Object Record
Images
Metadata
Collection |
Waterloo Region Museum |
Object ID |
2011.080.007 |
Object Name |
Package, Product |
Description |
Rectangular cardboard box with folding closures at either end. The background of the box is red with white and black lettering. Printed on the top and bottom of the box, in English and French, is "Cress/Trade Mark Reg./Plastic/Pat. App. For Canada and U.S.A./Corn Pads/Contains .5% Pergaine The New Proven/Anaesthetic for Speedy Relief". Printed in the lower left corner is "6 pads"; in the upper right "Price/50c". Printed on both ends is "Cress/Plastic/Corn Pads". Printed on the front edge of the box is "Printed in Canada". The box contains five corn pads attached to a cardboard backing. The pads are diamond-shaped with foil backings. |
Date |
1946 |
Dimensions |
H-1 W-7.5 L-10 cm |
History |
Noah Cress (1864-1948) was the son of Levi Cress (1837-1916) and Mary Ann Geib (1845-1928) of St. Jacobs, ON. In 1903, he married Regina (Ricki) Schweitzer (1869-1943), daughter of Martin Schweitzer (1832-1911) and Philippine Flehr (1843-1917) of Conestogo, ON. Noah was initially a photographer but in the 1920s he developed corn and bunion salves which he began to sell door-to-door. Noah's only child, Marion (1907-1997) married Henry Heldmann (1906-1972), son of Henry Heldmann (1859-1943) and Anna Caroline Ruthig (1866-?) of Philipsburg, ON in 1931. Marion and Henry took an interest in the salves and that same year, formed Cress Laboratories in Kitchener, ON. The company grew and expanded its product line during the 1940s, and in 1951, the company held the US patent for the first plastic adhesive bandages called Wound Aids. The patent was bought by Johnson and Johnson in 1955. The company continued to be owned and operated by the Heldmann family, including Marion and Henry's two sons, John and James, until it closed in 1997. The last factory for Cress Laboratories was in the former Pine Grove schoolhouse at 4336 King Street East in Preston. As of 2012, the building is the Borealis Restaurant on Heldmann Road near Sportsworld Drive in Kitchener. |
Search Terms |
Cress Laboratories Limited |
People |
Heldmann, Henry Heldmann, Marion Cress Cress, Noah |