Foley's Cream

[robertk]

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Bottle Vitals​

	Date	Color	Shape	Size (Height x Width x Depth)	Value*
Foley's Cream	1890s	Clear	Rectangular	4.125" x 1.5" x 1.5"	$10.00

Bottle Views (click to enlarge):

Front	Back	Side	Side	Bottom
Foley's Cream	Foley & Co Chicago USA

Foley's Cream was a general purpose lotion and salve sold by Foley & Company, of Chicago, Illinois. The company was started by John Burton Foley in Steubenville, Ohio in the 1880s. He moved the operations to Chicago in 1888 and expanded into nationwide operations on a large scale. He produced a number of different products, including this cream, Foley's Honey & Tar, Kidney Pills, Worm Candy (for roundworm), and others. Business boomed, and Foley's company expanded to over 100 people. Here is the company picnic in 1920 (click to enlarge).



Foley built a new three-story building, then added two more stories seven years later. That building still stands in Chicago today, with all five floors (click to enlarge).



Business boomed, and by 1920, Foley's company was seeing annual revenue of 380 million dollars (equivalent to five billion dollars today). Foley used his fortune to expand into real estate, founding the Magnolia Land Company and starting the town of Foley, Alabama, which still exists today. Foley financed the initial founding of the town, including getting streets built, getting railroad access, etc. It was close to the gulf, had a mild climate, and was good for agriculture. They would even manage your farm remotely for you if you wanted. (click to enlarge)




The pictured product bottle is for Foley's Cream. Foley's Cream was a general purpose lotion intended for soothing sunburn, chapped lips, and rough skin Click any of the ads for a larger view.



Foley's Cream was also promoted for use as an after shave. In fact in the early 1900s sales were promoted by giving away a free safety razor with purchase of a bottle of Foley's Cream.




Like many companies of the era, Foley's invested heavily in print advertising. Foley's did their own printing, and were almost as much a printing business as a medicinal one. Here are a couple of examples of their Almanacs (click to enlarge):



After John Foley's death, the company downsized and eventually moved to Foley, Alabama, before finally being sold to Myers Laboratories in 1963.

Here is the pictured bottle before and after cleaning, with just soap and water and brushes. Click to enlarge.



*Value is an estimate based on sold online listings at the time of posting. Value varies considerably with condition.

 

[russau]

Nice complete post Robert !