cellulose is a fiber that has hundreds of industrial uses. When treated with nitroglycerine it becomes nitrocellulose, important in the production of lacquers and plastics. Hercules quickly became the world's leading maker of cotton cellulose. By 1935, Hercules had five divisions: explosives, naval stores (naval stores is a term that refers to products derived from tree sap), nitrocellulose, chemical cotton, and paper products. At the time of America's entrance into World War II, Hercules was the country's largest producer of naval stores and the third-largest producer of explosives. In the 1950s the company entered two markets it would later dominate: DMT and polypropylene. DMT is the chemical base for polyester fiber and was sold as a commodity to both chemical and polyester makers, including Dupont. Using waste gases from refineries, they manufactured polypropylene, an increasingly important type of plastic. In 1959, Hercules diversified into rocket fuels and propulsion systems for the Polaris, Minuteman, and Honest John missiles. In 1968, the company changed its name from Hercules Powder Company to Hercules Inc. and abandoned the explosives business. Laflin & Rand, the former subsidiary of Hercules Powder Company, continues today as the Alliant Powder Company, specializing in military gunpowder manufacturing. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 219-252 and 499-528) HERCULES 25 X 6 - Hercules yellow and black 25 No. 6 caps tin, 1 1/2 in. dia, 1 5/8 in. tall (The Hercules Powder Company was one of the several small explosives companies acquired by the Dupont Company in the 1880s. By the beginning of the 20th century, Dupont had absorbed so many of its competitors that it was producing two-thirds of the dynamite and gunpowder sold in the United States. One such competitor was the Laflin & Rand Powder Company, Dupont's leading post-Civil War competitor in the explosives industry, but also an important partner in the Gunpowder Trade Association (GTA). To better handle the growing complexities of business after the Civil War, the Laflin Powder Company was incorporated in 1866. A year later, Albert Tyler Rand of the competing Smith & Rand Powder Company proposed uniting the two firms, and in 1869 both sides agreed to merge into the Laflin & Rand Powder Company of New York, with Rand as the new firm's first president. In 1872 Laflin & Rand collaborated with friendly rival Dupont to establish the GTA, a trust comprising the nation's top explosives manufacturers that sought to regulate the powder industry with price controls, protected territories and sales quotas. The two companies likewise cooperated in the emerging high explosives, or dynamite, field jointly establishing the Repauno Chemical Company in 1880, the Hercules Powder Company in 1882, and the Eastern Dynamite Company in 1895. Their combined efforts at industry consolidation and control were so successful that by 1900, Laflin & Rand and Dupont together commanded over two-thirds of the entire explosives industry. In October 1902 Dupont purchased Laflin & Rand, operating it as a subsidiary. However, in 1912, a federal court, citing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and Dupont’s GTA activities, ordered Dupont broken up and dissolving Laflin & Rand. It was through this court-ordered action that the Hercules Powder Company was reborn, a manufacturer of explosives ostensibly separate from Dupont. Hercules received Laflin & Rand's patents for smokeless powder, along with several of its old plants. The division of the Dupont Company into Dupont, Atlas Powder Company, and Hercules Powder Company was intended to foster competition in the explosives industry, but in reality the antitrust agreement allowed the connection between Hercules and the parent company to remain intact. The new company was staffed by executives who had been transplanted from the Dupont headquarters across the street into the main offices of Hercules in Wilmington, Delaware. The Hercules Powder Company was set up as a fully developed business entity, complete with several explosives factories, a healthy segment of the explosives market, and a $5 million "loan" in its treasury. Hercules began as an explosives company serving the mining industry, gun owners, and the military. Like other manufacturers of explosives, Hercules preferred many small plants to a few large ones. Due to the company's risks involved in product transportation, these plants were located in proximity to customers, rather than near the source of raw materials. The company's first big break came in 1916 when Hercules signed a lucrative contract to supply Britain with acetone. The company also benefited from its sale of gunpowder to the army. In 1920, Hercules began to manufacture cotton cellulose from the lint left over from cotton seeds once the high-quality cotton has been extracted. Cotton cellulose is a fiber that has hundreds of industrial uses. When treated with nitroglycerine it becomes nitrocellulose, important in the production of lacquers and plastics. Hercules quickly became the world's leading maker of cotton cellulose. By 1935, Hercules had five divisions: explosives, naval stores (naval stores is a term that refers to products derived from tree sap), nitrocellulose, chemical cotton, and paper products. At the time of America's entrance into World War II, Hercules was the country's largest producer of naval stores and the third-largest producer of explosives. In the 1950s the company entered two markets it would later dominate: DMT and polypropylene. DMT is the chemical base for polyester fiber and was sold as a commodity to both chemical and polyester makers, including Dupont. Using waste gases from refineries, they manufactured polypropylene, an increasingly important type of plastic. In 1959, Hercules diversified into rocket fuels and propulsion systems for the Polaris, Minuteman, and Honest John missiles. In 1968, the company changed its name from Hercules Powder Company to Hercules Inc. and abandoned the explosives business. Laflin & Rand, the former subsidiary of Hercules Powder Company, continues today as the Alliant Powder Company, specializing in military gunpowder manufacturing. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 219-252 and 499-528) slides/Hercules Powder 25 x 6.jpg slides/Hercules Midget.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 HERCULES MIDGET BLASTING MACHINE - Hercules midget blasting machine, 4 long x 3 7/8 high x 1 7/8 wide, bottom marked Davis Blaster No. 1, handle on bottom, brass sides and aluminum top and bottom, capacity 1-5 electric caps, Hercules Powder Co., Wilmington, Del. (The Hercules Powder Company was one of the several small explosives companies acquired by the Dupont Company in the 1880s. By the beginning of the 20th century, Dupont had absorbed so many of its competitors that it was producing two-thirds of the dynamite and gunpowder sold in the United States. One such competitor was the Laflin & Rand Powder Company, Dupont's leading post-Civil War competitor in the explosives industry, but also an important partner in the Gunpowder Trade Association (GTA). To better handle the growing complexities of business after the Civil War, the Laflin Powder Company was incorporated in 1866. A year later, Albert Tyler Rand of the competing Smith & Rand Powder Company proposed uniting the two firms, and in 1869 both sides agreed to merge into the Laflin & Rand Powder Company of New York, with Rand as the new firm's first president. In 1872 Laflin & Rand collaborated with friendly rival Dupont to establish the GTA, a trust comprising the nation's top explosives manufacturers that sought to regulate the powder industry with price controls, protected territories and sales quotas. The two companies likewise cooperated in the emerging high explosives, or dynamite, field jointly establishing the Repauno Chemical Company in 1880, the Hercules Powder Company in 1882, and the Eastern Dynamite Company in 1895. Their combined efforts at industry consolidation and control were so successful that by 1900, Laflin & Rand and Dupont together commanded over two-thirds of the entire explosives industry. In October 1902 Dupont purchased Laflin & Rand, operating it as a subsidiary. However, in 1912, a federal court, citing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and Dupont’s GTA activities, ordered Dupont broken up and dissolving Laflin & Rand. It was through this court-ordered action that the Hercules Powder Company was reborn, a manufacturer of explosives ostensibly separate from Dupont. Hercules received Laflin & Rand's patents for smokeless powder, along with several of its old plants. The division of the Dupont Company into Dupont, Atlas Powder Company, and Hercules Powder Company was intended to foster competition in the explosives industry, but in reality the antitrust agreement allowed the connection between Hercules and the parent company to remain intact. The new company was staffed by executives who had been transplanted from the Dupont headquarters across the street into the main offices of Hercules in Wilmington, Delaware. The Hercules Powder Company was set up as a fully developed business entity, complete with several explosives factories, a healthy segment of the explosives market, and a $5 million "loan" in its treasury. Hercules began as an explosives company serving the mining industry, gun owners, and the military. Like other manufacturers of explosives, Hercules preferred many small plants to a few large ones. Due to the company's risks involved in product transportation, these plants were located in proximity to customers, rather than near the source of raw materials. The company's first big break came in 1916 when Hercules signed a lucrative contract to supply Britain with acetone. The company also benefited from its sale of gunpowder to the army. In 1920, Hercules began to manufacture cotton cellulose from the lint left over from cotton seeds once the high-quality cotton has been extracted. Cotton cellulose is a fiber that has hundreds of industrial uses. When treated with nitroglycerine it becomes nitrocellulose, important in the production of lacquers and plastics. Hercules quickly became the world's leading maker of cotton cellulose. By 1935, Hercules had five divisions: explosives, naval stores (naval stores is a term that refers to products derived from tree sap), nitrocellulose, chemical cotton, and paper products. At the time of America's entrance into World War II, Hercules was the country's largest producer of naval stores and the third-largest producer of explosives. In the 1950s the company entered two markets it would later dominate: DMT and polypropylene. DMT is the chemical base for polyester fiber and was sold as a commodity to both chemical and polyester makers, including Dupont. Using waste gases from refineries, they manufactured polypropylene, an increasingly important type of plastic. In 1959, Hercules diversified into rocket fuels and propulsion systems for the Polaris, Minuteman, and Honest John missiles. In 1968, the company changed its name from Hercules Powder Company to Hercules Inc. and abandoned the explosives business. Laflin & Rand, the former subsidiary of Hercules Powder Company, continues today as the Alliant Powder Company, specializing in military gunpowder manufacturing. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 219-252 and 499-528) HERCULES MIDGET BLASTING MACHINE - Hercules midget blasting machine, 4 long x 3 7/8 high x 1 7/8 wide, bottom marked Davis Blaster No. 1, handle on bottom, brass sides and aluminum top and bottom, capacity 1-5 electric caps, Hercules Powder Co., Wilmington, Del. (The Hercules Powder Company was one of the several small explosives companies acquired by the Dupont Company in the 1880s. By the beginning of the 20th century, Dupont had absorbed so many of its competitors that it was producing two-thirds of the dynamite and gunpowder sold in the United States. One such competitor was the Laflin & Rand Powder Company, Dupont's leading post-Civil War competitor in the explosives industry, but also an important partner in the Gunpowder Trade Association (GTA). To better handle the growing complexities of business after the Civil War, the Laflin Powder Company was incorporated in 1866. A year later, Albert Tyler Rand of the competing Smith & Rand Powder Company proposed uniting the two firms, and in 1869 both sides agreed to merge into the Laflin & Rand Powder Company of New York, with Rand as the new firm's first president. In 1872 Laflin & Rand collaborated with friendly rival Dupont to establish the GTA, a trust comprising the nation's top explosives manufacturers that sought to regulate the powder industry with price controls, protected territories and sales quotas. The two companies likewise cooperated in the emerging high explosives, or dynamite, field jointly establishing the Repauno Chemical Company in 1880, the Hercules Powder Company in 1882, and the Eastern Dynamite Company in 1895. Their combined efforts at industry consolidation and control were so successful that by 1900, Laflin & Rand and Dupont together commanded over two-thirds of the entire explosives industry. In October 1902 Dupont purchased Laflin & Rand, operating it as a subsidiary. However, in 1912, a federal court, citing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and Dupont’s GTA activities, ordered Dupont broken up and dissolving Laflin & Rand. It was through this court-ordered action that the Hercules Powder Company was reborn, a manufacturer of explosives ostensibly separate from Dupont. Hercules received Laflin & Rand's patents for smokeless powder, along with several of its old plants. The division of the Dupont Company into Dupont, Atlas Powder Company, and Hercules Powder Company was intended to foster competition in the explosives industry, but in reality the antitrust agreement allowed the connection between Hercules and the parent company to remain intact. The new company was staffed by executives who had been transplanted from the Dupont headquarters across the street into the main offices of Hercules in Wilmington, Delaware. The Hercules Powder Company was set up as a fully developed business entity, complete with several explosives factories, a healthy segment of the explosives market, and a $5 million "loan" in its treasury. Hercules began as an explosives company serving the mining industry, gun owners, and the military. Like other manufacturers of explosives, Hercules preferred many small plants to a few large ones. Due to the company's risks involved in product transportation, these plants were located in proximity to customers, rather than near the source of raw materials. The company's first big break came in 1916 when Hercules signed a lucrative contract to supply Britain with acetone. The company also benefited from its sale of gunpowder to the army. In 1920, Hercules began to manufacture cotton cellulose from the lint left over from cotton seeds once the high-quality cotton has been extracted. Cotton cellulose is a fiber that has hundreds of industrial uses. When treated with nitroglycerine it becomes nitrocellulose, important in the production of lacquers and plastics. Hercules quickly became the world's leading maker of cotton cellulose. By 1935, Hercules had five divisions: explosives, naval stores (naval stores is a term that refers to products derived from tree sap), nitrocellulose, chemical cotton, and paper products. At the time of America's entrance into World War II, Hercules was the country's largest producer of naval stores and the third-largest producer of explosives. In the 1950s the company entered two markets it would later dominate: DMT and polypropylene. DMT is the chemical base for polyester fiber and was sold as a commodity to both chemical and polyester makers, including Dupont. Using waste gases from refineries, they manufactured polypropylene, an increasingly important type of plastic. In 1959, Hercules diversified into rocket fuels and propulsion systems for the Polaris, Minuteman, and Honest John missiles. In 1968, the company changed its name from Hercules Powder Company to Hercules Inc. and abandoned the explosives business. Laflin & Rand, the former subsidiary of Hercules Powder Company, continues today as the Alliant Powder Company, specializing in military gunpowder manufacturing. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 219-252 and 499-528) slides/Hercules Midget.jpg slides/Hercules.