c. 1859 Superb “Oriental Powder Company” Printer's Mounted Hand-Engraved Copper Topped Woodblock Advertising Plate, Reading in Reverse Engraving for Printing: "The Oriental Powder Company, Manufactures Gunpowder, For Sale at 160 State Street Boston Mass, 25 Exchange Street Portland Maine," slightly used Choice Near Mint.
This highly illustrated and exquisitely hand-engraved copper topped wooden printer's block, measures 4.5 x 3 x 1 inches, and has superb eye appeal. It was used to print small labels or advertisements for the “Oriental Powder Company” and the woodblock retains its mounted copper printing plate engraved in reverse for printing impressions. The outstanding decorated face is attached to the surface of a printers woodblock for actual use. The engraved plate reads (engraved in reverse for printing): “THE ORIENTAL POWDER COMPANY / MANUFACTURES / GUNPOWDER / FOR SALE / AT 160 STATE STREET BOSTON MASS / 25 EXCHANGE STREET PORTLAND MAINE.” The blank wooden reverse side is marked "803 PAT / 165/241 / 3137." Possibly unique.

The many engraved illustrations and devices include period vintage Civil War Era rifles with bayonets, cannon, swords, a stand of guns, cannonballs, among other decorations. At center is a large Asian elephant with a driver and riders all in sharply engraved high detail. This plate and woodblock is only slightly used and retains it full distinct details.

The “Oriental Powder Company” operated gunpowder mills on the Presumpscot River between Gorham and Windham, Maine, a site long known locally as the Gambo mills. It was renamed from being “Newhall and Company” in 1859. The new firm supplied roughly a quarter of all the gunpowder used by Union forces during the Civil War. Its key components were the raw materials, Indian Saltpeter and Sicilian Sulfur. These ingrediants were primarily shipped through Portland harbor before reaching their mills by canal, and later also by rail. The Boston and Portland addresses on the block correspond to the company's principal sales offices. When Post Civil War demand collapsed the firm went bankrupt, reorganizing in 1872 as the “Oriental Powder Mills” which continued in production until 1904.


The Oriental Powder Company was a prominent 19th-century American gunpowder manufacturer based in Gorham and Windham, Maine, renowned for producing over one-fourth of the military-grade gunpowder supplied to Union forces during the American Civil War.

In 1855, the existing Gambo Mill was sold to G.G. Newhall and Co. for $10,000, beginning a period of massive prosperity for the mill, and in 1859 the company name was changed to “Oriental Powder Company”. The company was based in Boston and owned the Oriental Powder Mills along the Presumpscot River in South Windham.

his was the mill's peak. The Oriental Powder Company produced more than one-fourth of the military-grade gunpowder used by Union forces during the Civil War, with peak annual production during the war years exceeding 2,500,000 pounds. It was one of the four largest suppliers to Union forces through the war. Men from Gorham, Windham, and surrounding towns took the high-paying but dangerous jobs at the mill.

When the Civil War ended, demand for military gunpowder fell sharply and the Oriental Powder Company went bankrupt. However, in 1872 it was reincorporated under the name Oriental Powder Mills, and gunpowder production continued there for another 32 years under various owners. Production ceased in 1904, after 80 years total of operation on the site (1824-1904).

Visitors can still access a walking trail past some of the old mill foundations that remain intact along the Presumpscot River, and the site is sometimes referred to informally, per local history, as the "Gambo Powder Mills" being considered the most important gunpowder mill in Maine in its day.