Chapter 1

The History of Soaps and Detergents

Luis Spitz
L. Spitz, Inc., Skokie, Illinois, USA

Bubbles Since Antiquity: Yesteryears

Since its appearance in history, soap has helped safeguard two of our greatest trea-
sures: our health and our children. Health is directly related to cleanliness. Data prove
that the higher the soap consumption in a country, the lower the infant mortality rate
will be. In industrialized countries, soap is the most taken for granted and readily
available personal care product used on the body daily. Soap is also the most inex-
pensive product we use in relation to its per use cost. In many developing countries,
both laundry and toilet soaps remain scarce, expensive essentials.
Soap, which is probably the oldest of toiletries, is readily available in most, but
not all parts of the world. The oldest literary reference to soap relates to the washing
of wool and is found in clay Sumerian tablets dating ~2500 BCE. Sumerian was a
language spoken in the area of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, now Southern Iraq.
The patriarch Abraham and his family came from Sumer. Another Sumerian tablet,
from 2200 BCE, gives the formula consisting of water, alkali, and cassia oil.
The concept of cleanliness has religious beginnings. Among the ancient
Hebrews, the importance of cleanliness for health was recognized, and laws were
instituted to enforce washing of the hands before and after a meal, and of the hands
and feet before entering the temple. The other aspect was spiritual cleanliness. A rab-
binical saying states “Physical cleanliness leads to spiritual purity.” Later on, the
expression “cleanliness is next to godliness” was used by George Whitefield, the
British religious reformer, and by John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.
But cleanliness was not always next to godliness. For centuries, bathing had ritu-
alistic uses and meanings and was unrelated to cleaning and keeping clean. The early
church disapproved of the bath. St. Francis of Assisi listed dirtiness as a mark of holi-
ness. There are three passages in the Old Testament in which the word soap appears,
but there is no evidence that soap, as we know it now, was used in Biblical times. In
the Good News Bible, which uses contemporary English, the three passages appear as
follows: Jeremiah 2:22, “Even if you washed with the strongest soap, I would still see
the stain of your guilt.” Malachi 3:2, “But who will be able to endure the day when
he comes? Who will be able to survive when he appears? He will be like strong soap,
like a fire that refines metal.” Job 9:30, “No soap can wash away my sins.” In the
passage from Jeremiah, the Hebrew word “borit” is translated as soap, but borit is

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 best translated as a “salt from a plant,” “a substance to clean with.” Borit was more
likely natural wood or vegetable herbs obtained by burning indigenous plants from
Israel, Egypt, or Syria. These passages in the Bible are metaphors for spiritual
cleanliness, and religious purification via physical cleanliness.
The ancient Egyptians also had religious rituals that demanded cleanliness. Their
priests’ heads were shaved and they bathed several times a day. They also showered
and scrubbed with sand and then anointed the graven images of their gods with oil.
The Greeks were the first to bathe for aesthetic reasons. They had no rules for cleanli-
ness on religious grounds. “A sound mind in a sound body” was their idea. There were
public baths in Athens at the time of Socrates (469–399 CE). The Romans also built
public baths and encouraged cleanliness. The great public baths in Rome became luxu-
rious clubs, and bathing became very popular. The Roman Empire built many aque-
ducts, which supplied water not only for drinking, but also for washing and cleaning.
For the Greeks and Romans, washing consisted of having hot baths and beating the
body with twigs or scraping off dirt with a “strigil” shaped as a shoehorn. By encour-
aging cleanliness, the Roman Empire suffered very little from the plague and pesti-
lences of the times. When the barbarians overthrew the Roman Empire, all of the
aqueducts, baths, and public drains were destroyed. During the Middle Ages, an era
called “a thousand years without a bath,” millions died in the cities. The Black Death
of 1348 killed 25% of the inhabitants of Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and England.
No one knows exactly when soap was first discovered, but most scholars agree
that the discovery was accidental. According to a Roman legend, soap was discov-
ered beside Rome's ancient Mount Sapo, a place where animal sacrifices were
made. When it rained, the animal fat (which remained from the sacrifices) mixed
with wood ashes and was washed down the side of the mountain. Roman laun-
dresses downstream in the Tiber were pounding togas with clubs and found that
the yellowed waters made their clothes beautifully clean.
Another theory asserts that the ancient Gauls stumbled upon soap in an effort
to extract oil from tallow. Perhaps they experimented by boiling it in water that
had been leached through beech tree ashes. The excavations at Pompeii, a city
destroyed by an eruption of the volcano Vesuvius in 79 CE, reveal a complete soap
factory. The Roman historian Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE) was the first to mention
soap in his “Historia Naturalis” around 70 CE. He indicated that the Romans
secured soap from the Gauls and described in detail the bathing procedure in the
Roman Bath; passing to the baths proper, the citizen entered the tepidarium, in this
case a warm air room; then he went to the calidarium, or hot air room; if he wanted
to perspire still more freely, he moved into the laconium and gasped in superheated
steam. Then he took a warm bath and washed himself with a novelty learned from
the Gauls, i.e., soap made from tallow and the ashes of the beech or elm. Humans
have used soap substitutes or “natural soaps” since primitive times. These were
usually plant substances containing “saponins,” detergent cleansers naturally pro-
duced by some plants. Soap plants are common to the Fertile Crescent, the birth-
place of ancient civilizations. The American Indians kept clean without soap. They

