Usually we wouldn't recommend just casually searching the internet at work for things like "wife discovers the spice of life". But, as it turns out, it's just bread and cellophane.
This undated advertisement from DuPont promoted the company's cellophane. DuPont acquired U.S. patent rights in cellophane in 1923, but it was soon revealed that water vapor could penetrate the film. This fact precluded its use for food packaging.
DuPont scientist William Hale Charch (1898-1958) resolved this problem, and in 1927 a patent was issued for the moisture-proofing system. Cellophane continued to be highly profitable through the 1950s, but by the 1960s new products began replacing it. Cellophane production declined through the 1970s and early 1980s with DuPont discontinuing it in 1986.
This item is part of Hagley Library’s collection of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company Advertising Department records (Accession 1803). As DuPont began to diversify its product line beyond gunpowder and explosives and into products like cellophane in the early twentieth century, the company had a need for more advertising. DuPont established an Advertising Division within the Sales Department between 1907 and 1909, which was reorganized into a separate Advertising Department in 1921.
The collection has not been digitized in its entirety. The online collection comprises magazine tearsheets featuring DuPont advertisements dating from 1901 to 1971. A variety of brands and products are represented, including gunpowder, automobile supplies, Cellophane, paints, cleaning supplies, Rayon, Nylon, Dacron, and Fabrikoid. To view the a selection of materials from this collection online now, just click here.