Box Vox

packaging as content

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July 19, 2012

Consumer Confusion & Hoof Ointment

In the 1800s, two competing brands of “hoof ointment” each came in a patented, hoof-shaped bottle:


Mackay’s Hoof Ointment bottle (photo(s) from AntiqueMedicines.com)

1. The earlier patent was for George Mackay’s 1874 design for a hoof-shaped bottle.

“This bottle is intended to hold what is known as “Mackay’s Hoof Ointment,” a compound for the treatment of horses feet.

The design consists in forming the bottle in the shape of a horse’s foot and ankle…”


Gordon’s Hoof Ointment bottle (photo(s) from AntiqueMedicines.com)

2. The later patent is Robert Gordon’s 1880 hoof-shaped “Ointment Bottle and Stopper.” (The photo above must have been a later version of the Gordon’s Hoof Ointment bottle since it includes a screw-on cap rather than the patented stopper.)

For more figural bottles of disembodied extremities see: Miraculous Reliquary Packaging

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