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 used roots, soap-like leaves: soap bark, soap root, agave and yucca roots. The Navajo
Indians made soap with yucca. The soapy part comes from the root of the plant. It
was peeled, sliced, pounded, dropped into water, and churned into suds. It was even
good for a foamy shampoo, but it had to be well rinsed to avoid irritation. American
Indians also washed with fuchsia leaves and agave, and scrubbed with soapwort leaf
washcloths. In South America, Indians still use soapbark and soapberry.
It is believed that the Phoenicians were the first to develop soap making into an
art. The Arabs, Turks, Vikings, and Celts all made soap. Soap making was brought to
England by the Celts in ~1000 CE; from there, its use and manufacture spread
throughout Europe. Since the production of soap depends on boiling fats and oils with
an alkali, soap making began in countries around the Mediterranean where olive oil
and a fleshy plant called Barilla were found in abundance. Barilla is still grown in
Spain, Sicily, and the Canary Islands where its ashes provide the necessary alkali.
In the 9th century CE, Marseilles, France was already famous for soap making.
Then two other great European centers for soap manufacture grew up in Savona,
Italy, and Castilla, Spain. England’s first soap production began in Bristol in the 12th
century and by the 14th century, soap was being widely manufactured in Britain.
There was still a reluctance to use soap for washing the body up to the 16th century.
Like bathing, only the rich could afford fine soaps. Cromwell, in 1712, almost taxed
cleanliness into oblivion in England. Soap monopolies, combined with heavy taxes
and high prices, kept manufactured soap scarce until well into the 19th century.
Napoleon paid two francs for a bar of perfumed Brown Windsor, an inflated price for
1808. In 1853, when Gladstone grudgingly repealed the English soap tax, he con-
demned soap as “most injurious both to the comfort and health of the people,” but
soap makers heaved a sigh of relief and soap making became something of a boom
industry. This became a turning point in social attitudes toward personal cleanliness.
Two French chemists laid the foundation for industrial soap production in the lat-
ter part of the 18th century. In 1790, Nicholas Leblanc invented the process of obtain-
ing caustic soda from common salt (sodium chloride), and in 1823, Michel Eugene
Chevreul discovered the chemical nature of fats and oils. The meat packing business
was established in the latter part of the 19th century. During meat preparation the meat
packers saved large quantities of the inedible fats and oils by-products to make large-
scale soap production an economic reality. Leblanc’s invention and the meat packing
business made it possible to produce soaps that were affordable to everyone. After
World War II, detergents started to replace soaps for laundering and by the mid-1950s,
overtook soap sales in volume for laundering purposes.