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 HERCULES 50 CAP BLASTING MACHINE - Hercules 50 cap blasting machine, dove-tail oak cabinet with brass screws and terminals, with strap (The Hercules Powder Company was one of the several small explosives companies acquired by the Dupont Company in the 1880s. By the beginning of the 20th century, Dupont had absorbed so many of its competitors that it was producing two-thirds of the dynamite and gunpowder sold in the United States. One such competitor was the Laflin & Rand Powder Company, Dupont's leading post-Civil War competitor in the explosives industry, but also an important partner in the Gunpowder Trade Association (GTA). To better handle the growing complexities of business after the Civil War, the Laflin Powder Company was incorporated in 1866. A year later, Albert Tyler Rand of the competing Smith & Rand Powder Company proposed uniting the two firms, and in 1869 both sides agreed to merge into the Laflin & Rand Powder Company of New York, with Rand as the new firm's first president. In 1872 Laflin & Rand collaborated with friendly rival Dupont to establish the GTA, a trust comprising the nation's top explosives manufacturers that sought to regulate the powder industry with price controls, protected territories and sales quotas. The two companies likewise cooperated in the emerging high explosives, or dynamite, field jointly establishing the Repauno Chemical Company in 1880, the Hercules Powder Company in 1882, and the Eastern Dynamite Company in 1895. Their combined efforts at industry consolidation and control were so successful that by 1900, Laflin & Rand and Dupont together commanded over two-thirds of the entire explosives industry. In October 1902 Dupont purchased Laflin & Rand, operating it as a subsidiary. However, in 1912, a federal court, citing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and Dupont’s GTA activities, ordered Dupont broken up and dissolving Laflin & Rand. It was through this court-ordered action that the Hercules Powder Company was reborn, a manufacturer of explosives ostensibly separate from Dupont. Hercules received Laflin & Rand's patents for smokeless powder, along with several of its old plants. The division of the Dupont Company into Dupont, Atlas Powder Company, and Hercules Powder Company was intended to foster competition in the explosives industry, but in reality the antitrust agreement allowed the connection between Hercules and the parent company to remain intact. The new company was staffed by executives who had been transplanted from the Dupont headquarters across the street into the main offices of Hercules in Wilmington, Delaware. The Hercules Powder Company was set up as a fully developed business entity, complete with several explosives factories, a healthy segment of the explosives market, and a $5 million "loan" in its treasury. Hercules began as an explosives company serving the mining industry, gun owners, and the military. Like other manufacturers of explosives, Hercules preferred many small plants to a few large ones. Due to the company's risks involved in product transportation, these plants were located in proximity to customers, rather than near the source of raw materials. The company's first big break came in 1916 when Hercules signed a lucrative contract to supply Britain with acetone. The company also benefited from its sale of gunpowder to the army. In 1920, Hercules began to manufacture cotton cellulose from the lint left over from cotton seeds once the high-quality cotton has been extracted. Cotton cellulose is a fiber that has hundreds of industrial uses. When treated with nitroglycerine it becomes nitrocellulose, important in the production of lacquers and plastics. Hercules quickly became the world's leading maker of cotton cellulose. By 1935, Hercules had five divisions: explosives, naval stores (naval stores is a term that refers to products derived from tree sap), nitrocellulose, chemical cotton, and paper products. At the time of America's entrance into World War II, Hercules was the country's largest producer of naval stores and the third-largest producer of explosives. In the 1950s the company entered two markets it would later dominate: DMT and polypropylene. DMT is the chemical base for polyester fiber and was sold as a commodity to both chemical and polyester makers, including Dupont. Using waste gases from refineries, they manufactured polypropylene, an increasingly important type of plastic. In 1959, Hercules diversified into rocket fuels and propulsion systems for the Polaris, Minuteman, and Honest John missiles. In 1968, the company changed its name from Hercules Powder Company to Hercules Inc. and abandoned the explosives business. Laflin & Rand, the former subsidiary of Hercules Powder Company, continues today as the Alliant Powder Company, specializing in military gunpowder manufacturing. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 219-252 and 499-528) HERCULES 50 CAP BLASTING MACHINE - Hercules 50 cap blasting machine, dove-tail oak cabinet with brass screws and terminals, with strap (The Hercules Powder Company was one of the several small explosives companies acquired by the Dupont Company in the 1880s. By the beginning of the 20th century, Dupont had absorbed so many of its competitors that it was producing two-thirds of the dynamite and gunpowder sold in the United States. One such competitor was the Laflin & Rand Powder Company, Dupont's leading post-Civil War competitor in the explosives industry, but also an important partner in the Gunpowder Trade Association (GTA). To better handle the growing complexities of business after the Civil War, the Laflin Powder Company was incorporated in 1866. A year later, Albert Tyler Rand of the competing Smith & Rand Powder Company proposed uniting the two firms, and in 1869 both sides agreed to merge into the Laflin & Rand Powder Company of New York, with Rand as the new firm's first president. In 1872 Laflin & Rand collaborated with friendly rival Dupont to establish the GTA, a trust comprising the nation's top explosives manufacturers that sought to regulate the powder industry with price controls, protected territories and sales quotas. The two companies likewise cooperated in the emerging high explosives, or dynamite, field jointly establishing the Repauno Chemical Company in 1880, the Hercules Powder Company in 1882, and the Eastern Dynamite Company in 1895. Their combined efforts at industry consolidation and control were so successful that by 1900, Laflin & Rand and Dupont together commanded over two-thirds of the entire explosives industry. In October 1902 Dupont purchased Laflin & Rand, operating it as a subsidiary. However, in 1912, a federal court, citing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and Dupont’s GTA activities, ordered Dupont broken up and dissolving Laflin & Rand. It was through this court-ordered action that the Hercules Powder Company was reborn, a manufacturer of explosives ostensibly separate from Dupont. Hercules received Laflin & Rand's patents for smokeless powder, along with several of its old plants. The division of the Dupont Company into Dupont, Atlas Powder Company, and Hercules Powder Company was intended to foster competition in the explosives industry, but in reality the antitrust agreement allowed the connection between Hercules and the parent company to remain intact. The new company was staffed by executives who had been transplanted from the Dupont headquarters across the street into the main offices of Hercules in Wilmington, Delaware. The Hercules Powder Company was set up as a fully developed business entity, complete with several explosives factories, a healthy segment of the explosives market, and a $5 million "loan" in its treasury. Hercules began as an explosives company serving the mining industry, gun owners, and the military. Like other manufacturers of explosives, Hercules preferred many small plants to a few large ones. Due to the company's risks involved in product transportation, these plants were located in proximity to customers, rather than near the source of raw materials. The company's first big break came in 1916 when Hercules signed a lucrative contract to supply Britain with acetone. The company also benefited from its sale of gunpowder to the army. In 1920, Hercules began to manufacture cotton cellulose from the lint left over from cotton seeds once the high-quality cotton has been extracted. Cotton cellulose is a fiber that has hundreds of industrial uses. When treated with nitroglycerine it becomes nitrocellulose, important in the production of lacquers and plastics. Hercules quickly became the world's leading maker of cotton cellulose. By 1935, Hercules had five divisions: explosives, naval stores (naval stores is a term that refers to products derived from tree sap), nitrocellulose, chemical cotton, and paper products. At the time of America's entrance into World War II, Hercules was the country's largest producer of naval stores and the third-largest producer of explosives. In the 1950s the company entered two markets it would later dominate: DMT and polypropylene. DMT is the chemical base for polyester fiber and was sold as a commodity to both chemical and polyester makers, including Dupont. Using waste gases from refineries, they manufactured polypropylene, an increasingly important type of plastic. In 1959, Hercules diversified into rocket fuels and propulsion systems for the Polaris, Minuteman, and Honest John missiles. In 1968, the company changed its name from Hercules Powder Company to Hercules Inc. and abandoned the explosives business. Laflin & Rand, the former subsidiary of Hercules Powder Company, continues today as the Alliant Powder Company, specializing in military gunpowder manufacturing. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 219-252 and 499-528) slides/Hercules.JPG slides/Hercules Blasting Machine Tag.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 HERCULES 50 CAP BLASTING MACHINE TAG HERCULES 50 CAP BLASTING MACHINE TAG slides/Hercules Blasting Machine Tag.jpg slides/Illinois Powder Mfg. 100 x 6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 ILLINOIS POWDER - ILLINOIS tin, Illinois Powder Mfg. Co., St. Louis, MO , red/yellow rectangular 100 No. 6 cap tin, 2 5/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. x 1 7/8 in. high (The Illinois Powder Company was promoted by J. Lowe White who had been selling black powder and dynamite in Chicago and later St. Louis since 1892 as an agent representing the Hazard Powder Company in Chicago and the Austin Powder Company and Keystone Powder Manufacturing Company in St. Louis. The powder and especially the dynamite business grew rapidly from 1902 to 1906 and White was convinced that St. Louis would continue to be a major explosives distribution center for the southwest. On May 3, 1907, the Illinois Powder Company was incorporated in Missouri with White, Almon Lent (president of Austin Powder Company) and A. C. Blum (formerly of Keystone) among the stockholders. A new dynamite factory was completed in 1908 in Sherman Hollow, near Grafton, Illinois. Gold Medal Dynamite was the trade name selected by the company in recognition of the gold medal received by White for the best display of explosives at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha, Nebraska during 1898 while he was still representing other powder companies. When permissibles were introduced later, Black Diamond Powder was adopted as the trade name for these dynamite grades. From the company’s beginning, White managed the business as secretary/treasurer while Blum was the first president. In 1917, White was named president. A plant explosion in 1922 required a rebuilding of the plant with numerous improvements. The rebuilt plant had an annual capacity of 10,500,000 pounds of dynamite. The company continued operations into the 1940s. At some point, blasting caps were made for Illinois Powder by the Western Cartridge Company. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 630-32) ILLINOIS POWDER - ILLINOIS tin, Illinois Powder Mfg. Co., St. Louis, MO , red/yellow rectangular 100 No. 6 cap tin, 2 5/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. x 1 7/8 in. high (The Illinois Powder Company was promoted by J. Lowe White who had been selling black powder and dynamite in Chicago and later St. Louis since 1892 as an agent representing the Hazard Powder Company in Chicago and the Austin Powder Company and Keystone Powder Manufacturing Company in St. Louis. The powder and especially the dynamite business grew rapidly from 1902 to 1906 and White was convinced that St. Louis would continue to be a major explosives distribution center for the southwest. On May 3, 1907, the Illinois Powder Company was incorporated in Missouri with White, Almon Lent (president of Austin Powder Company) and A. C. Blum (formerly of Keystone) among the stockholders. A new dynamite factory was completed in 1908 in Sherman Hollow, near Grafton, Illinois. Gold Medal Dynamite was the trade name selected by the company in recognition of the gold medal received by White for the best display of explosives at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha, Nebraska during 1898 while he was still representing other powder companies. When permissibles were introduced later, Black Diamond Powder was adopted as the trade name for these dynamite grades. From the company’s beginning, White managed the business as secretary/treasurer while Blum was the first president. In 1917, White was named president. A plant explosion in 1922 required a rebuilding of the plant with numerous improvements. The rebuilt plant had an annual capacity of 10,500,000 pounds of dynamite. The company continued operations into the 1940s. At some point, blasting caps were made for Illinois Powder by the Western Cartridge Company. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 630-32) slides/Illinois Powder Mfg. 100 x 6.jpg slides/Illinois Powder Western 100 x 6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 ILLINOIS POWDER WESTERN - ILLINOIS tin, Illinois Powder Mfg. Co., St. Louis, MO by Western Cartridge Co., red/yellow rectangular 100 No. 6 cap tin, 2 5/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. x 1 7/8 in. high (The Illinois Powder Company was promoted by J. Lowe White who had been selling black powder and dynamite in Chicago and later St. Louis since 1892 as an agent representing the Hazard Powder Company in Chicago and the Austin Powder Company and Keystone Powder Manufacturing Company in St. Louis. The powder and especially the dynamite business grew rapidly from 1902 to 1906 and White was convinced that St. Louis would continue to be a major explosives distribution center for the southwest. On May 3, 1907, the Illinois Powder Company was incorporated in Missouri with White, Almon Lent (president of Austin Powder Company) and A. C. Blum (formerly of Keystone) among the stockholders. A new dynamite factory was completed in 1908 in Sherman Hollow, near Grafton, Illinois. Gold Medal Dynamite was the trade name selected by the company in recognition of the gold medal received by White for the best display of explosives at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha, Nebraska during 1898 while he was still representing other powder companies. When permissibles were introduced later, Black Diamond Powder was adopted as the trade name for these dynamite grades. From the company’s beginning, White managed the business as secretary/treasurer while Blum was the first president. In 1917, White was named president. A plant explosion in 1922 required a rebuilding of the plant with numerous improvements. The rebuilt plant had an annual capacity of 10,500,000 pounds of dynamite. The company continued operations into the 1940s. At some point, blasting caps were made for Illinois Powder by the Western Cartridge Company. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 630-32) ILLINOIS POWDER WESTERN - ILLINOIS tin, Illinois Powder Mfg. Co., St. Louis, MO by Western Cartridge Co., red/yellow rectangular 100 No. 6 cap tin, 2 5/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. x 1 7/8 in. high (The Illinois Powder Company was promoted by J. Lowe White who had been selling black powder and dynamite in Chicago and later St. Louis since 1892 as an agent representing the Hazard Powder Company in Chicago and the Austin Powder Company and Keystone Powder Manufacturing Company in St. Louis. The powder and especially the dynamite business grew rapidly from 1902 to 1906 and White was convinced that St. Louis would continue to be a major explosives distribution center for the southwest. On May 3, 1907, the Illinois Powder Company was incorporated in Missouri with White, Almon Lent (president of Austin Powder Company) and A. C. Blum (formerly of Keystone) among the stockholders. A new dynamite factory was completed in 1908 in Sherman Hollow, near Grafton, Illinois. Gold Medal Dynamite was the trade name selected by the company in recognition of the gold medal received by White for the best display of explosives at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha, Nebraska during 1898 while he was still representing other powder companies. When permissibles were introduced later, Black Diamond Powder was adopted as the trade name for these dynamite grades. From the company’s beginning, White managed the business as secretary/treasurer while Blum was the first president. In 1917, White was named president. A plant explosion in 1922 required a rebuilding of the plant with numerous improvements. The rebuilt plant had an annual capacity of 10,500,000 pounds of dynamite. The company continued operations into the 1940s. At some point, blasting caps were made for Illinois Powder by the Western Cartridge Company. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 630-32) slides/Illinois Powder Western 100 x 6.jpg slides/Illinois Western 100x8.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 WESTERN - Blue and gold 100 No. 8 Blasting Caps, 2 1/2 x 2 1/4 x 2 3/8 in. high, marked WESTERN TRADE MARK ILLINOIS WESTERN CARTRIDGE CO EAST ALTON, ILL. WESTERN - Blue and gold 100 No. 8 Blasting Caps, 2 1/2 x 2 1/4 x 2 3/8 in. high, marked WESTERN TRADE MARK ILLINOIS WESTERN CARTRIDGE CO EAST ALTON, ILL. slides/Illinois Western 100x8.jpg slides/Judson Dynamite Box End.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 JUDSON DYNAMITE BOX - Judson Dynamite box end off 50# box, 7 1/2 in. H x 8 1/2 in. W, marked THE JUDSON DYNAMITE & POWDER CO. SAN FRANCISCO. CAL., bottom edge marked NO. 2 and 7/8 in. X 8, spots of candle wax, includes box side with red arrow and marked EXPLOSIVE! DANGEROUS! 7 1/2 in. H x 25 in. L, ca. 1890s, found in Colorado mine (The Judson Dynamite and Powder Company was incorporated in California in 1890 by Egbert Putnam Judson. At the organizational meeting in January 1891, Edward G. Lukens was elected president and manager of the new company. Egbert Judson was a key player in the development of the dynamite industry in the US. Born in Syracuse, NY in 1812, he was trained as a civil engineer. He moved to California in 1850 joining the Forty-niners and in 1867 he became one of the founders of the Giant Powder Company and the San Francisco Chemical Works. While at Giant, he patented the “Giant Powder No. 2” dynamite (US patent No. 139,468, June 3, 1873). A disagreement with Giant Powder led him to form the Judson Dynamite and Powder Company. An additional Judson dynamite patent No. 420,626 was awarded on Feb. 4, 1890 and was manufactured by the new company. Judson died in January 1893 in San Francisco. In April 1904, the DuPont Company purchased all the assets of Judson Dynamite and Powder Company. The Judson plant located on El Cerrito Hill, half a mile northeast of the town of Fleming Point, CA was operated until August 1905, when the dynamite mixing house exploded and set fire to the other buildings. The plant was dismantled and the property sold. Owing to the government intervention into the dissolution of the DuPont Company, the Judson Dynamite and Powder Company wasn’t dissolved until 1912. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 681-686) JUDSON DYNAMITE BOX - Judson Dynamite box end off 50# box, 7 1/2 in. H x 8 1/2 in. W, marked THE JUDSON DYNAMITE & POWDER CO. SAN FRANCISCO. CAL., bottom edge marked NO. 2 and 7/8 in. X 8, spots of candle wax, includes box side with red arrow and marked EXPLOSIVE! DANGEROUS! 