The little blue bag was stirred around in the final rinse water on washday. It disguised any hint of yellow and helped the household linen look whiter than white. The main ingredients were synthetic ultramarine and baking soda, and the original "squares" weighed an ounce and cost 1 penny. Reckitt’s had been in the blue and starch business in Hull, England, even before they started importing French ultramarine in the 1850s to make the new blue rinse additive at their English factory. These blue bags, being alkaline , were useful to ease the pain of wasp, ant and insect bites. Reckitts blue bags were an essential part of washday for early settlers in Moorabbin Shire and continued to be used throughout 20thC.Laundry blue bags (2), 'Reckitt's' Blue Bag, paper-wrap made by Reckitt and Colman (Australia) Ltd, Australia, c 2oth C. Made of powdered ultramarine and baking soda. RECKITT& COLMAN PTY.LIMITED SYDNEY AUSTRALIA / Reckitt's Bag Blue / Squeeze the bag in the last rinse / & stir. This keeps your linen white / / RECKITT & COLMAN PTY. LIMITED SYDNEY AUSTRALIA. Red & white stripes Regd.reckitts pty ltd., hull u.k., moorabbin, bentleigh, early settlers, pioneers, laundry equipment, linen, clothing, washing aids

Thomas James Smith opened a small pharmacy in Hull, England in 1856. On his death in 1896, his nephew Horatio Nelson Smith took over the management of the business. Smith & Nephew plc is a British-based multinational medical equipment manufacturing company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of arthroscopy products, second-largest producer of advanced wound management products, third-largest producer of trauma and clinical therapy products and fourth-largest producer of orthopaedic reconstruction products. Its products are sold in over 90 countries with 11,000 employees. In 1928 the company developed the wound management product Elastoplast, recorded in Medical Journals worldwide. Since 1998 Smith & Nephew operates in three market segments through separate "global business units" under the Smith & Nephew brand name: Advanced wound management: advanced treatments for difficult wounds. Endoscopy: products for minimally invasive surgery, based in Andover, Massachusetts. Orthopaedics: hip and knee implants and trauma products, based in Memphis, Tennessee. Smith & Nephew was incorporated and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1937 and in 1999 the Group was also listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In 2001, Smith & Nephew became a constituent member of the FTSE-100 index in the UK. This means that Smith & Nephew is included in the top 100 companies traded on the London Stock Exchange measured in terms of market capitalisation. .Today, Smith & Nephew is a public limited company incorporated and headquartered in the UK and doing business in 90 countries around the world. A tin cylinder with a lift off lid for ‘Cellona’ Plaster of Paris bandage, 3 inches wide x 4 yards long, made by Smith & Nephew Ltd, Hull, England mid 20thCLid - CELLONA / BPC Front - CELLONA / TRADE MARK / U.K. PATENT 385,658 / THE NEW AND IMPROVED / PLASTER of PARIS / BANDAGE / READY FOR USE / 3INS. 4 YDS. Back - ADVANTAGES …….. / DIRECTIONS………/ Made in England by T.J.SMITH & NEPHEW LTD. / LONDON, HULL, MANCHESTER, GLASGOW/ MAKERS OF ELASTOPLAST.* pharmacy, medicines, smith & nephew pty ltd, hull england, london england, plaster of paris, elastoplast, hospitals, nursing, wound dressings, orthopaedics, glassware, bottles, moorabbin, bentleigh, cheltenham