Cardboard carton, empty, used for containing Penicillin sodium salt vial and instruction leaflet, by Commercial Solvents Corporation, Terre Haute, Vigo county, Indiana, United States, 1944

The introduction of the antibiotic penicillin in the early 1940s saved a large number of lives, especially those of soldiers wounded during the Second World War. A number of factories were dedicated to penicillin production both in the United Kingdom and the United States. Commercial Solvents Corporation (active 1918-2000) based in Indiana, USA, built the world’s largest penicillin plant. The carton and its contents are shown here with a similar example (1984-1089/1).