7 1/2 in. H x 25 in. L, ca. 1890s, found in Colorado mine (The Judson Dynamite and Powder Company was incorporated in California in 1890 by Egbert Putnam Judson. At the organizational meeting in January 1891, Edward G. Lukens was elected president and manager of the new company. Egbert Judson was a key player in the development of the dynamite industry in the US. Born in Syracuse, NY in 1812, he was trained as a civil engineer. He moved to California in 1850 joining the Forty-niners and in 1867 he became one of the founders of the Giant Powder Company and the San Francisco Chemical Works. While at Giant, he patented the “Giant Powder No. 2” dynamite (US patent No. 139,468, June 3, 1873). A disagreement with Giant Powder led him to form the Judson Dynamite and Powder Company. An additional Judson dynamite patent No. 420,626 was awarded on Feb. 4, 1890 and was manufactured by the new company. Judson died in January 1893 in San Francisco. In April 1904, the DuPont Company purchased all the assets of Judson Dynamite and Powder Company. The Judson plant located on El Cerrito Hill, half a mile northeast of the town of Fleming Point, CA was operated until August 1905, when the dynamite mixing house exploded and set fire to the other buildings. The plant was dismantled and the property sold. Owing to the government intervention into the dissolution of the DuPont Company, the Judson Dynamite and Powder Company wasn’t dissolved until 1912. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 681-686) slides/Judson Dynamite Box End.JPG slides/Metallic Cap Mfg. Co. 1901 Mines and Minerals.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 METALLIC CAP MFG. CO. AD - Ad in 1901 Mines and Minerals Magazine for the Metallic Cap Mfg. Co. noting the genuine Gold and Silver Medal American brands of blasting caps METALLIC CAP MFG. CO. AD - Ad in 1901 Mines and Minerals Magazine for the Metallic Cap Mfg. Co. noting the genuine Gold and Silver Medal American brands of blasting caps slides/Metallic Cap Mfg. Co. 1901 Mines and Minerals.JPG slides/MCMfgCo Gold Medal Top.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 GOLD MEDAL 100 PRIMERS - GOLD MEDAL 100 PRIMERS, XXXX, M.C.M’F’G CO. NEW YORK ESTABLISHED 1876 with GOLD CROSS TRADEMARK and tabbed embossed base, painted black with copper colored letters, 1 1/4 x 2 1/8 x 2 1/2 box (While the California Cap Company was starting up in the west, another company named the Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company was being formed in the east. H. S. Chapman and his brother-in-law Frank K. Brewster incorporated the company in 1879 and started producing blasting caps on the Brewster farm near Suffield, Connecticut. Three years later an explosion and fire destroyed the plant and a new plant was built near Bethayres, Pennsylvania and a fulminate factory was built at Prescott, Ontario. In 1890 the Bethayres plant was also destroyed by an explosion and a new site near Pompton Lakes, New Jersey was selected for a plant. The Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company, like the California Cap Company in the west, dominated the blasting cap market in the east. In 1907, the company and its Pompton Lakes plant were sold to the Dupont Company which continued to operate the plant until the late 1960s. It’s interesting to note that after the sale to Dupont, tins were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Works. Prior to that, they were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Co. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives industry in America, pp 759-761 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 56-62) GOLD MEDAL 100 PRIMERS - GOLD MEDAL 100 PRIMERS, XXXX, M.C.M’F’G CO. NEW YORK ESTABLISHED 1876 with GOLD CROSS TRADEMARK and tabbed embossed base, painted black with copper colored letters, 1 1/4 x 2 1/8 x 2 1/2 box (While the California Cap Company was starting up in the west, another company named the Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company was being formed in the east. H. S. Chapman and his brother-in-law Frank K. Brewster incorporated the company in 1879 and started producing blasting caps on the Brewster farm near Suffield, Connecticut. Three years later an explosion and fire destroyed the plant and a new plant was built near Bethayres, Pennsylvania and a fulminate factory was built at Prescott, Ontario. In 1890 the Bethayres plant was also destroyed by an explosion and a new site near Pompton Lakes, New Jersey was selected for a plant. The Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company, like the California Cap Company in the west, dominated the blasting cap market in the east. In 1907, the company and its Pompton Lakes plant were sold to the Dupont Company which continued to operate the plant until the late 1960s. It’s interesting to note that after the sale to Dupont, tins were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Works. Prior to that, they were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Co. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives industry in America, pp 759-761 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 56-62) slides/MCMfgCo Gold Medal Top.jpg slides/MCMfgCo Gold Medal Bottom.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 GOLD MEDAL 100 PRIMERS - GOLD MEDAL 100 PRIMERS, XXXX, M.C.M’F’G CO. NEW YORK ESTABLISHED 1876 with GOLD CROSS TRADEMARK and tabbed embossed base, painted black with copper colored letters, 1 1/4 x 2 1/8 x 2 1/2 box (While the California Cap Company was starting up in the west, another company named the Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company was being formed in the east. H. S. Chapman and his brother-in-law Frank K. Brewster incorporated the company in 1879 and started producing blasting caps on the Brewster farm near Suffield, Connecticut. Three years later an explosion and fire destroyed the plant and a new plant was built near Bethayres, Pennsylvania and a fulminate factory was built at Prescott, Ontario. In 1890 the Bethayres plant was also destroyed by an explosion and a new site near Pompton Lakes, New Jersey was selected for a plant. The Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company, like the California Cap Company in the west, dominated the blasting cap market in the east. In 1907, the company and its Pompton Lakes plant were sold to the Dupont Company which continued to operate the plant until the late 1960s. It’s interesting to note that after the sale to Dupont, tins were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Works. Prior to that, they were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Co. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives industry in America, pp 759-761 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 56-62) GOLD MEDAL 100 PRIMERS - GOLD MEDAL 100 PRIMERS, XXXX, M.C.M’F’G CO. NEW YORK ESTABLISHED 1876 with GOLD CROSS TRADEMARK and tabbed embossed base, painted black with copper colored letters, 1 1/4 x 2 1/8 x 2 1/2 box (While the California Cap Company was starting up in the west, another company named the Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company was being formed in the east. H. S. Chapman and his brother-in-law Frank K. Brewster incorporated the company in 1879 and started producing blasting caps on the Brewster farm near Suffield, Connecticut. Three years later an explosion and fire destroyed the plant and a new plant was built near Bethayres, Pennsylvania and a fulminate factory was built at Prescott, Ontario. In 1890 the Bethayres plant was also destroyed by an explosion and a new site near Pompton Lakes, New Jersey was selected for a plant. The Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company, like the California Cap Company in the west, dominated the blasting cap market in the east. In 1907, the company and its Pompton Lakes plant were sold to the Dupont Company which continued to operate the plant until the late 1960s. It’s interesting to note that after the sale to Dupont, tins were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Works. Prior to that, they were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Co. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives industry in America, pp 759-761 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 56-62) slides/MCMfgCo Gold Medal Bottom.jpg slides/MCMfgCo Silver Medal Top.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 SILVER MEDAL 100 PRIMERS - SILVER MEDAL 100 PRIMERS, XXXX, M.C.M’F’G CO. NEW YORK ESTABLISHED 1876 with SILVER CROSS TRADEMARK and tabbed embossed base, painted black with yellowish gold letters, 1 ¼ x 2 1/8 x 2 ½ box (While the California Cap Company was starting up in the west, another company named the Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company was being formed in the east. H. S. Chapman and his brother-in-law Frank K. Brewster incorporated the company in 1879 and started producing blasting caps on the Brewster farm near Suffield, Connecticut. Three years later an explosion and fire destroyed the plant and a new plant was built near Bethayres, Pennsylvania and a fulminate factory was built at Prescott, Ontario. In 1890 the Bethayres plant was also destroyed by an explosion and a new site near Pompton Lakes, New Jersey was selected for a plant. The Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company, like the California Cap Company in the west, dominated the blasting cap market in the east. In 1907, the company and its Pompton Lakes plant were sold to the Dupont Company which continued to operate the plant until the late 1960s. It’s interesting to note that after the sale to Dupont, tins were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Works. Prior to that, they were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Co. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives industry in America, pp 759-761 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 56-62) SILVER MEDAL 100 PRIMERS - SILVER MEDAL 100 PRIMERS, XXXX, M.C.M’F’G CO. NEW YORK ESTABLISHED 1876 with SILVER CROSS TRADEMARK and tabbed embossed base, painted black with yellowish gold letters, 1 ¼ x 2 1/8 x 2 ½ box (While the California Cap Company was starting up in the west, another company named the Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company was being formed in the east. H. S. Chapman and his brother-in-law Frank K. Brewster incorporated the company in 1879 and started producing blasting caps on the Brewster farm near Suffield, Connecticut. Three years later an explosion and fire destroyed the plant and a new plant was built near Bethayres, Pennsylvania and a fulminate factory was built at Prescott, Ontario. In 1890 the Bethayres plant was also destroyed by an explosion and a new site near Pompton Lakes, New Jersey was selected for a plant. The Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company, like the California Cap Company in the west, dominated the blasting cap market in the east. In 1907, the company and its Pompton Lakes plant were sold to the Dupont Company which continued to operate the plant until the late 1960s. It’s interesting to note that after the sale to Dupont, tins were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Works. Prior to that, they were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Co. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives industry in America, pp 759-761 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 56-62) slides/MCMfgCo Silver Medal Top.JPG slides/MCMfgCo Silver Medal Bottom.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 SILVER MEDAL 100 PRIMERS - SILVER MEDAL 100 PRIMERS, XXXX, M.C.M’F’G CO. NEW YORK ESTABLISHED 1876 with SILVER CROSS TRADEMARK and tabbed embossed base, painted black with yellowish gold letters, 1 ¼ x 2 1/8 x 2 ½ box (While the California Cap Company was starting up in the west, another company named the Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company was being formed in the east. H. S. Chapman and his brother-in-law Frank K. Brewster incorporated the company in 1879 and started producing blasting caps on the Brewster farm near Suffield, Connecticut. Three years later an explosion and fire destroyed the plant and a new plant was built near Bethayres, Pennsylvania and a fulminate factory was built at Prescott, Ontario. In 1890 the Bethayres plant was also destroyed by an explosion and a new site near Pompton Lakes, New Jersey was selected for a plant. The Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company, like the California Cap Company in the west, dominated the blasting cap market in the east. In 1907, the company and its Pompton Lakes plant were sold to the Dupont Company which continued to operate the plant until the late 1960s. It’s interesting to note that after the sale to Dupont, tins were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Works. Prior to that, they were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Co. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives industry in America, pp 759-761 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 56-62) SILVER MEDAL 100 PRIMERS - SILVER MEDAL 100 PRIMERS, XXXX, M.C.M’F’G CO. NEW YORK ESTABLISHED 1876 with SILVER CROSS TRADEMARK and tabbed embossed base, painted black with yellowish gold letters, 1 ¼ x 2 1/8 x 2 ½ box (While the California Cap Company was starting up in the west, another company named the Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company was being formed in the east. H. S. Chapman and his brother-in-law Frank K. Brewster incorporated the company in 1879 and started producing blasting caps on the Brewster farm near Suffield, Connecticut. Three years later an explosion and fire destroyed the plant and a new plant was built near Bethayres, Pennsylvania and a fulminate factory was built at Prescott, Ontario. In 1890 the Bethayres plant was also destroyed by an explosion and a new site near Pompton Lakes, New Jersey was selected for a plant. The Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company, like the California Cap Company in the west, dominated the blasting cap market in the east. In 1907, the company and its Pompton Lakes plant were sold to the Dupont Company which continued to operate the plant until the late 1960s. It’s interesting to note that after the sale to Dupont, tins were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Works. Prior to that, they were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Co. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives industry in America, pp 759-761 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 56-62) slides/MCMfgCo Silver Medal Bottom.JPG slides/MCMfg.Works 100 x 5.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 M. C. MFG. WORKS 100 X 5 - M.C.MFG. Works, Pompton Lakes, NJ, green/white rectangular 100 No. 5 cap tin, 2 5/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. x 1 3/8 in. high, predates DuPont plant of 1902 (While the California Cap Company was starting up in the west, another company named the Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company was being formed in the east. H. S. Chapman and his brother-in-law Frank K. Brewster incorporated the company in 1879 and started producing blasting caps on the Brewster farm near Suffield, Connecticut. Three years later an explosion and fire destroyed the plant and a new plant was built near Bethayres, Pennsylvania and a fulminate factory was built at Prescott, Ontario. In 1890 the Bethayres plant was also destroyed by an explosion and a new site near Pompton Lakes, New Jersey was selected for a plant. The Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company, like the California Cap Company in the west, dominated the blasting cap market in the east. In 1907, the company and its Pompton Lakes plant were sold to the Dupont Company which continued to operate the plant until the late 1960s. It’s interesting to note that after the sale to Dupont, tins were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Works. Prior to that, they were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Co. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives industry in America, pp 759-761 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 56-62) M. C. MFG. WORKS 100 X 5 - M.C.MFG. Works, Pompton Lakes, NJ, green/white rectangular 100 No. 5 cap tin, 2 5/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. x 1 3/8 in. high, predates DuPont plant of 1902 (While the California Cap Company was starting up in the west, another company named the Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company was being formed in the east. H. S. Chapman and his brother-in-law Frank K. Brewster incorporated the company in 1879 and started producing blasting caps on the Brewster farm near Suffield, Connecticut. Three years later an explosion and fire destroyed the plant and a new plant was built near Bethayres, Pennsylvania and a fulminate factory was built at Prescott, Ontario. In 1890 the Bethayres plant was also destroyed by an explosion and a new site near Pompton Lakes, New Jersey was selected for a plant. The Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company, like the California Cap Company in the west, dominated the blasting cap market in the east. In 1907, the company and its Pompton Lakes plant were sold to the Dupont Company which continued to operate the plant until the late 1960s. It’s interesting to note that after the sale to Dupont, tins were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Works. Prior to that, they were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Co. