National Corn Remover, Instructions and Remover

Washington, DC: Criswell Chemical Company, 1916. General wear. The text on the bandage is faded in some sections. Letter folds on instruction sheet, along with residue on backside due to bandage.. The "National Corn Remover" worked on corns, warts, and calluses, and was as "simple as court plaster" to use. The corn remover was essentially a treated plaster bandage that one applied to the corn after soaking it in warm water. Included is the remover plaster bandage itself, instructions, and storing envelope. Depicted both on the envelope and the plaster bandage is a black and white image of a crow picking at a field. The provided instructions are written in four different languages; English, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. The product was produced by the Criswell Chemical Company, which was founded by Francis McClure Criswell (1858-1939), who also owned his own pharmacy in Washington, D.C. Based on newspaper records, the company was established in 1897, and appears to have folded in the late 1910s. During that time, there are only a few newspaper advertisements for the National Corn Remover produced by the company, and all of the are in 1916. Three items: Double sided envelope, plaster bandage with printed text on one side, and single sided instruction sheet. Measures 3 1/2" by 2 1/4" (envelope), 2 1/4" x 1 1/2" (bandage), and 16 1/2" by 3" (instructions).