Marseille Soap
In southeastern France, Provence is a region of the Camargue in which olive oil, salt,
and soda ash were readily available for soap making. In the 16th century, Marseille
became the first official soap producing region in France. Jean Batiste Colbert, a min-
ister of Louis XIV, the Sun King, issued “The Edict of Colbert” on October 5, 1688,

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 prohibiting the use of animal fats for the production of Savon De Marseille
(Marseille soap). The soap had to contain 72% vegetable oils. Only pure olive oil
was allowed. In the 19th century, most of the olive oil was replaced by coconut
and palm oils. All Marseille soaps contain 72% vegetable oil; they are natural and
cube-shaped. The gentle handling of clothes and the hands made them so popular
that by the 1880s, there were close to 100 Marseille soap producers in France.
Synthetic detergents took over the market and the Marseille soap for laundering
practically disappeared.
During the last decade Marseille soaps, a name remembered and associated
with quality soaps of the past, were rediscovered due to the rise in interest in veg-
etable-based, natural products. The traditional opaque cube-shaped soaps are sold
as specialty gift soaps. Both cube- and regular-shaped opaque and translucent toilet
soaps appeared in Europe with and without the 72% claim. There are Marseille
soap flakes and even a detergent Ace Detersivo Marsiglia in Italy, made by Procter
& Gamble, with the illustration of a Marseille soap bar on the package.

Soap Making in Colonial America

Soap making was one of the first trades in early America. The chore of soap mak-
ing fell to women. Surplus animal fats and oils were saved to make soap 2–3 times
a year. The fats and oils were melted in a large iron kettle, which hung on a rod
over a fire; lye was mixed in using a long-handled iron spoon. A rule-of-thumb
formula was used. By experience, it was known that the strength of the lye (alkali)
determined the success of good soap making. If an egg or a potato could float to
the surface, the lye had the right strength.
Soapmakers arrived in 1608 at Jamestown, Virginia, on the second ship from
England. At the beginning the soap they made was used for laundering. Fine toilet
soaps were imported from Europe, but few could afford to buy them. The soap-
maker and the candle maker usually worked together. Both used tallow as the base
raw material. Candle making was more profitable than soap making due to its
higher demand Benjamin Franklin’s father was a candle maker who wanted his son
to be a soapmaker, but Benjamin became a printer. The first United States patent
was granted in 1790 to Samuel Hopkins, a soapmaker, for processing potash by a
new method.

The Oldest Living Brands

Yardley (1770)
The young William Yardley paid King Charles I a large sum of money in return
for a concession to manufacture soap for all of London. Details of his activities
were lost in the 1666 Great Fire of London, but it is known that he used lavender
fragrance for his soaps. In 1770, Yardley’s original English Lavender soap was

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 introduced. Created for gentlemen to use when shaving, the rich fragrant lather
quickly became a favorite with the ladies too. Yardley was the first branded soap
in the world, proclaiming its name on every bar.
In 1913, the firm adopted as the trademark for all of its lavender products Sir
Francis Wheatley’s Flower Sellers Group, one of a set of fourteen paintings
known collectively today as “Cries of London.” The Flower Sellers charming,
sentimental quality endured and still adorns some of the Yardley Lavender Soap
packages. Yardley was established in the United States in 1921, and by 1928, a
full factory existed in New Jersey. In 1960, a new factory was built in Totowa,
NJ. In 1978 Jovan, the well-known makers of Musk Oil, purchased the U.S. rights
for Yardley and started producing the “Yardley Old English Lavender Fragranced
Soap,” (Fig. 1.1) advertising it with “Most Soaps have a Slogan, Ours has a
History.” The Lavender bar was followed by five ingredient bars: The Cocoa
Butter Soap, The Oatmeal Soap, The Hard Lotion Soap, The Aloe Vera Soap, and
The Baby Soap.
After Jovan, several companies owned Yardley. In 1979 the British-based
Beecham Group acquired Jovan. Jovan ceased operation in 1984. In 1990, Yardley
of London, the British parent company, was purchased by the New York–based
firm of Wasserstein & Perella. In 1991, the Maybelline Company, owned by
Wasserstein & Perella, purchased the right to manufacture and sell Yardley prod-
ucts in North America. In 1996, Maybelline was sold to L’Oreal Cosmetics. In
1997, Yardley of London created an independent organization in the United States.
The Wella Company bought the rights to the Yardley name outside of the United
States in 1998. In December 2001, Wella purchased Yardley U.S., and Procter &
Gamble bought Wella in September 2003.
There were several Yardley soap marketing changes over the years. In 2003,
six commodity Yardley London Moisturizing Soap bars were introduced with a

Fig. 1.1. Yardley Old English Lavender Fragranced Soap.

