This piece was once part of the important Stuart Mackenzie Montana Ephemera Collection

On paper stock - not gummed. Showing only minor signs of age, wear and handling. Has a dime-sized area of dark mounting remnants on the reverse, at center. Elsewhere, no issues to note. Eye-catching rescue boat illustration, classic company logo and mixed border typefaces / fonts. Mostly very clean throughout. Overall, in good to very good condition. Will display well in your collection. You will receive the exact piece shown in the photos. It measures approx. 3 1/2" dia.

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This circular label is an incredibly scarce piece of American maritime history, representing a specialized DuPont Life Saving Service black powder tin from the 1910s.

Unlike standard commercial sporting powders, this specific product line was custom-manufactured for an essential, high-stakes government operation: rescuing shipwrecked sailors.

The Story Behind the Design

The engraving in the center depicts a heroic crew of lifesavers rowing a surfboat through turbulent coastal breakers. This was the explicit iconography of the United States Life-Saving Service (USLSS), a federal agency that operated from 1878 until 1915, when it merged with the Revenue Cutter Service to create the modern U.S. Coast Guard.

The Purpose of the Powder

This was not gunpowder meant for hunting or military combat. Instead, it was highly uniform, specialized black powder engineered to fire the famous Lyle Gun.

• How it worked: The Lyle Gun was a small line-throwing cannon stationed at coastal rescue bases. When a vessel ran aground in a heavy storm, rescue crews would fire an 18-pound iron projectile out over the wreck.

• The rescue line: The projectile carried a thin "shot line" directly to the stranded sailors. Once connected, the crew on shore could rig a heavier hemp rope and a "breeches buoy" system (a life ring with canvas pants attached) to haul survivors safely through the surf one by one.

• Why DuPont was chosen: Propelling a heavy line accurately against gale-force ocean winds required absolute propellant consistency. If the powder burned unevenly, the line would fall short or snap entirely. DuPont's uniform-grain formulation was considered the gold standard for reliably generating the massive pressure needed without destroying the rescue equipment.

Chronology and Condition Notes

• The Date Range (c. 1910–1915): The inclusion of the classic "DuPont Oval" logo layout paired with the active "Life Saving Service" title positions this label's print date right at the transition period of the early 1910s, just prior to the USLSS merging into the Coast Guard in 1915.

• Faux Stencil Background: The text details and graphics are printed in a clean, crisp stark-black ink against bright white paper stock, simulating the fast stencil markings traditionally applied directly onto larger military supply kegs or shipping crates.

• The Back Surface: The completely blank reverse side confirms this is a pristine, unused factory sample. Label sets like this were occasionally preserved in printing house reference logs, office archives, or given away directly to visitors at the historic DuPont Brandywine Powder Yards

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**Shipped securely in a poly sleeve, sandwiched in cardboard, inside a small rigid mailer via USPS Ground Advantage service w/ tracking**

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