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives industry in America, pp 759-761 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 56-62) slides/MCMfg.Works 100 x 5.jpg slides/MCMfg.Works 100 x 6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 M. C. MFG. WORKS 100 X 6 - M.C.MFG. Works, Pompton Lakes, NJ, orange/white rectangular 100 No. 6 cap tin, 2 5/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. x 1 9/16 in. high, predates DuPont plant of 1902 (While the California Cap Company was starting up in the west, another company named the Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company was being formed in the east. H. S. Chapman and his brother-in-law Frank K. Brewster incorporated the company in 1879 and started producing blasting caps on the Brewster farm near Suffield, Connecticut. Three years later an explosion and fire destroyed the plant and a new plant was built near Bethayres, Pennsylvania and a fulminate factory was built at Prescott, Ontario. In 1890 the Bethayres plant was also destroyed by an explosion and a new site near Pompton Lakes, New Jersey was selected for a plant. The Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company, like the California Cap Company in the west, dominated the blasting cap market in the east. In 1907, the company and its Pompton Lakes plant were sold to the Dupont Company which continued to operate the plant until the late 1960s. It’s interesting to note that after the sale to Dupont, tins were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Works. Prior to that, they were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Co. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives industry in America, pp 759-761 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 56-62) M. C. MFG. WORKS 100 X 6 - M.C.MFG. Works, Pompton Lakes, NJ, orange/white rectangular 100 No. 6 cap tin, 2 5/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. x 1 9/16 in. high, predates DuPont plant of 1902 (While the California Cap Company was starting up in the west, another company named the Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company was being formed in the east. H. S. Chapman and his brother-in-law Frank K. Brewster incorporated the company in 1879 and started producing blasting caps on the Brewster farm near Suffield, Connecticut. Three years later an explosion and fire destroyed the plant and a new plant was built near Bethayres, Pennsylvania and a fulminate factory was built at Prescott, Ontario. In 1890 the Bethayres plant was also destroyed by an explosion and a new site near Pompton Lakes, New Jersey was selected for a plant. The Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company, like the California Cap Company in the west, dominated the blasting cap market in the east. In 1907, the company and its Pompton Lakes plant were sold to the Dupont Company which continued to operate the plant until the late 1960s. It’s interesting to note that after the sale to Dupont, tins were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Works. Prior to that, they were marked Metallic Cap Mfg. Co. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives industry in America, pp 759-761 and Martin, Blasting Cap Tin Catalog, pp 56-62) slides/MCMfg.Works 100 x 6.jpg slides/Miner's Safety Loading Tools Closed.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 MINER’S SAFETY LOADING TOOLS - Steel, marked MINER’S SAFETY LOADING TOOLS, PAT’D FEB 4, 1902; APR 14, 1903; AUG 18, 1903, 5 in. long cap crimper with sliding knife, patented by Alfred Victor Des Moineaux of Silver Plume, CO MINER’S SAFETY LOADING TOOLS - Steel, marked MINER’S SAFETY LOADING TOOLS, PAT’D FEB 4, 1902; APR 14, 1903; AUG 18, 1903, 5 in. long cap crimper with sliding knife, patented by Alfred Victor Des Moineaux of Silver Plume, CO slides/Miner's Safety Loading Tools Closed.jpg slides/Miner's Safety Loading Tools Closed with Knife Open.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 MINER’S SAFETY LOADING TOOLS - Steel, marked MINER’S SAFETY LOADING TOOLS, PAT’D FEB 4, 1902; APR 14, 1903; AUG 18, 1903, 5 in. long cap crimper with sliding knife, patented by Alfred Victor Des Moineaux of Silver Plume, CO MINER’S SAFETY LOADING TOOLS - Steel, marked MINER’S SAFETY LOADING TOOLS, PAT’D FEB 4, 1902; APR 14, 1903; AUG 18, 1903, 5 in. long cap crimper with sliding knife, patented by Alfred Victor Des Moineaux of Silver Plume, CO slides/Miner's Safety Loading Tools Closed with Knife Open.jpg slides/Miner's Safety Loading Tools Open.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 MINER’S SAFETY LOADING TOOLS - Steel, marked MINER’S SAFETY LOADING TOOLS, PAT’D FEB 4, 1902; APR 14, 1903; AUG 18, 1903, 5 in. long cap crimper with sliding knife, patented by Alfred Victor Des Moineaux of Silver Plume, CO MINER’S SAFETY LOADING TOOLS - Steel, marked MINER’S SAFETY LOADING TOOLS, PAT’D FEB 4, 1902; APR 14, 1903; AUG 18, 1903, 5 in. long cap crimper with sliding knife, patented by Alfred Victor Des Moineaux of Silver Plume, CO slides/Miner's Safety Loading Tools Open.jpg slides/Des Moineaux Patent I.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DES MOINEAUX PATENT I DES MOINEAUX PATENT I slides/Des Moineaux Patent I.jpg slides/Des Moineaux Patent II.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 DES MOINEAUX PATENT II DES MOINEAUX PATENT II slides/Des Moineaux Patent II.jpg slides/Mohrland 5 and 10 Stick Exploder Tokens Obverse.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 MOHRLAND EXPLODER TOKENS - 2 brass exploder tokens, #1 on left is 1 1/2 in. dia. marked MOHRLAND MERCANTILE COMPANY, GOOD FOR 10 STICKS POWDER, MOHRLAND, UTAH, SL Stamp Co (Salt Lake maker), same marking on obverse; #2 on right is 1 3/16 in. dia., marked MOHRLAND MERCANTILE COMPANY, GOOD FOR 5 STICKS POWDER, MOHRLAND, UTAH, SL Stamp Co (Salt Lake maker), obverse marked GOOD FOR 5 STICKS POWDER (MOHRLAND is a ghost town located in Emery County, Utah approximately 13 miles southwest of Price. Lying in Cedar Creek Canyon near the Carbon County line, Mohrland was Emery County's largest coal mining town. Coal mining in Cedar Creek Canyon began on a small scale sometime before 1896, producing coal mainly for local home heating use. In 1907 an investment group bought the mine and surrounding land and incorporated as the Castle Valley Fuel Company. The name Mohrland was selected for the townsite at the Cedar Creek mine of the Castle Valley Coal Company, assembled from the last names of the coal company's organizers: M-O-H-R-land; James H. Mays, Walter C. Orem, Moroni Heiner, and Winsor V. Rice. Coal started shipping by April 1910, and despite Castle Valley Fuel's financial problems, the town continued growing. A business district was soon established in Mohrland, including a hospital, company boarding house, Errol Charlestrom's Wasatch Store, a post office, and several saloons. In 1915 ownership of the mine was transferred to the United States Fuel Company, which also ran the town of Hiawatha just to the north. By 1920 Mohrland had over 200 houses, a large amusement hall, and a school. The population was about 1000. Mohrland was a company town throughout its history; the mine owners essentially ran the town. The company worked to make it a pleasant place to live, despite its location at the edge of the desert. The streets were lined with shade trees, and a small stream ran along the canyon bottom. The most successful years were the early 1920s, but by 1925 coal prices and profits were down. On March 1, 1925 United States Fuel closed down the mine without warning, leaving Mohrland's residents without jobs and without credit at the company store. The company store was the Mohrland Mercantile Co. operated by the United States Fuel Co. between 1916 and 1939. The company reopened Mohrland just as suddenly in September 1926, and the town struggled back to its feet. In 1930 the population was 620. Coal production continued to become less profitable during the Great Depression. In 1938 United States Fuel announced a decision to close Mohrland and consolidate mining operations at Hiawatha, which had a slightly shorter shipping route and more room to build a new preparation plant. The buildings were sold to a salvage company for $50 each, later moved and very little of the town was left behind. [EXPLODER TOKENS were issued by coal companies for the controlled distribution of explosives and related items such as fuse, detonators and squibs. It is thought the number of exploder token varieties probably number less than 300. The exploder tokens are part of the larger story regarding mining company scrip. By definition, scrip is any substitute for currency which is not legal tender and is often a form of credit. Scrip was created as company payment of employees and also as a means of payment in times where regular money was unavailable, such as remote locations or occupied countries in war time. Although private businesses issued scrip for banks, textiles, lumber, railroads, land and other purposes, the heaviest use of scrip certainly in the latter part of the 1800s and early to mid 1900s was by coal mining companies. Coal company scrip was a credit against the accrued wages of miners. In the U.S., where everything in a mining camp was typically run, created and owned by the coal company, scrip provided the workers with credit when their wages had been depleted. Often located in remote, rugged areas, far away from banks and stores, mining camps were cash poor. Partially from a need to supply household goods to miners and partially to capitalize on an opportunity to make a profit, mine owners established company stores in their mining town. Since keeping currency on hand became quite difficult, the coal mining companies issued scrip. Workers had very little choice but to purchase meals and goods at the company store using this scrip. In this way, the company could place enormous markups on goods in the company store, making workers completely dependent on the company, thus enforcing their loyalty to the company. While scrip was a de facto form of currency, employees were rarely paid in scrip. Additionally, while employees could exchange scrip for cash, it was rarely done so at face value. Scrip in this context was valid only within that area or town where it was issued. While store owners in neighboring communities could accept the scrip as currency, they rarely provided an even exchange. Miners were given scrip in advance of their wages to not only buy necessities for the home, but also to pay rent on the company-owned houses they lived in, to buy tools and supplies for work, to pay utilities and medical care, and even to contribute to a mandatory funeral fund. All this was paid to the coal company. There was little retail competition in the coalfields and the prices at some company stores were often so high that miners virtually had nothing left to collect when payday arrived negating the need for cash currency. Scrip started out in paper form but by the early 1900s was commonly being created in brass, copper, and aluminum coins. Each company had its own version and each mine’s company store accepted only its own scrip. Coal company script tokens were typically issued in 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢, $1, $5, $10 and occasionally $20 denominations. In addition scrip was sometimes issued in ½¢ varieties as well. The federal and state governments ultimately outlawed the use of scrip and its use began to decline in the 1950s, disappearing entirely in the U.S. by the early 1970s. The most notable use of scrip in the U.S., especially in the 20th century, was the coal mining region of Appalachia and the states of West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. However, the use of scrip was widespread across the country. One source lists 20,000 coal company stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico all of which used scrip between 1903 and 1958. See Donald Edkins, Edkins’ Catalogue of United States Coal Company Store Scrip, 1977; Johnson and Stutzer, Eureka #3, pp 29-32; Gaska, Mining Artifact Collector #3, p 27; and Fugera, A History of Scrip, National Scrip Collectors Association website] MOHRLAND EXPLODER TOKENS - 2 brass exploder tokens, #1 on left is 1 1/2 in. dia. marked MOHRLAND MERCANTILE COMPANY, GOOD FOR 10 STICKS POWDER, MOHRLAND, UTAH, SL Stamp Co (Salt Lake maker), same marking on obverse; #2 on right is 1 3/16 in. dia., marked MOHRLAND MERCANTILE COMPANY, GOOD FOR 5 STICKS POWDER, MOHRLAND, UTAH, SL Stamp Co (Salt Lake maker), obverse marked GOOD FOR 5 STICKS POWDER (MOHRLAND is a ghost town located in Emery County, Utah approximately 13 miles southwest of Price. Lying in Cedar Creek Canyon near the Carbon County line, Mohrland was Emery County's largest coal mining town. Coal mining in Cedar Creek Canyon began on a small scale sometime before 1896, producing coal mainly for local home heating use. In 1907 an investment group bought the mine and surrounding land and incorporated as the Castle Valley Fuel Company. The name Mohrland was selected for the townsite at the Cedar Creek mine of the Castle Valley Coal Company, assembled from the last names of the coal company's organizers: M-O-H-R-land; James H. Mays, Walter C. Orem, Moroni Heiner, and Winsor V. Rice. Coal started shipping by April 1910, and despite Castle Valley Fuel's financial problems, the town continued growing. A business district was soon established in Mohrland, including a hospital, company boarding house, Errol Charlestrom's Wasatch Store, a post office, and several saloons. In 1915 ownership of the mine was transferred to the United States Fuel Company, which also ran the town of Hiawatha just to the north. By 1920 Mohrland had over 200 houses, a large amusement hall, and a school. The population was about 1000. Mohrland was a company town throughout its history; the mine owners essentially ran the town. The company worked to make it a pleasant place to live, despite its location at the edge of the desert. The streets were lined with shade trees, and a small stream ran along the canyon bottom. The most successful years were the early 1920s, but by 1925 coal prices and profits were down. On March 1, 1925 United States Fuel closed down the mine without warning, leaving Mohrland's residents without jobs and without credit at the company store. The company store was the Mohrland Mercantile Co. operated by the United States Fuel Co. between 1916 and 1939. The company reopened Mohrland just as suddenly in September 1926, and the town struggled back to its feet. In 1930 the population was 620. Coal production continued to become less profitable during the Great Depression. In 1938 United States Fuel announced a decision to close Mohrland and consolidate mining operations at Hiawatha, which had a slightly shorter shipping route and more room to build a new preparation plant. The buildings were sold to a salvage company for $50 each, later moved and very little of the town was left behind. [EXPLODER TOKENS were issued by coal companies for the controlled distribution of explosives and related items such as fuse, detonators and squibs. It is thought the number of exploder token varieties probably number less than 300. The exploder tokens are part of the larger story regarding mining company scrip. By definition, scrip is any substitute for currency which is not legal tender and is often a form of credit. Scrip was created as company payment of employees and also as a means of payment in times where regular money was unavailable, such as remote locations or occupied countries in war time. Although private businesses issued scrip for banks, textiles, lumber, railroads, land and other purposes, the heaviest use of scrip certainly in the latter part of the 1800s and early to mid 1900s was by coal mining companies. Coal company scrip was a credit against the accrued wages of miners. In the U.S., where everything in a mining camp was typically run, created and owned by the coal company, scrip provided the workers with credit when their wages had been depleted. Often located in remote, rugged areas, far away from banks and stores, mining camps were cash poor. Partially from a need to supply household goods to miners and partially to capitalize on an opportunity to make a profit, mine owners established company stores in their mining town. Since keeping currency on hand became quite difficult, the coal mining companies issued scrip. Workers had very little choice but to purchase meals and goods at the company store using this scrip. In this way, the company could place enormous markups on goods in the company store, making workers completely dependent on the company, thus enforcing their loyalty to the company. While scrip was a de facto form of currency, employees were rarely paid in scrip. Additionally, while employees could exchange scrip for cash, it was rarely done so at face value. Scrip in this context was valid only within that area or town where it was issued. While store owners in neighboring communities could accept the scrip as currency, they rarely provided an even exchange. Miners were given scrip in advance of their wages to not only buy necessities for the home, but also to pay rent on the company-owned houses they lived in, to buy tools and supplies for work, to pay utilities and medical care, and even to contribute to a mandatory funeral fund. All this was paid to the coal company. There was little retail competition in the coalfields and the prices at some company stores were often so high that miners virtually had nothing left to collect when payday arrived negating the need for cash currency. Scrip started out in paper form but by the early 1900s was commonly being created in brass, copper, and aluminum coins. Each company had its own version and each mine’s company store accepted only its own scrip. Coal company script tokens were typically issued in 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢, $1, $5, $10 and occasionally $20 denominations. In addition scrip was sometimes issued in ½¢ varieties as well. The federal and state governments ultimately outlawed the use of scrip and its use began to decline in the 1950s, disappearing entirely in the U.S. by the early 1970s. The most notable use of scrip in the U.S., especially in the 20th century, was the coal mining region of Appalachia and the states of West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. However, the use of scrip was widespread across the country. One source lists 20,000 coal company stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico all of which used scrip between 1903 and 1958. See Donald Edkins, Edkins’ Catalogue of United States Coal Company Store Scrip, 1977; Johnson and Stutzer, Eureka #3, pp 29-32; Gaska, Mining Artifact Collector #3, p 27; and Fugera, A History of Scrip, National Scrip Collectors Association website] slides/Mohrland 5 and 10 Stick Exploder Tokens Obverse.JPG slides/Mohrland 5 and 10 Stick Exploder Tokens.