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 wide range of ingredients under the Secret Cottage product line. These were Flowering
English Lavender, Natural Oatmeal & Almond, Sweet Summer Aloe & Cucumber,
Natural Performance, Early Morning Rose, and Baby Gentle—Natural Moisturizing
Soap—Dermatologist Tested. Yardley also introduced in 2003 and early 2004 upscale
and specialty Nature’s Slices Bar Soaps and the Apothecary Line. Nature’s Slices Bars
are offered with Shea Butter, Vitamin A & E, Freesia, Jasmine Raspberry and Peach
variations. The apothecary line includes Exfoliating Stone Washed and Refining Stone
Washed Soaps in eight variations with ingredients such as Walnut & Sesame, Sea Salt
& Pumice, White Clay and Witch Hazel, Grapeseed and Olive oil, and others. The
apothecary line includes Rock Your Boat Mineral Soaps. These rock-shaped soaps
with mineral and stone tones are very attractive and contain calcium to smooth, zinc to
heal, and copper to firm. The Yardley soap brand is active again.

Pears (1789)
The history of Pears Transparent Soap (Fig. 1.2) began in 1789 when Andrew
Pears opened a barbershop in London’s Gerrard Street, Soho district, a fashionable
residential area. He manufactured creams, powders, and other beauty aids. His
wealthy clientele used his products to cover up the damage caused by harsh, highly
alkaline soaps used in Britain in those days. Mr. Pears recognized the potential for
a pure, gentle soap and began to experiment with the production of a fragranced
transparent soap for delicate complexions. In 1835, his grandson Francis became a
partner. Later, in 1862, Francis’s own son Andrew started working with his father
and eventually became a partner.
Another partner, Thomas J. Barratt, son-in-law of Andrew Pears, a very creative,
enterprising person, was in charge of promotions. Due to his novel approach to adver-
tising, he is considered “The Father of Modern Advertising.” At the Paris Exhibition
of 1878, Barratt saw a well-known humorous plaster statuette called the Dirty Boy. It
showed an old woman washing the ears of a boy who was very unhappy about it. He
purchased it for £500 from Mr. Focardi, a well-known sculptor, and had it carved in
marble. He placed it outside his office. Terra cotta reproductions had to be offered due
to the large demand for the Dirty Boy and also for the advertising that followed.
Barratt made advertising history by buying paintings from artists and offering
them to the public as poster-reproduced high-quality chromolithographs. The most
celebrated and reproduced soap advertising was “Bubbles.” In 1886, he acquired
from the Illustrated London News a painting by Sir John Everett Millais of a curly
headed little boy blowing a soap bubble through a clay pipe (Fig. 1.3). “Bubbles”
also had a companion, a lovely young girl “Cherry Ripe.” The original Bubbles
“painting” was exhibited at the art section of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.
Small, colored reproductions of the painting were handed out to visitors.
The Pears’ Annuals started in 1891. They contained art and literary items such
as Charles Dickens’ Cricket on the Hearth, followed by A Christmas Carol in
1892, The Battle for Life in 1893, The Chimes in 1894, and The Haunted Man in

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 Fig. 1.2. “The Transparent Soap” by
Pears.

Fig. 1.3. “Bubbles,” the most famous

Pears Soap poster.

