Abernethy’s Corn and Bunion Annihilator was a distinctive Victorian-era patent medicine sold in 1884 by W. Taylor, an enterprising shopkeeper based on the historic High Street of Bridlington Old Town, East Yorkshire.
During the late 19th century, commercial foot remedies frequently utilized dramatic branding words like "Annihilator" to capture the attention of working-class labourers suffering from painful, untreated foot ailments. To project immediate medical prestige and consumer trust, the product's creators borrowed the surname of Dr. John Abernethy, a legendary and famously blunt British surgeon who had actually passed away decades prior.
While this specific brand's exact chemical recipe remains undocumented, 1880s foot treatments almost universally relied on strong salicylic acid dissolved in liquid collodion, or aggressive caustic agents like acetic acid, designed to chemically dissolve and burn away hardened layers of skin.
The vendor, W. Taylor, was a highly established figure in Bridlington’s local commerce, later publishing a comprehensive business directory for the area in 1888. Sold freely over the counter long before the introduction of strict British pharmaceutical regulations.
Here we’ve taken the wording from an advertisement in the Bridlington Free Press of 1884 and created a reverse glass mirrored sign designed with fonts and decoration appropriate to the period.
Abernethy’s Corn and Bunion Annihilator was a distinctive Victorian-era patent medicine sold in 1884 by W. Taylor, an enterprising shopkeeper based on the historic High Street of Bridlington Old Town, East Yorkshire.
During the late 19th century, commercial foot remedies frequently utilized dramatic branding words like "Annihilator" to capture the attention of working-class labourers suffering from painful, untreated foot ailments. To project immediate medical prestige and consumer trust, the product's creators borrowed the surname of Dr. John Abernethy, a legendary and famously blunt British surgeon who had actually passed away decades prior.
While this specific brand's exact chemical recipe remains undocumented, 1880s foot treatments almost universally relied on strong salicylic acid dissolved in liquid collodion, or aggressive caustic agents like acetic acid, designed to chemically dissolve and burn away hardened layers of skin.
The vendor, W. Taylor, was a highly established figure in Bridlington’s local commerce, later publishing a comprehensive business directory for the area in 1888. Sold freely over the counter long before the introduction of strict British pharmaceutical regulations.
Here we’ve taken the wording from an advertisement in the Bridlington Free Press of 1884 and created a reverse glass mirrored sign designed with fonts and decoration appropriate to the period.