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 MOHRLAND EXPLODER TOKENS - 2 brass exploder tokens, #1 on left is 1 1/2 in. dia. marked MOHRLAND MERCANTILE COMPANY, GOOD FOR 10 STICKS POWDER, MOHRLAND, UTAH, SL Stamp Co (Salt Lake maker), same marking on obverse; #2 on right is 1 3/16 in. dia., marked MOHRLAND MERCANTILE COMPANY, GOOD FOR 5 STICKS POWDER, MOHRLAND, UTAH, SL Stamp Co (Salt Lake maker), obverse marked GOOD FOR 5 STICKS POWDER (MOHRLAND is a ghost town located in Emery County, Utah approximately 13 miles southwest of Price. Lying in Cedar Creek Canyon near the Carbon County line, Mohrland was Emery County's largest coal mining town. Coal mining in Cedar Creek Canyon began on a small scale sometime before 1896, producing coal mainly for local home heating use. In 1907 an investment group bought the mine and surrounding land and incorporated as the Castle Valley Fuel Company. The name Mohrland was selected for the townsite at the Cedar Creek mine of the Castle Valley Coal Company, assembled from the last names of the coal company's organizers: M-O-H-R-land; James H. Mays, Walter C. Orem, Moroni Heiner, and Winsor V. Rice. Coal started shipping by April 1910, and despite Castle Valley Fuel's financial problems, the town continued growing. A business district was soon established in Mohrland, including a hospital, company boarding house, Errol Charlestrom's Wasatch Store, a post office, and several saloons. In 1915 ownership of the mine was transferred to the United States Fuel Company, which also ran the town of Hiawatha just to the north. By 1920 Mohrland had over 200 houses, a large amusement hall, and a school. The population was about 1000. Mohrland was a company town throughout its history; the mine owners essentially ran the town. The company worked to make it a pleasant place to live, despite its location at the edge of the desert. The streets were lined with shade trees, and a small stream ran along the canyon bottom. The most successful years were the early 1920s, but by 1925 coal prices and profits were down. On March 1, 1925 United States Fuel closed down the mine without warning, leaving Mohrland's residents without jobs and without credit at the company store. The company store was the Mohrland Mercantile Co. operated by the United States Fuel Co. between 1916 and 1939. The company reopened Mohrland just as suddenly in September 1926, and the town struggled back to its feet. In 1930 the population was 620. Coal production continued to become less profitable during the Great Depression. In 1938 United States Fuel announced a decision to close Mohrland and consolidate mining operations at Hiawatha, which had a slightly shorter shipping route and more room to build a new preparation plant. The buildings were sold to a salvage company for $50 each, later moved and very little of the town was left behind. [EXPLODER TOKENS were issued by coal companies for the controlled distribution of explosives and related items such as fuse, detonators and squibs. It is thought the number of exploder token varieties probably number less than 300. The exploder tokens are part of the larger story regarding mining company scrip. By definition, scrip is any substitute for currency which is not legal tender and is often a form of credit. Scrip was created as company payment of employees and also as a means of payment in times where regular money was unavailable, such as remote locations or occupied countries in war time. Although private businesses issued scrip for banks, textiles, lumber, railroads, land and other purposes, the heaviest use of scrip certainly in the latter part of the 1800s and early to mid 1900s was by coal mining companies. Coal company scrip was a credit against the accrued wages of miners. In the U.S., where everything in a mining camp was typically run, created and owned by the coal company, scrip provided the workers with credit when their wages had been depleted. Often located in remote, rugged areas, far away from banks and stores, mining camps were cash poor. Partially from a need to supply household goods to miners and partially to capitalize on an opportunity to make a profit, mine owners established company stores in their mining town. Since keeping currency on hand became quite difficult, the coal mining companies issued scrip. Workers had very little choice but to purchase meals and goods at the company store using this scrip. In this way, the company could place enormous markups on goods in the company store, making workers completely dependent on the company, thus enforcing their loyalty to the company. While scrip was a de facto form of currency, employees were rarely paid in scrip. Additionally, while employees could exchange scrip for cash, it was rarely done so at face value. Scrip in this context was valid only within that area or town where it was issued. While store owners in neighboring communities could accept the scrip as currency, they rarely provided an even exchange. Miners were given scrip in advance of their wages to not only buy necessities for the home, but also to pay rent on the company-owned houses they lived in, to buy tools and supplies for work, to pay utilities and medical care, and even to contribute to a mandatory funeral fund. All this was paid to the coal company. There was little retail competition in the coalfields and the prices at some company stores were often so high that miners virtually had nothing left to collect when payday arrived negating the need for cash currency. Scrip started out in paper form but by the early 1900s was commonly being created in brass, copper, and aluminum coins. Each company had its own version and each mine’s company store accepted only its own scrip. Coal company script tokens were typically issued in 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢, $1, $5, $10 and occasionally $20 denominations. In addition scrip was sometimes issued in ½¢ varieties as well. The federal and state governments ultimately outlawed the use of scrip and its use began to decline in the 1950s, disappearing entirely in the U.S. by the early 1970s. The most notable use of scrip in the U.S., especially in the 20th century, was the coal mining region of Appalachia and the states of West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. However, the use of scrip was widespread across the country. One source lists 20,000 coal company stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico all of which used scrip between 1903 and 1958. See Donald Edkins, Edkins’ Catalogue of United States Coal Company Store Scrip, 1977; Johnson and Stutzer, Eureka #3, pp 29-32; Gaska, Mining Artifact Collector #3, p 27; and Fugera, A History of Scrip, National Scrip Collectors Association website] MOHRLAND EXPLODER TOKENS - 2 brass exploder tokens, #1 on left is 1 1/2 in. dia. marked MOHRLAND MERCANTILE COMPANY, GOOD FOR 10 STICKS POWDER, MOHRLAND, UTAH, SL Stamp Co (Salt Lake maker), same marking on obverse; #2 on right is 1 3/16 in. dia., marked MOHRLAND MERCANTILE COMPANY, GOOD FOR 5 STICKS POWDER, MOHRLAND, UTAH, SL Stamp Co (Salt Lake maker), obverse marked GOOD FOR 5 STICKS POWDER (MOHRLAND is a ghost town located in Emery County, Utah approximately 13 miles southwest of Price. Lying in Cedar Creek Canyon near the Carbon County line, Mohrland was Emery County's largest coal mining town. Coal mining in Cedar Creek Canyon began on a small scale sometime before 1896, producing coal mainly for local home heating use. In 1907 an investment group bought the mine and surrounding land and incorporated as the Castle Valley Fuel Company. The name Mohrland was selected for the townsite at the Cedar Creek mine of the Castle Valley Coal Company, assembled from the last names of the coal company's organizers: M-O-H-R-land; James H. Mays, Walter C. Orem, Moroni Heiner, and Winsor V. Rice. Coal started shipping by April 1910, and despite Castle Valley Fuel's financial problems, the town continued growing. A business district was soon established in Mohrland, including a hospital, company boarding house, Errol Charlestrom's Wasatch Store, a post office, and several saloons. In 1915 ownership of the mine was transferred to the United States Fuel Company, which also ran the town of Hiawatha just to the north. By 1920 Mohrland had over 200 houses, a large amusement hall, and a school. The population was about 1000. Mohrland was a company town throughout its history; the mine owners essentially ran the town. The company worked to make it a pleasant place to live, despite its location at the edge of the desert. The streets were lined with shade trees, and a small stream ran along the canyon bottom. The most successful years were the early 1920s, but by 1925 coal prices and profits were down. On March 1, 1925 United States Fuel closed down the mine without warning, leaving Mohrland's residents without jobs and without credit at the company store. The company store was the Mohrland Mercantile Co. operated by the United States Fuel Co. between 1916 and 1939. The company reopened Mohrland just as suddenly in September 1926, and the town struggled back to its feet. In 1930 the population was 620. Coal production continued to become less profitable during the Great Depression. In 1938 United States Fuel announced a decision to close Mohrland and consolidate mining operations at Hiawatha, which had a slightly shorter shipping route and more room to build a new preparation plant. The buildings were sold to a salvage company for $50 each, later moved and very little of the town was left behind. [EXPLODER TOKENS were issued by coal companies for the controlled distribution of explosives and related items such as fuse, detonators and squibs. It is thought the number of exploder token varieties probably number less than 300. The exploder tokens are part of the larger story regarding mining company scrip. By definition, scrip is any substitute for currency which is not legal tender and is often a form of credit. Scrip was created as company payment of employees and also as a means of payment in times where regular money was unavailable, such as remote locations or occupied countries in war time. Although private businesses issued scrip for banks, textiles, lumber, railroads, land and other purposes, the heaviest use of scrip certainly in the latter part of the 1800s and early to mid 1900s was by coal mining companies. Coal company scrip was a credit against the accrued wages of miners. In the U.S., where everything in a mining camp was typically run, created and owned by the coal company, scrip provided the workers with credit when their wages had been depleted. Often located in remote, rugged areas, far away from banks and stores, mining camps were cash poor. Partially from a need to supply household goods to miners and partially to capitalize on an opportunity to make a profit, mine owners established company stores in their mining town. Since keeping currency on hand became quite difficult, the coal mining companies issued scrip. Workers had very little choice but to purchase meals and goods at the company store using this scrip. In this way, the company could place enormous markups on goods in the company store, making workers completely dependent on the company, thus enforcing their loyalty to the company. While scrip was a de facto form of currency, employees were rarely paid in scrip. Additionally, while employees could exchange scrip for cash, it was rarely done so at face value. Scrip in this context was valid only within that area or town where it was issued. While store owners in neighboring communities could accept the scrip as currency, they rarely provided an even exchange. Miners were given scrip in advance of their wages to not only buy necessities for the home, but also to pay rent on the company-owned houses they lived in, to buy tools and supplies for work, to pay utilities and medical care, and even to contribute to a mandatory funeral fund. All this was paid to the coal company. There was little retail competition in the coalfields and the prices at some company stores were often so high that miners virtually had nothing left to collect when payday arrived negating the need for cash currency. Scrip started out in paper form but by the early 1900s was commonly being created in brass, copper, and aluminum coins. Each company had its own version and each mine’s company store accepted only its own scrip. Coal company script tokens were typically issued in 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢, $1, $5, $10 and occasionally $20 denominations. In addition scrip was sometimes issued in ½¢ varieties as well. The federal and state governments ultimately outlawed the use of scrip and its use began to decline in the 1950s, disappearing entirely in the U.S. by the early 1970s. The most notable use of scrip in the U.S., especially in the 20th century, was the coal mining region of Appalachia and the states of West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. However, the use of scrip was widespread across the country. One source lists 20,000 coal company stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico all of which used scrip between 1903 and 1958. See Donald Edkins, Edkins’ Catalogue of United States Coal Company Store Scrip, 1977; Johnson and Stutzer, Eureka #3, pp 29-32; Gaska, Mining Artifact Collector #3, p 27; and Fugera, A History of Scrip, National Scrip Collectors Association website] slides/Mohrland 5 and 10 Stick Exploder Tokens.JPG slides/Mystery No 6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 MYSTERY NO 6 - This round mystery cap tin is marked on the bottom with a stamping of No 6, 2 3/4 in. dia. and 1 3/4 in. high, presumed to have had paper labels on top and/or sides???, one of three currently known, from my good Alaskan friend Neil Tysver MYSTERY NO 6 - This round mystery cap tin is marked on the bottom with a stamping of No 6, 2 3/4 in. dia. and 1 3/4 in. high, presumed to have had paper labels on top and/or sides???, one of three currently known, from my good Alaskan friend Neil Tysver slides/Mystery No 6.jpg slides/Peerless Explosives 100 x 6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 PEERLESS EXPLOSIVES - Black and tan Peerless 100 No. 6 caps, 2 5/8 x 2 1/4 x 1 ¾ in. high, manufactured by Peerless Explosives Co., Wilkes-Barre, PA (The Peerless Explosives Company was formed by E. R. Day, R. I. Bashford formerly of the Grasselli Powder Company, and Eugene Frost formerly of the Aetna and Grasselli companies. The company was incorporated in Delaware in 1923 with Day as president. The company acquired the old Miller Powder Company property at White Haven, Pennsylvania and built a dynamite plant there. By 1924 the usual grades of dynamite were being produced with a rated capacity of 4,500,000 pounds per year. In 1930, Peerless Explosives merged with the Union Explosives Company and continued manufacturing operations until about 1950. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 632-35) PEERLESS EXPLOSIVES - Black and tan Peerless 100 No. 6 caps, 2 5/8 x 2 1/4 x 1 ¾ in. high, manufactured by Peerless Explosives Co., Wilkes-Barre, PA (The Peerless Explosives Company was formed by E. R. Day, R. I. Bashford formerly of the Grasselli Powder Company, and Eugene Frost formerly of the Aetna and Grasselli companies. The company was incorporated in Delaware in 1923 with Day as president. The company acquired the old Miller Powder Company property at White Haven, Pennsylvania and built a dynamite plant there. By 1924 the usual grades of dynamite were being produced with a rated capacity of 4,500,000 pounds per year. In 1930, Peerless Explosives merged with the Union Explosives Company and continued manufacturing operations until about 1950. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 632-35) slides/Peerless Explosives 100 x 6.jpg slides/Powells Squibs 1.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 POWELL'S SQUIBS - Old box about 1/3 full of Powell’s sulfur-type blasting squibs, top marked POWELL’S IMPROVED SAFETY SQUIBS, ROCKET NO. 1 with blue Union Label marked United Powder and High Explosives Workers of America showing an explosion out of the top of a rock pile, 6 1/4 in. x 2 in. x 1 1/2 in., with several patent dates from 1879 into 1880s (John R. Powell of Plymouth, PA held a number of patents for blasting and miners squibs; among others, his patents included No. 215,395 on May 13, 1879 for a blasting fuse; No. 220,735 on Oct. 21, 1879 for a blasting squib; No. 305,223 on Sept. 16, 1884 for a miners squib; No. 326,239 on Sept. 15, 1885 for a miners squib; the blasting squib was used primarily by eastern coal miners to ignite black powder; the squib, also called a rush, match, or reed, is a small paper tube filled with quick burning powder with a slow match at one end that acted as a fuse to give the miner time to evacuate the area of blasting; the quick burning powder propelled the squib into the drill hole much like a bottle rocket to ignite the black powder charge; two types of squibs were used: sulfur and gas; the sulfur squib match end burned with a flame while the gas squib glowed without an open flame; the theory was that the gas squib would not ignite methane in a gaseous mine and thus was safer; however, the large amount of sparks produced by the rocket effect proved otherwise; see Ross, Mining Artifact Collector #5, pp 25-26) POWELL'S SQUIBS - Old box about 1/3 full of Powell’s sulfur-type blasting squibs, top marked POWELL’S IMPROVED SAFETY SQUIBS, ROCKET NO. 1 with blue Union Label marked United Powder and High Explosives Workers of America showing an explosion out of the top of a rock pile, 6 1/4 in. x 2 in. x 1 1/2 in., with several patent dates from 1879 into 1880s (John R. Powell of Plymouth, PA held a number of patents for blasting and miners squibs; among others, his patents included No. 215,395 on May 13, 1879 for a blasting fuse; No. 220,735 on Oct. 21, 1879 for a blasting squib; No. 305,223 on Sept. 16, 1884 for a miners squib; No. 326,239 on Sept. 15, 1885 for a miners squib; the blasting squib was used primarily by eastern coal miners to ignite black powder; the squib, also called a rush, match, or reed, is a small paper tube filled with quick burning powder with a slow match at one end that acted as a fuse to give the miner time to evacuate the area of blasting; the quick burning powder propelled the squib into the drill hole much like a bottle rocket to ignite the black powder charge; two types of squibs were used: sulfur and gas; the sulfur squib match end burned with a flame while the gas squib glowed without an open flame; the theory was that the gas squib would not ignite methane in a gaseous mine and thus was safer; however, the large amount of sparks produced by the rocket effect proved otherwise; see Ross, Mining Artifact Collector #5, pp 25-26) slides/Powells Squibs 1.JPG slides/Powells Squibs 2.