1895. The Pears’ Annuals also had illustrations, some in color by famous artists,
including Arthur Rackham, Charles Green, Frank Dadd, and others. Pears and
many products were advertised on the front or back cover and at times, large post-
card size inserts were included. Each year two, three or four (in 1915 six) large-
size chromolithographic prints of excellent quality and strongly resembling the
original paintings were offered for sale at a cost of 1 shilling. A total of 89 Pears’
chromolithographs were offered from the first issue in 1891 to the last offering in
1925. All of the Pears’ chromolithographs are highly valued collector’s items
today. Some of the original Pears paintings are in the Lady Lever Art Gallery in
Port Sunlight Village, Wirral, which has one of the most important art collections
in England. The Pears’ Shilling Cyclopaedia, a yearly reference book for everyday
use started in 1897 and it is still published today.
Four Pears slogans that became classics are as follows: Pears Soap Matchless
For The Complexion; Good morning . . . Have you used Pears Soap?; How do you
spell Soap dear? Why Ma, PEARS of course; and He won’t be happy till he gets it!
A few interesting Pears magazine advertisements had the following text: The First
Message from Mars—Send up some Pears’ Soap; Peace, Purity, Pears; and As

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 Pears Soap dissolves Beauty evolves. An often quoted advertisement from 1900
shows the American and British flags, and the text reads: “Pears’ Soap and an
Anglo American Alliance Would Improve the Complexion of the Universe.”
A Pears Soap advertisement that appeared in 1884 in the British magazine,
Punch, showed a ragged tramp with a pipe in his mouth stating, “Two years ago I
used your soap, since then I have used no other.” Two other U.S. companies also
used the same tramp to advertise their soaps. An N.K. Fairbank’s White Star Soap
trade card shows the same tramp sitting at a table with a pipe in his mouth writing
a long letter asking for a bar of soap, and on the picture the caption is “This picture
was first used by the N.K. Fairbank Company in 1884.” J.S. Kirk’s White Russian
Laundry Soap, which won the First Prize at the 1893 Chicago World’s Columbian
Exposition, also used the same tramp, shown sitting at a desk writing this note: “I
used your soap two years ago and have not used any other since.” Thus, three com-
panies fought for the privilege to have the “friendly” tramp use their soap (Fig.
1.4). We do not know who was the first to use the tramp motif or who copied
whom? Pears Transparent Soap became a worldwide brand and it is still sold
today. A.&F. Pears Ltd. became part of Lever in 1914.

Companies of the Past

There were many soap companies at the turn of the century. Some became large
and famous with well-known brands. A few of the old ones are still remembered
today. The fast growing big soapers bought the important ones. The others just

Fig. 1.4. The “friendly tramp” figure

used by three companies.

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 faded away. Many left behind a rich, but difficult to trace history of the many
brands and promotional material used in a market that was fiercely competitive
from its very beginnings. The United States Bureau of Census listed 238 soap fac-
tories in the United States in 1935.
Chicago was the home of many soap companies; Armour Soap Works, now the
Dial Corporation, is the only company that exists today. Chicago was a preferred loca-
tion. Railroads, which started in 1850, were operating all over Illinois by 1860. Grains
and livestock were shipped into Chicago for the growing meat packing industry.
Chicago’s stockyards offered an ample supply of animal fat for the soap industry.
Chicago might have been the “soap capital of the world.” William Wrigley, Jr.
came to Chicago in 1891 at the age of 29 to sell the soap his father made in
Philadelphia. He also sold baking powder and as a premium, offered chewing gum
made by the Zeno Manufacturing Company. The chewing gum sold very well and
he promoted it with premiums: lamps, rugs, books, and even revolvers. By 1895,
the old letterhead, which featured a young girl rising from the earth holding a bar
of soap, was replaced by packages of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit and Pepsin Chewing
Gum and the words “Manufacturers of Chewing Gum.”
In addition to Armour & Company, three other Chicago based soap companies—
J.S. Kirk, N.K. Fairbank, and Swift & Company—all produced large quantities of
then very well-known soap brands.

