BOOTS PURE DRUG CO LTD WOODEN FIRST AID CABINET WITH ORIGINAL HOME OFFICE INSTRUCTIONS

A superb and highly decorative 1930s wooden First Aid cabinet supplied by Boots Pure Drug Co. Ltd, Nottingham, retaining its original gilt lettering and period first-aid instruction sheet. The front is prominently marked: FIRST AID and below: BOOTS PURE DRUG CO. LTD MANUFACTURING CHEMISTS & MAKERS OF FINE CHEMICALS NOTTINGHAM The cabinet opens to reveal a fitted interior with a series of original wooden compartments designed to accommodate dressings, bottles and other medical supplies. Of particular interest is the original paper first-aid instruction sheet fixed to the inside of the lid. This is headed: FIRST AID – TREATMENT OF MINOR INJURIES It is identified as Form 923, October 1937, issued by the Factory Department, Home Office. The sheet gives contemporary instructions for treating scratches, wounds, burns, scalds, acid and alkali burns and eye injuries. The cabinet also retains its original wall-hanging fittings and lid-support chains. The piece has now been sympathetically cleaned, greatly improving its appearance whilst retaining the original finish, patina, lettering and evidence of age. It now presents extremely well and has considerable decorative appeal. A particularly evocative piece of British industrial, pharmaceutical and social history, associated with one of Britain’s best-known chemists. It would display particularly well in a pharmacy collection, industrial interior, bathroom, kitchen, surgery-themed collection or cabinet of curiosities.