Fishburne & Son


Company Names, addresses, dates:
  Myers & Fishburne, Waynesboro VA (ca.1875-ca.1890) 1,2
  Fishburne & Son, Waynesboro VA (ca.1894-ca.1930) 3,4
  Fishburne's Drug Store , Waynesboro VA

Notes:
Elliot Guthrie Fishburne (1842-1906)5 was a partner in the "Myers & Fishburne" drugstore in Waynesboro as early as 1875, as that's the year of the first mention of the firm I could find in old newspapers.1
This makes me wonder why the metal token shown in this web page says "SINCE 1878".

Newspaper mentions of "Myers & Fishburne" stop in 1890, and mentions of "Fishburne & Son" start in 1894, so I assume somewhere in that timeframe is when the former store closed and Fishburne went into business with his son.2
His son was Pliny Fishburne (1872-1962)6.

Over the years I see newspaper mentions of "Fishburne & Son" as well as "Fishburne's Drug Store", and the years overlap, so I assume these 2 names were used interchangeably to reference the same store.
I see a few newspaper references to a "Fishburne's Drug Store" in the 1960s - this was likely a different store.

Based on one of the labels on a bottle depicted below, Fishburne & Son eventually became part of the Rexall chain of drug stores .


Bottles:
fishburne_04 Clear 4.5" bottle embossed:
vertical: FISHBURNE & SON / PHARMACISTS / Waynesboro, Va.
fishburne_01 Clear 3.75" bottle with a label:
label: GLYCERINE / FISHBURNE & SON / PHARMACISTS, / WAYNESBORO, VIRGINIA
fishburne_03 Clear 3.5" bottle with a label (& capsules still intact):
label: FISHBURNE & SON / PHARMACISTS / WAYNESBORO, VIRGINIA / ...
fishburne_02 Clear 5.7" screwtop bottle with a label:
label, upper left corner: (picture of skull & crossbones) / POISON
label, middle: TINCTURE IODINE ... / Fishburne & Son, Ltd. / PHARMACISTS / WAYNESBORO, VIRGINIA
label, lower left corner: THE / Rexall / STORE


Other Items:
fishburne_05 This is a metal 25-cent token - front & rear views shown. It says:
front: FISHBURNE'S / WAYNESBORO, VA. / SINCE 1878 / DRUG STORE
rear: 25c IN TRADE


1 Agusta News, 10-Nov-1875, p.2 (earliest mention I could find of "Meyers & Fishburne")
2 Staunton Vindicator, 16-May-1890, p.6 (last mention I could find of "Meyers & Fishburne")
3 Staunton Daily News, 14-Jul-1894, p.1 (earliest mention I could find of "Fishburne & Son")
4 Tidewater Review, 15-Jun-1930, p.4 (last mention I could find of "Fishburne's Drug Store")
5 Find-a-grave entry for Elliott Guthrie Fishburne
6 Find-a-grave entry for Pliny Fishburne


Back to my drugtstore bottle home page.


This page last updated on June 22, 2024.