In the 1850s, Federal Arsenals producing ammunition began to mark wrapped 10-round packages of cartridges with labels bearing the type of weapon the cartridges were for, powder charge, where they were produced, and the year they were made.

By 1857, the St. Louis Arsenal had received a press and plates to print labels directly onto the wrapping paper, and by the outbreak of the Civil War, the St. Louis, Frankfort, Allegheny, and Kennebec Arsenals were printing labels on the ammunition they produced.

With war and the increased demand for ammunition the government contracted with private ammunition manufacturers who also adhered to the arsenal labeling system.

In the Confederacy, many arsenals like the Charleston, Augusta, and Columbus Arsenals, chose to print small paper labels which were glued to the pre-wrapped packages. The Selma arsenal, however, continued to print their labels directly onto the wrapping paper itself.