Chicago Companies
J.S. Kirk & Company (1859). Across the Chicago River and nearly opposite Old
Fort Dearborn, which was built in 1803, stood the first house in Chicago, erected by
Jean Baptiste Pont Du Sable in 1795. In 1804, it became the John Kinzie residence.
James S. Kirk had boiled soap since 1839 in Utica, NY. He moved to Chicago in
1859 and built his plant on the site of Old Fort Dearborn. In 1867, he moved to a
new plant on the historic sight of the Kinzie residence. This plant was destroyed in
the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, but was rebuilt into the largest soap plant in America
at the time. It was an imposing five-story factory, with a 182-foot chimney with the
“Kirk” name on it. The factory walls had large signs advertising Jap Rose, White
Russian, Juvenile, and American Family Soaps. The plant was on the river at what
now is the Michigan Avenue Bridge, close to the Tribune Building. The volume of
soap produced by Kirk was impressive even by today’s standards. In 1886, the
company sold 22 million pounds of White Russian Laundry Soap, claiming it to be
the largest sale of any one brand of laundry soap on earth.
Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 was the 9th World Fair to be
held. All previous ones, including the first one in 1851, were in Europe except for
the Fair in 1876, which was held in Philadelphia. Kirk had its own large exhibit. In
a special Youth Companion Magazine, the World’s Fair issue, a Kirk advertise-
ment indicates that they sold 47 million pounds of soap in 1892, the largest volume
of soap sold in the United States for a population of 65 million. The plant was

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 located on a prime location on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago. As the
importance of Michigan Avenue grew, the local residents complained about the
malodors coming from the plant’s large chimney. The building was demolished
and a new plant was built in 1916 at the North Avenue Bridge far from the
Michigan Avenue downtown location. J.S. Kirk was sold to Procter & Gamble in
1930 for $10 million. In 1990, after 60 years of producing all of the Kirk soap
products and later Procter soaps, detergents, cooking oils, fatty acids, glycerine,
and liquid cleansers, the plant was closed and demolished.
The best-known Kirk brands were the following: Kirk’s Flake Soap, Kirk’s Flake
Chips, Kirk’s Naphtha Soap, American Family Soap (Fig. 1.5), American Family
Flakes, Kirk Olive, Cocoa Hardwater Castile Soap, and Jap Rose Transparent Soap.
Jap Rose Soap for the Toilet and Bath and also for Complexion, Hair and Bath was
the first advertised transparent soap in the United States. Magazine advertising
showed colorful Japanese backgrounds with ladies dressed in beautiful kimonos.
The bar was packaged in a very attractive yellow carton with an illustration of a
Japanese woman.

Fig. 1.5. American Family Soap and free premiums.

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 N.K. Fairbank Company (1865). Nathaniel Kellog Fairbank (1829–1903) born in
Sodus, NY, went to Chicago in 1855. Seven years after his arrival, he invested in
Smedley, Peck and Company, a lard and oil refinery. In 1865, he bought the firm
and renamed it the N.K. Fairbank Company. The company grew to over 1000
employees and opened branches in many cities. Soap manufacturing began in
1882. Copco, Clarette, Chicago Family, Ivorette, Mascot, Santa Claus, Silver Dust,
Sunny Monday Laundry Soap, Tom, Dick and Harry, Pummo Glycerine Pumice
Soap, and other brands were produced (Fig. 1.6).
Of the many products, two introduced in 1883 became very popular, Fairy Soap
and the Gold Dust Washing Powder, also called Gold Dust Scouring Powder (Fig.
1.7). The “White, pure, floating” Fairy Soap package showed a drawing of a little

Fig. 1.6. Popular Fairbank soap brands included Fairy Soap and
Sunny Monday Laundry Soap.

Fig. 1.7. Another popular Fairbank

product was Gold Dust Washing
Powder.

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 girl sitting on an oval-shaped soap with the caption: Have you a little “Fairy” in
your home? A drawing of the Gold Dust Twins, Goldie and Dusty, sitting in a
washtub illustrated many washing products. Some people still remember the Gold
Dust Twins, who became the symbol for the Fairbank Company. Gold Dust was a
washing powder and the busy twins cleaned “everything and anything from cellar
to attic.” Extensive magazine advertising was used with the slogan “Let the Gold
Dust Twins do your work.” Today, all Gold Dust items are very popular, rather
costly collectibles, although the imagery could be considered racially offensive by
contemporary standards.
Like most soap companies, Fairbank used a wide variety of advertising tools
(Fig. 1.8). Beautifully illustrated booklets, “Fairy Tales,” had poems, acrostics and
advertisements. An example is The Fairy “Acrostic.”

