Antique Southall Bros & Barclay Boric Talcum Powder Tin – Birmingham – c.1900–19

This is a cracking piece of early pharmaceutical packaging — the heavy patina actually suits it, and the survival of the original screw cap plus the perforated dispensing top is a big plus.

Antique Southall Bros & Barclay Boric Talcum Powder Tin – Birmingham – c.1900–1920

12 cm tall

5 cm square

A wonderfully evocative antique chemist’s tin for Boric Talcum Powder (Antiseptic), manufactured by the well-known Birmingham pharmaceutical firm Southall Bros & Barclay Ltd.

The rectangular metal container retains its original printed decoration to several sides, including the main “Boric Talcum Powder (Antiseptic)” label and a particularly appealing panel advertising “Southalls Nursery & Toilet Powder – Delightful in Use and Fragrant in Odour.” Another panel carries instructions for use, while the original screw cap removes to reveal the perforated powder dispenser beneath.

This would originally have been sold as a nursery and personal-care preparation, at a time when boric or boracic preparations were widely marketed for their antiseptic qualities. Comparable boric talcum products are documented from the first decades of the 20th century, supporting an early-1900s date for this style of container.

Maker History

Southall Bros & Barclay was one of Birmingham’s important pharmaceutical and medical-supply manufacturers. The business had its roots in a manufacturing chemists founded by the Southall family in 1820. Thomas Barclay later joined the concern, with the Southall Bros & Barclay partnership established during the 19th century.

The company became Southall Bros & Barclay Ltd in 1898, with an original company prospectus from that year preserved in Birmingham archives. By the Edwardian period the company was producing pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and an extensive range of toilet preparations; records from 1911 confirm Southall Bros & Barclay Ltd as manufacturing chemists operating from Birmingham, while contemporary records show they were already well established in the manufacture of toilet powders.

The firm became especially significant in the development of medical and personal-care products, including sanitary products, pharmaceutical preparations and cod liver oil. Its later successors continued trading until the business was acquired by Smith & Nephew in 1958.

Condition

A genuine antique example with substantial age-related wear, oxidation, surface rust, staining, scratches and losses to the printed decoration, all clearly visible in the photographs. Despite this, a surprising amount of the original lettering remains readable and the overall appearance has great period character.

The original outer screw cap and perforated dispensing top are both present.

Sold purely as an antique collectable and display item. Any remaining contents, if present, are not intended for use.

Why We Love It

This is exactly the sort of survivor that tells a story. It crosses several collecting areas — antique advertising, pharmacy and medical history, nursery memorabilia and early 20th-century packaging — and the beautifully aged graphics make it a particularly atmospheric display piece.

It would look superb amongst old apothecary bottles, chemist shop fittings, advertising tins or a collection of social-history objects.