Object Record
Images
Metadata
Collection |
Waterloo Region Museum |
Object ID |
2010.046.001 |
Object Name |
Jar, Ointment |
Description |
.1 - Small cardboard box. Red and black design on the exterior. Printed on the front is "Cress Corn Salve/Price 50 C/The Cress Laboratories/Kitchener, Ont., Canada/Reg. Can. Pat. Off.". On the back is the same information printed in French. On the sides are "Cress Corn Salve/Relief at your finger's tip/Just rub it in/Net Contents 1/4 oz/NO. 16114 The Proprietary or Patent Medicine Act" in English and French. Printed on the bottom is "Made in Canada/New Style Package/Adopted August 1934". Printed on the lid of the box is "Cress Corn Salve/Relief at Your Finger's Tip/Just rub it in". The inner flap of the lid reads "For better and really/different foot-comfort use - Cress Bunion Salve/Cress Foot Powder/Cress Healing Salve/A free booklet on/Bunions and their treatment, together/with a free sample,/mailed on request". .2 - Small glass jar with a metal screw top lid. The lid is red and black with "Cress" printed on the top. Printed on the side of the lid is "33 NK-C.T. Anchor Cap Ltd. Toronto". The jar is transparent glass with "Cress" and a diamond shape embossed on the bottom. Red and black paper label adhered to the jar. It reads "Cress Corn Salve/Price 50 C/The Cress Laboratories/Kitchener, Ont. Canada". On the left and right sides of the label are directions for use. The jar is full of salve. |
Date |
1934 |
Dimensions |
H-4 W-3.6 D-3.6 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 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 C.T. Anchor Cap Ltd. |
People |
Heldmann, Henry Heldmann, Marion Cress Cress, Noah |