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 POWELL'S SQUIBS - Old box about 1/3 full of Powell’s sulfur-type blasting squibs, top marked POWELL’S IMPROVED SAFETY SQUIBS, ROCKET NO. 1 with blue Union Label marked United Powder and High Explosives Workers of America showing an explosion out of the top of a rock pile, 6 1/4 in. x 2 in. x 1 1/2 in., with several patent dates from 1879 into 1880s (John R. Powell of Plymouth, PA held a number of patents for blasting and miners squibs; among others, his patents included No. 215,395 on May 13, 1879 for a blasting fuse; No. 220,735 on Oct. 21, 1879 for a blasting squib; No. 305,223 on Sept. 16, 1884 for a miners squib; No. 326,239 on Sept. 15, 1885 for a miners squib; the blasting squib was used primarily by eastern coal miners to ignite black powder; the squib, also called a rush, match, or reed, is a small paper tube filled with quick burning powder with a slow match at one end that acted as a fuse to give the miner time to evacuate the area of blasting; the quick burning powder propelled the squib into the drill hole much like a bottle rocket to ignite the black powder charge; two types of squibs were used: sulfur and gas; the sulfur squib match end burned with a flame while the gas squib glowed without an open flame; the theory was that the gas squib would not ignite methane in a gaseous mine and thus was safer; however, the large amount of sparks produced by the rocket effect proved otherwise; see Ross, Mining Artifact Collector #5, pp 25-26) POWELL'S SQUIBS - Old box about 1/3 full of Powell’s sulfur-type blasting squibs, top marked POWELL’S IMPROVED SAFETY SQUIBS, ROCKET NO. 1 with blue Union Label marked United Powder and High Explosives Workers of America showing an explosion out of the top of a rock pile, 6 1/4 in. x 2 in. x 1 1/2 in., with several patent dates from 1879 into 1880s (John R. Powell of Plymouth, PA held a number of patents for blasting and miners squibs; among others, his patents included No. 215,395 on May 13, 1879 for a blasting fuse; No. 220,735 on Oct. 21, 1879 for a blasting squib; No. 305,223 on Sept. 16, 1884 for a miners squib; No. 326,239 on Sept. 15, 1885 for a miners squib; the blasting squib was used primarily by eastern coal miners to ignite black powder; the squib, also called a rush, match, or reed, is a small paper tube filled with quick burning powder with a slow match at one end that acted as a fuse to give the miner time to evacuate the area of blasting; the quick burning powder propelled the squib into the drill hole much like a bottle rocket to ignite the black powder charge; two types of squibs were used: sulfur and gas; the sulfur squib match end burned with a flame while the gas squib glowed without an open flame; the theory was that the gas squib would not ignite methane in a gaseous mine and thus was safer; however, the large amount of sparks produced by the rocket effect proved otherwise; see Ross, Mining Artifact Collector #5, pp 25-26) slides/Powells Squibs 2.JPG slides/Powells Squibs 3.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 POWELL'S SQUIBS - Old box about 1/3 full of Powell’s sulfur-type blasting squibs, top marked POWELL’S IMPROVED SAFETY SQUIBS, ROCKET NO. 1 with blue Union Label marked United Powder and High Explosives Workers of America showing an explosion out of the top of a rock pile, 6 1/4 in. x 2 in. x 1 1/2 in., with several patent dates from 1879 into 1880s (John R. Powell of Plymouth, PA held a number of patents for blasting and miners squibs; among others, his patents included No. 215,395 on May 13, 1879 for a blasting fuse; No. 220,735 on Oct. 21, 1879 for a blasting squib; No. 305,223 on Sept. 16, 1884 for a miners squib; No. 326,239 on Sept. 15, 1885 for a miners squib; the blasting squib was used primarily by eastern coal miners to ignite black powder; the squib, also called a rush, match, or reed, is a small paper tube filled with quick burning powder with a slow match at one end that acted as a fuse to give the miner time to evacuate the area of blasting; the quick burning powder propelled the squib into the drill hole much like a bottle rocket to ignite the black powder charge; two types of squibs were used: sulfur and gas; the sulfur squib match end burned with a flame while the gas squib glowed without an open flame; the theory was that the gas squib would not ignite methane in a gaseous mine and thus was safer; however, the large amount of sparks produced by the rocket effect proved otherwise; see Ross, Mining Artifact Collector #5, pp 25-26) SEE POWELL'S 1879 BLASTING SQUIB PATENT IN THE FOLLOWING PIC POWELL'S SQUIBS - Old box about 1/3 full of Powell’s sulfur-type blasting squibs, top marked POWELL’S IMPROVED SAFETY SQUIBS, ROCKET NO. 1 with blue Union Label marked United Powder and High Explosives Workers of America showing an explosion out of the top of a rock pile, 6 1/4 in. x 2 in. x 1 1/2 in., with several patent dates from 1879 into 1880s (John R. Powell of Plymouth, PA held a number of patents for blasting and miners squibs; among others, his patents included No. 215,395 on May 13, 1879 for a blasting fuse; No. 220,735 on Oct. 21, 1879 for a blasting squib; No. 305,223 on Sept. 16, 1884 for a miners squib; No. 326,239 on Sept. 15, 1885 for a miners squib; the blasting squib was used primarily by eastern coal miners to ignite black powder; the squib, also called a rush, match, or reed, is a small paper tube filled with quick burning powder with a slow match at one end that acted as a fuse to give the miner time to evacuate the area of blasting; the quick burning powder propelled the squib into the drill hole much like a bottle rocket to ignite the black powder charge; two types of squibs were used: sulfur and gas; the sulfur squib match end burned with a flame while the gas squib glowed without an open flame; the theory was that the gas squib would not ignite methane in a gaseous mine and thus was safer; however, the large amount of sparks produced by the rocket effect proved otherwise; see Ross, Mining Artifact Collector #5, pp 25-26) SEE POWELL'S 1879 BLASTING SQUIB PATENT IN THE FOLLOWING PIC slides/Powells Squibs 3.JPG slides/Powell 1879 Squib Patent.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 Powell's 1879 patent for a blasting squib Powell's 1879 patent for a blasting squib slides/Powell 1879 Squib Patent.JPG slides/Macbeth & Co.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 MACBETH & CO PULL UP BLASTER AD - Ad in 1898 Engineering and Mining Journal for the Pull Up blasting machine manufactured by James Macbeth & Co. MACBETH & CO PULL UP BLASTER AD - Ad in 1898 Engineering and Mining Journal for the Pull Up blasting machine manufactured by James Macbeth & Co. slides/Macbeth & Co.JPG slides/Prince Cap Crimper Closed.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 PRINCE CAP CRIMPER TOOL - Heavy duty brass cap crimper, fuse cutter, fuse splitter and multi-purpose tool, spring loaded with closing loop, unmarked, patented by Harry Prince of Cleveland, OH, as patent No. 1,431,421 awarded Oct. 10, 1922 (filed Dec. 8, 1920) and assigned to The City Brass Foundry Co. of Cleveland, OH, 6 3/4 in. long PRINCE CAP CRIMPER TOOL - Heavy duty brass cap crimper, fuse cutter, fuse splitter and multi-purpose tool, spring loaded with closing loop, unmarked, patented by Harry Prince of Cleveland, OH, as patent No. 1,431,421 awarded Oct. 10, 1922 (filed Dec. 8, 1920) and assigned to The City Brass Foundry Co. of Cleveland, OH, 6 3/4 in. long slides/Prince Cap Crimper Closed.JPG slides/Prince Cap Crimper Open.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 PRINCE CAP CRIMPER TOOL - Heavy duty brass cap crimper, fuse cutter, fuse splitter and multi-purpose tool, spring loaded with closing loop, unmarked, patented by Harry Prince of Cleveland, OH, as patent No. 1,431,421 awarded Oct. 10, 1922 (filed Dec. 8, 1920) and assigned to The City Brass Foundry Co. of Cleveland, OH, 6 3/4 in. long PRINCE CAP CRIMPER TOOL - Heavy duty brass cap crimper, fuse cutter, fuse splitter and multi-purpose tool, spring loaded with closing loop, unmarked, patented by Harry Prince of Cleveland, OH, as patent No. 1,431,421 awarded Oct. 10, 1922 (filed Dec. 8, 1920) and assigned to The City Brass Foundry Co. of Cleveland, OH, 6 3/4 in. long slides/Prince Cap Crimper Open.JPG slides/Prince Patent.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 PRINCE CAP CRIMPER TOOL PATENT PRINCE CAP CRIMPER TOOL PATENT slides/Prince Patent.jpg slides/Pull Up.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 PULL UP BLASTING MACHINE NO. 3 - Pull up type blasting machine, marked on top plate PULL UP BLASTING MACHINE NO 3, WILL FIRE 20 TO 30 HOLES, TO FIRE and instructions, dovetailed oak case, case is 9 1/8 x 7 3/4 x 11 1/8, N F P C 2 is etched in wood and base, working order, [patent #468,451 for magneto-electric machine issued Feb 9, 1892 to John Hunt, NYC and assigned to James Macbeth, Brooklyn; patent #495,138 for magneto-electric machine issued Apr 11, 1893 to Joseph N. McLeod, Brooklyn and assigned to The McLeod Electric Mfg. Co, NYC] (unit history provided by Steve Nalbone – unit belonged to his father who provided quarry blasting service throughout western NY); acquired from Steve Nalbone, Falconer, NY PULL UP BLASTING MACHINE NO. 3 - Pull up type blasting machine, marked on top plate PULL UP BLASTING MACHINE NO 3, WILL FIRE 20 TO 30 HOLES, TO FIRE and instructions, dovetailed oak case, case is 9 1/8 x 7 3/4 x 11 1/8, N F P C 2 is etched in wood and base, working order, [patent #468,451 for magneto-electric machine issued Feb 9, 1892 to John Hunt, NYC and assigned to James Macbeth, Brooklyn; patent #495,138 for magneto-electric machine issued Apr 11, 1893 to Joseph N. McLeod, Brooklyn and assigned to The McLeod Electric Mfg. Co, NYC] (unit history provided by Steve Nalbone – unit belonged to his father who provided quarry blasting service throughout western NY); acquired from Steve Nalbone, Falconer, NY slides/Pull Up.JPG slides/Pull Up Blasting Machine Tag.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 PULL UP BLASTING MACHINE NO. 3 TAG PULL UP BLASTING MACHINE NO. 3 TAG slides/Pull Up Blasting Machine Tag.jpg slides/Pull Up Blaster Hunt Patent sheet 1.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 HUNT PULL UP BLASTER PATENT - Patent No. 468,451 for magneto electric machine issued Feb 9, 1892 to John Hunt, NYC and assigned to James Macbeth, Brooklyn HUNT PULL UP BLASTER PATENT - Patent No. 468,451 for magneto electric machine issued Feb 9, 1892 to John Hunt, NYC and assigned to James Macbeth, Brooklyn slides/Pull Up Blaster Hunt Patent sheet 1.jpg slides/Pull Up Blaster Hunt Patent sheet 2.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 HUNT PULL UP BLASTER PATENT - Patent No. 468,451 for magneto electric machine issued Feb 9, 1892 to John Hunt, NYC and assigned to James Macbeth, Brooklyn HUNT PULL UP BLASTER PATENT - Patent No. 468,451 for magneto electric machine issued Feb 9, 1892 to John Hunt, NYC and assigned to James Macbeth, Brooklyn slides/Pull Up Blaster Hunt Patent sheet 2.jpg slides/Pull Up Blaster Hunt Patent sheet 3.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 HUNT PULL UP BLASTER PATENT - Patent No. 468,451 for magneto electric machine issued Feb 9, 1892 to John Hunt, NYC and assigned to James Macbeth, Brooklyn HUNT PULL UP BLASTER PATENT - Patent No. 468,451 for magneto electric machine issued Feb 9, 1892 to John Hunt, NYC and assigned to James Macbeth, Brooklyn slides/Pull Up Blaster Hunt Patent sheet 3.jpg slides/Pull Up Blaster Hunt Patent sheet 4.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 HUNT PULL UP BLASTER PATENT - Patent No. 468,451 for magneto electric machine issued Feb 9, 1892 to John Hunt, NYC and assigned to James Macbeth, Brooklyn HUNT PULL UP BLASTER PATENT - Patent No. 468,451 for magneto electric machine issued Feb 9, 1892 to John Hunt, NYC and assigned to James Macbeth, Brooklyn slides/Pull Up Blaster Hunt Patent sheet 4.jpg slides/Pull Up Blaster McLeod Patent sheet 1.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 MCLEOD PULL UP BLASTER PATENT - Patent No. 495,138 for magneto electric machine issued Apr 11, 1893 to Joseph N. McLeod, Brooklyn and assigned to The McLeod Electric Mfg. Co, NYC MCLEOD PULL UP BLASTER PATENT - Patent No. 495,138 for magneto electric machine issued Apr 11, 1893 to Joseph N. McLeod, Brooklyn and assigned to The McLeod Electric Mfg. Co, NYC slides/Pull Up Blaster McLeod Patent sheet 1.jpg slides/Pull Up Blaster McLeod Patent sheet 2.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 MCLEOD PULL UP BLASTER PATENT - Patent No. 495,138 for magneto electric machine issued Apr 11, 1893 to Joseph N. McLeod, Brooklyn and assigned to The McLeod Electric Mfg. Co, NYC MCLEOD PULL UP BLASTER PATENT - Patent No. 495,138 for magneto electric machine issued Apr 11, 1893 to Joseph N. McLeod, Brooklyn and assigned to The McLeod Electric Mfg. Co, NYC slides/Pull Up Blaster McLeod Patent sheet 2.jpg slides/Roberts Squibs Top.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 ROBERTS' SQUIBS - Box of 100 squibs manufactured by F. J. Roberts Squib Co., Punxsutawney. PA, marked on top IMPROVED SAFETY SQUIBS, ROCKET NO. 1, 6 1/8 in. x 1 3/4 in. x 1 1/4 in., new old stock ROBERTS' SQUIBS - Box of 100 squibs manufactured by F. J. Roberts Squib Co., Punxsutawney. PA, marked on top IMPROVED SAFETY SQUIBS, ROCKET NO. 1, 6 1/8 in. x 1 3/4 in. x 1 1/4 in., new old stock slides/Roberts Squibs Top.jpg slides/Roberts Squibs SideL.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 ROBERTS' SQUIBS - Box of 100 squibs manufactured by F. J. Roberts Squib Co., Punxsutawney. PA, marked on top IMPROVED SAFETY SQUIBS, ROCKET NO. 1, 6 1/8 in. x 1 3/4 in. x 1 1/4 in., new old stock ROBERTS' SQUIBS - Box of 100 squibs manufactured by F. J. Roberts Squib Co., Punxsutawney. PA, marked on top IMPROVED SAFETY SQUIBS, ROCKET NO. 1, 6 1/8 in. x 1 3/4 in. x 1 1/4 in., new old stock slides/Roberts Squibs SideL.jpg slides/Roberts Squibs SideR.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 ROBERTS' SQUIBS - Box of 100 squibs manufactured by F. J. Roberts Squib Co., Punxsutawney. PA, marked on top IMPROVED SAFETY SQUIBS, ROCKET NO. 1, 6 1/8 in. x 1 3/4 in. x 1 1/4 in., new old stock ROBERTS' SQUIBS - Box of 100 squibs manufactured by F. J. Roberts Squib Co., Punxsutawney. PA, marked on top IMPROVED SAFETY SQUIBS, ROCKET NO. 1, 6 1/8 in. x 1 3/4 in. x 1 1/4 in., new old stock slides/Roberts Squibs SideR.jpg slides/Squib Case.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 SQUIB CASE - Miners metal squib case with lid and 9 black powder blasting squibs, 7 1/4 in. x 1 3/8 in. x 3/4 in. SQUIB CASE - Miners metal squib case with lid and 9 black powder blasting squibs, 7 1/4 in. x 1 3/8 in. x 3/4 in. slides/Squib Case.JPG slides/Trojan Exposives 1926 Keystone Mining Catalogue.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 TROJAN EXPLOSIVES AD - Ad in the 1926 Keystone Mining Catalogue for explosive products of the Trojan Powder Co. TROJAN EXPLOSIVES AD - Ad in the 1926 Keystone Mining Catalogue for explosive products of the Trojan Powder Co. slides/Trojan Exposives 1926 Keystone Mining Catalogue.JPG slides/Trojan Powder 100 x 6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 TROJAN RED 100 X 6 - Red and yellow Trojan blasting caps 100 No. 6 manufactured by Trojan Powder Co., Allentown, PA & San Francisco, Cal, 2 3/4 x 2 1/4 x 1 3/4 in. high (Trojan powder is not a dynamite containing nitroglycerine but a dry powder with a basis of nitrostarch mixed with various oxygen carriers and combustible materials. While discovered in the 1830s by French chemists, it was the last to be used successfully in blasting explosives. The problem was how to produce a stable nitrostarch and that was discovered by F. B. Holmes and J. B. Bronstein of Dupont’s Eastern Laboratories. Holmes obtained several patents during the 1905 to 1908 timeframe fro stabilizing nitrostarch powders. Meanwhile, Bronstein left Dupont and formed the Non-Freezing Powder Company in 1905 so named because the powder contained no liquid and therefore could not freeze. He built a small experimental scale plant near Paulsboro, New Jersey and produced some explosives for commercial use before a fire forced the plant to be moved elsewhere. The Allentown Non-Freezing Powder Company, later changed to the Pennsylvania Trojan Powder Company, was incorporated on September 13, 1905 and built a commercial scale plant at Seiple, Pennsylvania. On April 25, 1906 the Pacific High Explosives Company was incorporated extending the manufacture of trojan powder to California. This company built a plant at Roberts, California and in 1912, it reorganized as the California Trojan Powder Company. After World War I, the east and west coast companies all merged into the Trojan Powder Company and continued to develop factory processes to produce a satisfactory stable product. A number of permissibles of the nitrostarch type were approved by the Bureau of Mines. The company continued operations into the 1940s. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 636-39) TROJAN RED 100 X 6 - Red and yellow Trojan blasting caps 100 No. 6 manufactured by Trojan Powder Co., Allentown, PA & San Francisco, Cal, 2 3/4 x 2 1/4 x 1 3/4 in. high (Trojan powder is not a dynamite containing nitroglycerine but a dry powder with a basis of nitrostarch mixed with various oxygen carriers and combustible materials. While discovered in the 1830s by French chemists, it was the last to be used successfully in blasting explosives. The problem was how to produce a stable nitrostarch and that was discovered by F. B. Holmes and J. B. Bronstein of Dupont’s Eastern Laboratories. Holmes obtained several patents during the 1905 to 1908 timeframe fro stabilizing nitrostarch powders. Meanwhile, Bronstein left Dupont and formed the Non-Freezing Powder Company in 1905 so named because the powder contained no liquid and therefore could not freeze. He built a small experimental scale plant near Paulsboro, New Jersey and produced some explosives for commercial use before a fire forced the plant to be moved elsewhere. The Allentown Non-Freezing Powder Company, later changed to the Pennsylvania Trojan Powder Company, was incorporated on September 13, 1905 and built a commercial scale plant at Seiple, Pennsylvania. On April 25, 1906 the Pacific High Explosives Company was incorporated extending the manufacture of trojan powder to California. This company built a plant at Roberts, California and in 1912, it reorganized as the California Trojan Powder Company. After World War I, the east and west coast companies all merged into the Trojan Powder Company and continued to develop factory processes to produce a satisfactory stable product. A number of permissibles of the nitrostarch type were approved by the Bureau of Mines. The company continued operations into the 1940s. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 636-39) slides/Trojan Powder 100 x 6.jpg slides/Trojan Powder Green 100 x 6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 TROJAN GREEN 100 X 6 - Green Trojan blasting caps 100 No. 6 manufactured by Trojan Powder Co., San Francisco, Cal, 2 3/4 x 2 1/4 x 1 3/4 in. high (Trojan powder is not a dynamite containing nitroglycerine but a dry powder with a basis of nitrostarch mixed with various oxygen carriers and combustible materials. While discovered in the 1830s by French chemists, it was the last to be used successfully in blasting explosives. The problem was how to produce a stable nitrostarch and that was discovered by F. B. Holmes and J. B. Bronstein of Dupont’s Eastern Laboratories. Holmes obtained several patents during the 1905 to 1908 timeframe fro stabilizing nitrostarch powders. Meanwhile, Bronstein left Dupont and formed the Non-Freezing Powder Company in 1905 so named because the powder contained no liquid and therefore could not freeze. He built a small experimental scale plant near Paulsboro, New Jersey and produced some explosives for commercial use before a fire forced the plant to be moved elsewhere. The Allentown Non-Freezing Powder Company, later changed to the Pennsylvania Trojan Powder Company, was incorporated on September 13, 1905 and built a commercial scale plant at Seiple, Pennsylvania. On April 25, 1906 the Pacific High Explosives Company was incorporated extending the manufacture of trojan powder to California. This company built a plant at Roberts, California and in 1912, it reorganized as the California Trojan Powder Company. After World War I, the east and west coast companies all merged into the Trojan Powder Company and continued to develop factory processes to produce a satisfactory stable product. A number of permissibles of the nitrostarch type were approved by the Bureau of Mines. The company continued operations into the 1940s. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 636-39) TROJAN GREEN 100 X 6 - Green Trojan blasting caps 100 No. 6 manufactured by Trojan Powder Co., San Francisco, Cal, 2 3/4 x 2 1/4 x 1 3/4 in. high (Trojan powder is not a dynamite containing nitroglycerine but a dry powder with a basis of nitrostarch mixed with various oxygen carriers and combustible materials. While discovered in the 1830s by French chemists, it was the last to be used successfully in blasting explosives. The problem was how to produce a stable nitrostarch and that was discovered by F. B. Holmes and J. B. Bronstein of Dupont’s Eastern Laboratories. Holmes obtained several patents during the 1905 to 1908 timeframe fro stabilizing nitrostarch powders. Meanwhile, Bronstein left Dupont and formed the Non-Freezing Powder Company in 1905 so named because the powder contained no liquid and therefore could not freeze. He built a small experimental scale plant near Paulsboro, New Jersey and produced some explosives for commercial use before a fire forced the plant to be moved elsewhere. The Allentown Non-Freezing Powder Company, later changed to the Pennsylvania Trojan Powder Company, was incorporated on September 13, 1905 and built a commercial scale plant at Seiple, Pennsylvania. On April 25, 1906 the Pacific High Explosives Company was incorporated extending the manufacture of trojan powder to California. This company built a plant at Roberts, California and in 1912, it reorganized as the California Trojan Powder Company. After World War I, the east and west coast companies all merged into the Trojan Powder Company and continued to develop factory processes to produce a satisfactory stable product. A number of permissibles of the nitrostarch type were approved by the Bureau of Mines. The company continued operations into the 1940s. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 636-39) slides/Trojan Powder Green 100 x 6.jpg slides/Trojan 25 No. 7.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 TROJAN 25X7 - Dark yellow Trojan blasting caps 25 No. 7 manufactured by Trojan Powder Co., Allentown, PA & San Francisco, Cal, 2 1/16 x 1 1/8 x 1 1/2 in., brown and white letters, crimped bottom, ca. 1920-1945 (Trojan powder is not a dynamite containing nitroglycerine but a dry powder with a basis of nitrostarch mixed with various oxygen carriers and combustible materials. While discovered in the 1830s by French chemists, it was the last to be used successfully in blasting explosives. The problem was how to produce a stable nitrostarch and that was discovered by F. B. Holmes and J. B. Bronstein of Dupont’s Eastern Laboratories. Holmes obtained several patents during the 1905 to 1908 timeframe fro stabilizing nitrostarch powders. Meanwhile, Bronstein left Dupont and formed the Non-Freezing Powder Company in 1905 so named because the powder contained no liquid and therefore could not freeze. He built a small experimental scale plant near Paulsboro, New Jersey and produced some explosives for commercial use before a fire forced the plant to be moved elsewhere. The Allentown Non-Freezing Powder Company, later changed to the Pennsylvania Trojan Powder Company, was incorporated on September 13, 1905 and built a commercial scale plant at Seiple, Pennsylvania. On April 25, 1906 the Pacific High Explosives Company was incorporated extending the manufacture of trojan powder to California. This company built a plant at Roberts, California and in 1912, it reorganized as the California Trojan Powder Company. After World War I, the east and west coast companies all merged into the Trojan Powder Company and continued to develop factory processes to produce a satisfactory stable product. A number of permissibles of the nitrostarch type were approved by the Bureau of Mines. The company continued operations into the 1940s. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 636-39) TROJAN 25X7 - Dark yellow Trojan blasting caps 25 No. 7 manufactured by Trojan Powder Co., Allentown, PA & San Francisco, Cal, 2 1/16 x 1 1/8 x 1 1/2 in., brown and white letters, crimped bottom, ca. 1920-1945 (Trojan powder is not a dynamite containing nitroglycerine but a dry powder with a basis of nitrostarch mixed with various oxygen carriers and combustible materials. While discovered in the 1830s by French chemists, it was the last to be used successfully in blasting explosives. The problem was how to produce a stable nitrostarch and that was discovered by F. B. Holmes and J. B. Bronstein of Dupont’s Eastern Laboratories. Holmes obtained several patents during the 1905 to 1908 timeframe fro stabilizing nitrostarch powders. Meanwhile, Bronstein left Dupont and formed the Non-Freezing Powder Company in 1905 so named because the powder contained no liquid and therefore could not freeze. He built a small experimental scale plant near Paulsboro, New Jersey and produced some explosives for commercial use before a fire forced the plant to be moved elsewhere. The Allentown Non-Freezing Powder Company, later changed to the Pennsylvania Trojan Powder Company, was incorporated on September 13, 1905 and built a commercial scale plant at Seiple, Pennsylvania. On April 25, 1906 the Pacific High Explosives Company was incorporated extending the manufacture of trojan powder to California. This company built a plant at Roberts, California and in 1912, it reorganized as the California Trojan Powder Company. After World War I, the east and west coast companies all merged into the Trojan Powder Company and continued to develop factory processes to produce a satisfactory stable product. A number of permissibles of the nitrostarch type were approved by the Bureau of Mines. The company continued operations into the 1940s. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 636-39) slides/Trojan 25 No. 7.jpg slides/Trojan.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 TROJAN 50 CAP BLASTING MACHINE - Trojan Powder Co. blasting machine, San Francisco, CA, fires 1-50 caps, oak cabinet (Trojan powder is not a dynamite containing nitroglycerine but a dry powder with a basis of nitrostarch mixed with various oxygen carriers and combustible materials. While discovered in the 1830s by French chemists, it was the last to be used successfully in blasting explosives. The problem was how to produce a stable nitrostarch and that was discovered by F. B. Holmes and J. B. Bronstein of Dupont’s Eastern Laboratories. Holmes obtained several patents during the 1905 to 1908 timeframe fro stabilizing nitrostarch powders. Meanwhile, Bronstein left Dupont and formed the Non-Freezing Powder Company in 1905 so named because the powder contained no liquid and therefore could not freeze. He built a small experimental scale plant near Paulsboro, New Jersey and produced some explosives for commercial use before a fire forced the plant to be moved elsewhere. The Allentown Non-Freezing Powder Company, later changed to the Pennsylvania Trojan Powder Company, was incorporated on September 13, 1905 and built a commercial scale plant at Seiple, Pennsylvania. On April 25, 1906 the Pacific High Explosives Company was incorporated extending the manufacture of trojan powder to California. This company built a plant at Roberts, California and in 1912, it reorganized as the California Trojan Powder Company. After World War I, the east and west coast companies all merged into the Trojan Powder Company and continued to develop factory processes to produce a satisfactory stable product. A number of permissibles of the nitrostarch type were approved by the Bureau of Mines. The company continued operations into the 1940s. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 636-39) TROJAN 50 CAP BLASTING MACHINE - Trojan Powder Co. blasting machine, San Francisco, CA, fires 1-50 caps, oak cabinet (Trojan powder is not a dynamite containing nitroglycerine but a dry powder with a basis of nitrostarch mixed with various oxygen carriers and combustible materials. While discovered in the 1830s by French chemists, it was the last to be used successfully in blasting explosives. The problem was how to produce a stable nitrostarch and that was discovered by F. B. Holmes and J. B. Bronstein of Dupont’s Eastern Laboratories. Holmes obtained several patents during the 1905 to 1908 timeframe fro stabilizing nitrostarch powders. Meanwhile, Bronstein left Dupont and formed the Non-Freezing Powder Company in 1905 so named because the powder contained no liquid and therefore could not freeze. He built a small experimental scale plant near Paulsboro, New Jersey and produced some explosives for commercial use before a fire forced the plant to be moved elsewhere. The Allentown Non-Freezing Powder Company, later changed to the Pennsylvania Trojan Powder Company, was incorporated on September 13, 1905 and built a commercial scale plant at Seiple, Pennsylvania. On April 25, 1906 the Pacific High Explosives Company was incorporated extending the manufacture of trojan powder to California. This company built a plant at Roberts, California and in 1912, it reorganized as the California Trojan Powder Company. After World War I, the east and west coast companies all merged into the Trojan Powder Company and continued to develop factory processes to produce a satisfactory stable product. A number of permissibles of the nitrostarch type were approved by the Bureau of Mines. The company continued operations into the 1940s. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 636-39) slides/Trojan.JPG slides/Trojan Blasting Machine Tag.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 TROJAN 50 CAP BLASTING MACHINE TAG TROJAN 50 CAP BLASTING MACHINE TAG slides/Trojan Blasting Machine Tag.jpg slides/Victor No 1 Ad From May 1893 Stone Magazine.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 VICTOR NO. 1 AD FROM MAY 1893 STONE MAGAZINE VICTOR NO. 1 AD FROM MAY 1893 STONE MAGAZINE slides/Victor No 1 Ad From May 1893 Stone Magazine.jpg slides/Victor No. 1 Blasting Machine Front.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 VICTOR NO. 1 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking Victor No. 1 blasting machine; fires 1 to 8 caps, with oval DUPONT tag on side marked MANUFACTURED BY E. I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS POWDER CO. WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, U.S.A., 8 1/2 in. H x 7 in. D x 5 3/8 in. W, weighs 15 lbs, marked tag on top VICTOR NO. BLASTING MACHINE WILL FIRE 1 TO 8 HOLES including instructions on cranking and firing the machine, oak dove-tailed cabinet with original hardware, working condition (The Victor No. 1 blasting machine is shown in a May 1893 ad in Stone magazine as being manufactured by the James Macbeth & Co., 128 Maiden Lane, New York, NY. This same issue notes that James Macbeth & Co. had expanded their Jamaica, Long Island factory to handle increased business for their electric blasting machine business. Additional ads in the Sept. 1898 Engineering and Mining Journal and the July 1901 Mines and Minerals periodical show that James Macbeth & Co. continued to offer the Victor No. 1 blaster. In 1906 the James Macbeth and Company plant moved to Pompton Lakes from Jamaica, New York, and became part of Du Pont's Electric Exploder Company. It is unknown when the Victor No. 1 production ceased.) VICTOR NO. 1 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking Victor No. 1 blasting machine; fires 1 to 8 caps, with oval DUPONT tag on side marked MANUFACTURED BY E. I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS POWDER CO. WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, U.S.A., 8 1/2 in. H x 7 in. D x 5 3/8 in. W, weighs 15 lbs, marked tag on top VICTOR NO. BLASTING MACHINE WILL FIRE 1 TO 8 HOLES including instructions on cranking and firing the machine, oak dove-tailed cabinet with original hardware, working condition (The Victor No. 1 blasting machine is shown in a May 1893 ad in Stone magazine as being manufactured by the James Macbeth & Co., 128 Maiden Lane, New York, NY. This same issue notes that James Macbeth & Co. had expanded their Jamaica, Long Island factory to handle increased business for their electric blasting machine business. Additional ads in the Sept. 1898 Engineering and Mining Journal and the July 1901 Mines and Minerals periodical show that James Macbeth & Co. continued to offer the Victor No. 1 blaster. In 1906 the James Macbeth and Company plant moved to Pompton Lakes from Jamaica, New York, and became part of Du Pont's Electric Exploder Company. It is unknown when the Victor No. 1 production ceased.) slides/Victor No. 1 Blasting Machine Front.jpg slides/Victor No. 1 Ad From 1890s Catalog.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 VICTOR NO. 1 BLASTING MACHINE AD FROM 1890'S CATALOG VICTOR NO. 1 BLASTING MACHINE AD FROM 1890'S CATALOG slides/Victor No. 1 Ad From 1890s Catalog.jpg slides/Victor No. 1 Blasting Machine Crank.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 VICTOR NO. 1 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking Victor No. 1 blasting machine; fires 1 to 8 caps, with oval DUPONT tag on side marked MANUFACTURED BY E. I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS POWDER CO. WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, U.S.A., 8 1/2 in. H x 7 in. D x 5 3/8 in. W, weighs 15 lbs, marked tag on top VICTOR NO. BLASTING MACHINE WILL FIRE 1 TO 8 HOLES including instructions on cranking and firing the machine, oak dove-tailed cabinet with original hardware, working condition (The Victor No. 1 blasting machine is shown in a May 1893 ad in Stone magazine as being manufactured by the James Macbeth & Co., 128 Maiden Lane, New York, NY. This same issue notes that James Macbeth & Co. had expanded their Jamaica, Long Island factory to handle increased business for their electric blasting machine business. Additional ads in the Sept. 1898 Engineering and Mining Journal and the July 1901 Mines and Minerals periodical show that James Macbeth & Co. continued to offer the Victor No. 1 blaster. In 1906 the James Macbeth and Company plant moved to Pompton Lakes from Jamaica, New York, and became part of Du Pont's Electric Exploder Company. It is unknown when the Victor No. 1 production ceased.) VICTOR NO. 1 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking Victor No. 1 blasting machine; fires 1 to 8 caps, with oval DUPONT tag on side marked MANUFACTURED BY E. I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS POWDER CO. WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, U.S.A., 8 1/2 in. H x 7 in. D x 5 3/8 in. W, weighs 15 lbs, marked tag on top VICTOR NO. BLASTING MACHINE WILL FIRE 1 TO 8 HOLES including instructions on cranking and firing the machine, oak dove-tailed cabinet with original hardware, working condition (The Victor No. 1 blasting machine is shown in a May 1893 ad in Stone magazine as being manufactured by the James Macbeth & Co., 128 Maiden Lane, New York, NY. This same issue notes that James Macbeth & Co. had expanded their Jamaica, Long Island factory to handle increased business for their electric blasting machine business. Additional ads in the Sept. 1898 Engineering and Mining Journal and the July 1901 Mines and Minerals periodical show that James Macbeth & Co. continued to offer the Victor No. 1 blaster. In 1906 the James Macbeth and Company plant moved to Pompton Lakes from Jamaica, New York, and became part of Du Pont's Electric Exploder Company. It is unknown when the Victor No. 1 production ceased.) slides/Victor No. 1 Blasting Machine Crank.jpg slides/Victor No. 1 Crank Side.