Chosi's Chelf Pharmacy Page

Chelf Pharmacy

Company Names, addresses, dates:¹
Cabell & Chelf, 106 Pine Street, Richmond VA (1892-1895)
Chelf & Co Pharmacy, 106 & 108 N. Pine Street, Richmond VA (1895-1905)
T.Wilbur Chelf Pharmacy, 223 E. Main Street, Richmond VA (1895-1900)

Chelf Chemical Co, Richmond VA (c.1901-1943) ^2,3

R.E. Chelf Drug Co, 1123 W Broad St., Richmond VA (1912-1916)
R.E. Chelf Drug Co, 1201 W Broad St., Richmond VA (1917-1926)
R.E. Chelf Drug Co, 334 N Harrison St., Richmond VA (1927-1930)

Notes:
Thomas Wilbur Chelf (1861-1956)⁴ was born in Rappahannock county, and graduated from the Maryland College of Pharmacy in 1886. He entered the retail drug business as a partner with Dr. Robert Cabell⁵. In 1895, he took full control of the Cabell & Chelf drug store, and also started a 2nd drug store¹.

He created the Chelf Chemical Company in 1901. The company seems to have been created primarily to manufacture the Chelf Celery Caffein Compound, which had been a popular seller. ²
Based on a bottle depicted below with a label, this Celery Caffein Compound was flavored with Cellery, and was described as both a "efficient nerve sedative" and a "mild laxative".

Russell Elmo Chelf (1869-1931)⁶, who was T.Wilber Chelf's brother, was born in Culpeper, and started the R.E. Chelf Drug Company, of which he was the sole proprietor.⁷
He spent some of his early years as a clerk in his brothers drug store³.

Chelf & Company Bottles:

This is a clear 6.8" bottle embossed:
vertical: Chelf and Co Pharmacists / 106 & 108 N Pine Street / Richmond, Va.
base: WT&CO / E / USA / PAT DEC 11 1894

T.W. Chelf Bottles:

This is a clear 3.7" bottle embossed:
vertical: T.W. Chelf, Pharmacist / Third and Main Streets / Richmond, Va.
base: *** / B / USA / PAT JAN 24 88

Chelf Chemical Company Bottles:

	These are round blue bottles. Left is 7.7", next is 5.5", next is 4.0" and right is 2.5" tall. All are embossed: horizontal: CHELF'S / CELERY-CAFFEIN / COMP'D / CHELF CHEM. CO. / RICHMOND, VA. base (right bottle only): (dot in a square)
	This bottle is embossed the same as the ones above, but it also has a label. It's 4.0" tall and described as follows: label: CHELF'S C.C. COMP'D / 4 C's REG. U.S. PAT. OFF / ... AN EFFICIENT NERVE SEDATIVE ... A MILD LAXATIVE ... FLAVORED WITH CELERY ... / PRICE 30c / Prepared only by CHELF CHEMICAL CO. / Richmond, Va., U.S.A. ... / New Label Adopted June 1st, 1929 embossed on rear: CHELF'S / CELERY-CAFFEIN / COMP'D / CHELF CHEM. CO. / RICHMOND, VA. embossed on base: 4
	This bottle is embossed the same as the ones above, but the color is different. I would describe it as teal, or some shade of blue-green. It's 4" tall and embossed: horizontal: CHELF'S / CELERY-CAFFEIN / COMP'D / CHELF CHEM. CO. / RICHMOND, VA. I don't know if the color is natural of if the bottle was irradiated to change the color.
	This is a blue 4.1" bottle embossed: horizontal: CHELF'S COMP / CELERY-CAFFEIN / TRADE C.C.C.C MARK / FOR HEADACHE / MANF'D ONLY BY / CHELF CHEMICAL CO / RICHMOND, VA. USA
	This is a blue 7.7" bottle embossed: horizontal along the neck: CHELF'S C.C. COMP'D RICHMOND, VA. base: (M in a circle)

R.E. Chelf Bottles:

	This is a clear 8.2" bottle embossed: horizontal: 3xii vertical: R.E. Chelf Drug Co. / RICHMOND horizontal on back in oval: Chelf base: CLGCO / A
	Similar to the bottle above, but smaller, this is a clear 6.5" bottle embossed: horizontal: 3vi vertical: R.E. Chelf Drug Co. / RICHMOND horizontal on back in oval: Chelf base: CLGCO / B

R.E. Chelf Bottles:

This is a receipt from 1915. It says:
Heading: ALL ACCOUNTS MUST BE PAID IN 80 DAYS / TELEPHONE-RANDOLPH 3481 / RICHMOND, VA. Oct. 1st 1915 / Mrs. J.P. Johnson / ??? / IN ACCOUNT WITH R. E. CHELF DRUG COMPANY / BROAD AND HARRISON STREETS / PRESCRIPTIONS, PATENT MEDICINES / TOBACCO, CIGARS, SODA AND CANDIES
below header: (Dates, items purchased, and prices)

¹ Book: "Bottled in Richmond 1811-1930", by Vernon Grant
² Daily Dispatch (Richmond VA) newspaper, May 2, 1901, page 2
³ Richmond city directories, various years
⁴ Find-a-grave for Thomas Wilbur Chelf
⁵ Richmond Times Dispatch, Feb 3, 1956, p.10 (obituary for T.Wilbur Chelf)
⁶ Find-a-grave for Russell Elmo Chelf
⁷ Richmond Times Dispatch, May 7, 1931, p.16 (obituary for R.E. Chelf)

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This page last updated on October 30, 2026.