Woods

Plymouth’s most famous chemist, William Woods & Son, whose Areca Nut toothpaste must have been one of the leading brands during the Victorian and Edwardian period judging by the sheer number of pot lids uncovered all over the UK and even in some parts of the USA.

The company operated from premises at 50 Bedford Street and later East St, Parade and Southside Street on the Barbican. The Bedford St address is in use by 1878 until some time after 1926, and the company continued into at least 1960s at the later addresses.

There are over a dozen variations of Woods pot lid found and also embossed glass bottles. The pot lids are mainly variations of the Areca Nut Toothpaste product but also include Cherry Toothpaste and Dandruff Pomade (the Cherry paste lids being printed in red).

A selection of pot lids from W.Woods

Woods Cherry Tooth Paste 1 shilling pot lid

Woods Cough Linctus bottles

Glass chemist bottles embossed for W.Woods

Various Woods glass bottles

Labelled Woods bottles with later Southside St address

The post-war premises of W.Woods in Southside Street

1937 advert for Woods

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