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 VICTOR NO. 1 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking Victor No. 1 blasting machine; fires 1 to 8 caps, with oval DUPONT tag on side marked MANUFACTURED BY E. I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS POWDER CO. WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, U.S.A., 8 1/2 in. H x 7 in. D x 5 3/8 in. W, weighs 15 lbs, marked tag on top VICTOR NO. BLASTING MACHINE WILL FIRE 1 TO 8 HOLES including instructions on cranking and firing the machine, oak dove-tailed cabinet with original hardware, working condition (The Victor No. 1 blasting machine is shown in a May 1893 ad in Stone magazine as being manufactured by the James Macbeth & Co., 128 Maiden Lane, New York, NY. This same issue notes that James Macbeth & Co. had expanded their Jamaica, Long Island factory to handle increased business for their electric blasting machine business. Additional ads in the Sept. 1898 Engineering and Mining Journal and the July 1901 Mines and Minerals periodical show that James Macbeth & Co. continued to offer the Victor No. 1 blaster. In 1906 the James Macbeth and Company plant moved to Pompton Lakes from Jamaica, New York, and became part of Du Pont's Electric Exploder Company. It is unknown when the Victor No. 1 production ceased.) VICTOR NO. 1 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking Victor No. 1 blasting machine; fires 1 to 8 caps, with oval DUPONT tag on side marked MANUFACTURED BY E. I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS POWDER CO. WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, U.S.A., 8 1/2 in. H x 7 in. D x 5 3/8 in. W, weighs 15 lbs, marked tag on top VICTOR NO. BLASTING MACHINE WILL FIRE 1 TO 8 HOLES including instructions on cranking and firing the machine, oak dove-tailed cabinet with original hardware, working condition (The Victor No. 1 blasting machine is shown in a May 1893 ad in Stone magazine as being manufactured by the James Macbeth & Co., 128 Maiden Lane, New York, NY. This same issue notes that James Macbeth & Co. had expanded their Jamaica, Long Island factory to handle increased business for their electric blasting machine business. Additional ads in the Sept. 1898 Engineering and Mining Journal and the July 1901 Mines and Minerals periodical show that James Macbeth & Co. continued to offer the Victor No. 1 blaster. In 1906 the James Macbeth and Company plant moved to Pompton Lakes from Jamaica, New York, and became part of Du Pont's Electric Exploder Company. It is unknown when the Victor No. 1 production ceased.) slides/Victor No. 1 Crank Side.jpg slides/Victor No. 1 Side.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 VICTOR NO. 1 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking Victor No. 1 blasting machine; fires 1 to 8 caps, with oval DUPONT tag on side marked MANUFACTURED BY E. I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS POWDER CO. WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, U.S.A., 8 1/2 in. H x 7 in. D x 5 3/8 in. W, weighs 15 lbs, marked tag on top VICTOR NO. BLASTING MACHINE WILL FIRE 1 TO 8 HOLES including instructions on cranking and firing the machine, oak dove-tailed cabinet with original hardware, working condition (The Victor No. 1 blasting machine is shown in a May 1893 ad in Stone magazine as being manufactured by the James Macbeth & Co., 128 Maiden Lane, New York, NY. This same issue notes that James Macbeth & Co. had expanded their Jamaica, Long Island factory to handle increased business for their electric blasting machine business. Additional ads in the Sept. 1898 Engineering and Mining Journal and the July 1901 Mines and Minerals periodical show that James Macbeth & Co. continued to offer the Victor No. 1 blaster. In 1906 the James Macbeth and Company plant moved to Pompton Lakes from Jamaica, New York, and became part of Du Pont's Electric Exploder Company. It is unknown when the Victor No. 1 production ceased.) VICTOR NO. 1 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking Victor No. 1 blasting machine; fires 1 to 8 caps, with oval DUPONT tag on side marked MANUFACTURED BY E. I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS POWDER CO. WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, U.S.A., 8 1/2 in. H x 7 in. D x 5 3/8 in. W, weighs 15 lbs, marked tag on top VICTOR NO. BLASTING MACHINE WILL FIRE 1 TO 8 HOLES including instructions on cranking and firing the machine, oak dove-tailed cabinet with original hardware, working condition (The Victor No. 1 blasting machine is shown in a May 1893 ad in Stone magazine as being manufactured by the James Macbeth & Co., 128 Maiden Lane, New York, NY. This same issue notes that James Macbeth & Co. had expanded their Jamaica, Long Island factory to handle increased business for their electric blasting machine business. Additional ads in the Sept. 1898 Engineering and Mining Journal and the July 1901 Mines and Minerals periodical show that James Macbeth & Co. continued to offer the Victor No. 1 blaster. In 1906 the James Macbeth and Company plant moved to Pompton Lakes from Jamaica, New York, and became part of Du Pont's Electric Exploder Company. It is unknown when the Victor No. 1 production ceased.) slides/Victor No. 1 Side.jpg slides/Victor Blasting Machine Ad from July 1901 Mines and Minerals.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 VICTOR BLASTING MACHINE AD FROM JULY 1901 MINES AND MINERALS VICTOR BLASTING MACHINE AD FROM JULY 1901 MINES AND MINERALS slides/Victor Blasting Machine Ad from July 1901 Mines and Minerals.jpg slides/Victor No. 1 Blasting Machine Tag.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 VICTOR NO. 1 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking Victor No. 1 blasting machine; fires 1 to 8 caps, with oval DUPONT tag on side marked MANUFACTURED BY E. I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS POWDER CO. WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, U.S.A., 8 1/2 in. H x 7 in. D x 5 3/8 in. W, weighs 15 lbs, marked tag on top VICTOR NO. BLASTING MACHINE WILL FIRE 1 TO 8 HOLES including instructions on cranking and firing the machine, oak dove-tailed cabinet with original hardware, working condition (The Victor No. 1 blasting machine is shown in a May 1893 ad in Stone magazine as being manufactured by the James Macbeth & Co., 128 Maiden Lane, New York, NY. This same issue notes that James Macbeth & Co. had expanded their Jamaica, Long Island factory to handle increased business for their electric blasting machine business. Additional ads in the Sept. 1898 Engineering and Mining Journal and the July 1901 Mines and Minerals periodical show that James Macbeth & Co. continued to offer the Victor No. 1 blaster. In 1906 the James Macbeth and Company plant moved to Pompton Lakes from Jamaica, New York, and became part of Du Pont's Electric Exploder Company. It is unknown when the Victor No. 1 production ceased.) VICTOR NO. 1 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking Victor No. 1 blasting machine; fires 1 to 8 caps, with oval DUPONT tag on side marked MANUFACTURED BY E. I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS POWDER CO. WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, U.S.A., 8 1/2 in. H x 7 in. D x 5 3/8 in. W, weighs 15 lbs, marked tag on top VICTOR NO. BLASTING MACHINE WILL FIRE 1 TO 8 HOLES including instructions on cranking and firing the machine, oak dove-tailed cabinet with original hardware, working condition (The Victor No. 1 blasting machine is shown in a May 1893 ad in Stone magazine as being manufactured by the James Macbeth & Co., 128 Maiden Lane, New York, NY. This same issue notes that James Macbeth & Co. had expanded their Jamaica, Long Island factory to handle increased business for their electric blasting machine business. Additional ads in the Sept. 1898 Engineering and Mining Journal and the July 1901 Mines and Minerals periodical show that James Macbeth & Co. continued to offer the Victor No. 1 blaster. In 1906 the James Macbeth and Company plant moved to Pompton Lakes from Jamaica, New York, and became part of Du Pont's Electric Exploder Company. It is unknown when the Victor No. 1 production ceased.) slides/Victor No. 1 Blasting Machine Tag.jpg slides/Victor No. 1 Blasting Machine Dupont Tag.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 VICTOR NO. 1 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking Victor No. 1 blasting machine; fires 1 to 8 caps, with oval DUPONT tag on side marked MANUFACTURED BY E. I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS POWDER CO. WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, U.S.A., 8 1/2 in. H x 7 in. D x 5 3/8 in. W, weighs 15 lbs, marked tag on top VICTOR NO. BLASTING MACHINE WILL FIRE 1 TO 8 HOLES including instructions on cranking and firing the machine, oak dove-tailed cabinet with original hardware, working condition (The Victor No. 1 blasting machine is shown in a May 1893 ad in Stone magazine as being manufactured by the James Macbeth & Co., 128 Maiden Lane, New York, NY. This same issue notes that James Macbeth & Co. had expanded their Jamaica, Long Island factory to handle increased business for their electric blasting machine business. Additional ads in the Sept. 1898 Engineering and Mining Journal and the July 1901 Mines and Minerals periodical show that James Macbeth & Co. continued to offer the Victor No. 1 blaster. In 1906 the James Macbeth and Company plant moved to Pompton Lakes from Jamaica, New York, and became part of Du Pont's Electric Exploder Company. It is unknown when the Victor No. 1 production ceased.) VICTOR NO. 1 BLASTING MACHINE - Rare cranking Victor No. 1 blasting machine; fires 1 to 8 caps, with oval DUPONT tag on side marked MANUFACTURED BY E. I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS POWDER CO. WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, U.S.A., 8 1/2 in. H x 7 in. D x 5 3/8 in. W, weighs 15 lbs, marked tag on top VICTOR NO. BLASTING MACHINE WILL FIRE 1 TO 8 HOLES including instructions on cranking and firing the machine, oak dove-tailed cabinet with original hardware, working condition (The Victor No. 1 blasting machine is shown in a May 1893 ad in Stone magazine as being manufactured by the James Macbeth & Co., 128 Maiden Lane, New York, NY. This same issue notes that James Macbeth & Co. had expanded their Jamaica, Long Island factory to handle increased business for their electric blasting machine business. Additional ads in the Sept. 1898 Engineering and Mining Journal and the July 1901 Mines and Minerals periodical show that James Macbeth & Co. continued to offer the Victor No. 1 blaster. In 1906 the James Macbeth and Company plant moved to Pompton Lakes from Jamaica, New York, and became part of Du Pont's Electric Exploder Company. It is unknown when the Victor No. 1 production ceased.) slides/Victor No. 1 Blasting Machine Dupont Tag.jpg slides/Victor No. 1 McLeod Patent.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 MCLEOD ROTARY CRANKING BLASTER PATENT - Patent No. 495,139 awarded to Joseph N. McLeod of Brooklyn on April 11, 1893 for a rotary cranking magneto electric blasting machine assigned to The McLeod Electric Mfg. Co, NYC. The Victor No. 1 blaster follows this patent. MCLEOD ROTARY CRANKING BLASTER PATENT - Patent No. 495,139 awarded to Joseph N. McLeod of Brooklyn on April 11, 1893 for a rotary cranking magneto electric blasting machine assigned to The McLeod Electric Mfg. Co, NYC. The Victor No. 1 blaster follows this patent. slides/Victor No. 1 McLeod Patent.jpg slides/Western 100x6.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 WESTERN CARTRIDGE 100 X 6 - Western red/white rectangular 100 No. 6 cap tin, 2 5/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. x 1 5/8 in. high; acquired from Charlie Smith, Milton-Freewater, OR (In May 1892, Franklin W. Olin and his associates incorporated the Equitable Powder Manufacturing Company in New Jersey to manufacture black powder. The first mill, located in East Alton, Illinois, was completed in 1893 and sold its product chiefly to the mines in the area. Because that business was seasonal, Olin became interested in loading shotshells. In February 1898, he persuaded his associates to join him in forming the Western Cartridge Company, also located in East Alton, the principal purpose being to provide a market for powder that could be produced by The Equitable Powder Manufacturing Company in the off season. To that end, Western produced both ammunition as well as blasting caps. Western designed and developed a shotshell-loading machine, purchased a wad manufacturing plant, built a shot tower and invented equipment to manufacture empty shotshells. In 1907 Western bought the Austin Cartridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio, and the National Cartridge Company of Belleville, Illinois, in 1908. Western also developed a method for making stable spheres of powder under water, a safer form of gunpowder patented as Ball Powder that eventually became the industry standard. In 1931, Western Cartridge Company acquired Winchester Repeating Arms Company after Winchester went into receivership. During World War II, Western produced 15 billion rounds of ammunition. Western is part of the Olin Corporation and is still based in East Alton, Illinois. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 145-48) WESTERN CARTRIDGE 100 X 6 - Western red/white rectangular 100 No. 6 cap tin, 2 5/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. x 1 5/8 in. high; acquired from Charlie Smith, Milton-Freewater, OR (In May 1892, Franklin W. Olin and his associates incorporated the Equitable Powder Manufacturing Company in New Jersey to manufacture black powder. The first mill, located in East Alton, Illinois, was completed in 1893 and sold its product chiefly to the mines in the area. Because that business was seasonal, Olin became interested in loading shotshells. In February 1898, he persuaded his associates to join him in forming the Western Cartridge Company, also located in East Alton, the principal purpose being to provide a market for powder that could be produced by The Equitable Powder Manufacturing Company in the off season. To that end, Western produced both ammunition as well as blasting caps. Western designed and developed a shotshell-loading machine, purchased a wad manufacturing plant, built a shot tower and invented equipment to manufacture empty shotshells. In 1907 Western bought the Austin Cartridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio, and the National Cartridge Company of Belleville, Illinois, in 1908. Western also developed a method for making stable spheres of powder under water, a safer form of gunpowder patented as Ball Powder that eventually became the industry standard. In 1931, Western Cartridge Company acquired Winchester Repeating Arms Company after Winchester went into receivership. During World War II, Western produced 15 billion rounds of ammunition. Western is part of the Olin Corporation and is still based in East Alton, Illinois. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 145-48) slides/Western 100x6.jpg slides/Western 100x8.html# Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:19:01 -0700 WESTERN CARTRIDGE 100 X 8 - WESTERN TRADE MARK, WESTERN CARTRIDGE CO. EAST ALTON, ILL. 100 No. 8 BLASTING CAPS, crimped bottom, painted blue with gilt letters, 2 5/8 x 2 1/8 x 2 ½ high (In May 1892, Franklin W. Olin and his associates incorporated the Equitable Powder Manufacturing Company in New Jersey to manufacture black powder. The first mill, located in East Alton, Illinois, was completed in 1893 and sold its product chiefly to the mines in the area. Because that business was seasonal, Olin became interested in loading shotshells. In February 1898, he persuaded his associates to join him in forming the Western Cartridge Company, also located in East Alton, the principal purpose being to provide a market for powder that could be produced by The Equitable Powder Manufacturing Company in the off season. To that end, Western produced both ammunition as well as blasting caps. Western designed and developed a shotshell-loading machine, purchased a wad manufacturing plant, built a shot tower and invented equipment to manufacture empty shotshells. In 1907 Western bought the Austin Cartridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio, and the National Cartridge Company of Belleville, Illinois, in 1908. Western also developed a method for making stable spheres of powder under water, a safer form of gunpowder patented as Ball Powder that eventually became the industry standard. In 1931, Western Cartridge Company acquired Winchester Repeating Arms Company after Winchester went into receivership. During World War II, Western produced 15 billion rounds of ammunition. Western is part of the Olin Corporation and is still based in East Alton, Illinois. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 145-48) WESTERN CARTRIDGE 100 X 8 - WESTERN TRADE MARK, WESTERN CARTRIDGE CO. EAST ALTON, ILL. 100 No. 8 BLASTING CAPS, crimped bottom, painted blue with gilt letters, 2 5/8 x 2 1/8 x 2 ½ high (In May 1892, Franklin W. Olin and his associates incorporated the Equitable Powder Manufacturing Company in New Jersey to manufacture black powder. The first mill, located in East Alton, Illinois, was completed in 1893 and sold its product chiefly to the mines in the area. Because that business was seasonal, Olin became interested in loading shotshells. In February 1898, he persuaded his associates to join him in forming the Western Cartridge Company, also located in East Alton, the principal purpose being to provide a market for powder that could be produced by The Equitable Powder Manufacturing Company in the off season. To that end, Western produced both ammunition as well as blasting caps. Western designed and developed a shotshell-loading machine, purchased a wad manufacturing plant, built a shot tower and invented equipment to manufacture empty shotshells. In 1907 Western bought the Austin Cartridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio, and the National Cartridge Company of Belleville, Illinois, in 1908. Western also developed a method for making stable spheres of powder under water, a safer form of gunpowder patented as Ball Powder that eventually became the industry standard. In 1931, Western Cartridge Company acquired Winchester Repeating Arms Company after Winchester went into receivership. During World War II, Western produced 15 billion rounds of ammunition. Western is part of the Olin Corporation and is still based in East Alton, Illinois. See Van Gelder and Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America, pp 145-48) slides/Western 100x8.JPG