Object Record
Images
Metadata
Collection |
Waterloo Region Museum |
Object ID |
2011.080.005 |
Object Name |
Package, Product |
Description |
Small, rectangle cardboard box with a removable lid. Both the lid and the body of the box are covered in white paper. Printed on the top of the lid in blue is "Contains 100 Style C 1"/Cress/Pliable/Plastic/Wound Aids/Trade Mark Registered in Canada and U.S.A./Para-di-isobutyl-phenoxy-ethoxy-ethl-dimethyl-benzyl/Ammonium Solution Applied to Pad". There is an blue outline of a rectangle in the centre of the lid with "Clear/Skin-Like/Soft/Sanitary/for Cuts, Blisters, Small Wounds" printed in it. Printed below the rectangle is "Originated and Manufactured by/Cress Laboratories/Kitchener, Ontario/Canada". Printed on the front edge of the lid is "Cress Pliable Plastic Wounds Aids/Style C 1""; on the back edge is "Patent Pending in Canada, U.S.A. and/Most Foreign Countries". Printed on the left side end is "An Original Cress Development/for/Hospitals Doctors and/Factory First Aid Departments". Printed on the right side end is "Cress is designed for a neat streamlined dressing.". Directions for use and information on other products is printed on the bottom of the body. The box is empty. |
Date |
1940 |
Date |
1950 |
Dimensions |
H-2.6 W-8.3 L-10.7 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 |