F is for “Foremost,” “Fairest” and “Fine”;

A is for “Able” to do it each time;
I stands for “Ideal” in everything great;
R means the “Rarest” yet found up to date;
B is for “Better,” “Brighter” and “Best”
A is for “Acme,” that stands every test;
N means “no rival,” and that is no jest;
K tells you “keep it” and you will be glad,
S is for “Standard” the best to be had.
F is for “Fairy” white, floating and pure;
A stands for “Always” the good kind, and
sure;
I is for “Idol” of rich and of poor;
R is for “Real Merit,” the sort that will stay
Y is for “You,” and you need it each day.
S is for “Soap,” the boon of all health;
O is for “Our” kind, better than wealth; Fig. 1.8. Fairy soap, “Pure, White and Floating.”

A is an “Acrostic,” you see it, we hope;

P is for “Perfect” and “Pure” FAIRY SOAP.

Fairy Soap’s interesting advertising stated: “Sense Cents Scents” and “People
with Common Sense pay but five common cents for a soap with no Common Scents/
That’s Fairy Soap.” Lever Brothers purchased the Fairbank Company from
Heckler & Company and phased out the Gold Dust Twins products in the late
1930s.

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 Swift & Company (1892). Gustavus F. Swift moved his cattle dealing business
from Cape Cod, MA, to Chicago. In 1892, he made his first soap product “Pride
Washing Powder” with the help of two N.K. Fairbank Company employees who
were hired. “Pride Bar Soap” and “Cream Laundry Bar” followed. In 1898, Swift
bought the brand and the formula for Wool Soap from Raworth & Schotte. Wool Soap
was heavily advertised using street banners, trade cards, postcards, booklets, magazine
advertisements, and dealer premiums. Coupons were distributed in 1930 offering,
“Buy One Cake Wool Soap and Get One Wool Soap Free.” Wool Soap trade cards
showed two little girls, one dressed in a proper length nightgown and the other with a
nightgown that shrank and showed her bare behind. The lucky one said “My Mama
used Wool Soap” and the other complained, “I wish mine had” (Fig. 1.9).
This is the story in a beautifully illustrated colored booklet entitled “Alphabet—
Pretty pictures and truism about children's friend Wool Soap,” “A true story told in
verse and pretty pictures which we trust will interest both young and old.”

A is for Alphabet read this one through and learn all the good that Wool Soap can do.
B is for Baby so pink and so white who is bathed with Wool Soap each morning and night.
C is for Children immersed in a tub now take some Wool Soap and give them a scrub.
D stand for Dip, which we take in the sea Wool Soap, comes in here, for you and me.
E for Early the time to arise and bathe with Wool Soap—that is if you are wise.
F stands for Faultless, as you surely will see that Wool Soap for the bath and toilet will be.
G is for Goose and of course he don’t know Wool Soap is the best of all in this row.
H stands for Hurrah! We’ve found it last the famous Wool Soap, which can’t be outclassed.
I is for Indian who sees with delight a really clean red man Wool Soap did it right.
J is for Judge he is healthy and stout, he uses Wool Soap—the secret is out.
K stands for Kisses the baby wants three bathe with Wool Soap she is sweet as can be.
L is for Laces the richest and best well washed with Wool Soap a critical test.
M stands for Model the word people use when quoting Wool Soap and stating their views.
N is for Nations progressive and great who use Wool Soap and are right up to date.
O stands for Object we have one in mind to talk for Wool Soap the best of its kind.
P is for Present the best time to try a bar of Wool Soap with quality high.
Q stands for Question which soap is quite pure? Why Wool Soap of course, in that rest secure.
R is for Ribbons as good as when new Wool Soap will do just the same thing for you.
S stands for Success which comes at our call if we use Wool Soap when soap’s use at all
T is for Trial all soaps to compare Wool Soap win if the trial is fair.
U is stands for Uncle of American fame he uses Wool Soap let’s all do the same.
V is for Victory Wool Soap has won, and yet its mission only begun.
W stands for Wool Soap remember its name keep singing its praises and spreading its name.
X is a cross, which we will all have to bear but using Wool Soap will lessen our care.
Y is the letter that still stands for You. It means use Wool Soap whatever you do.
Z stands for our Zeal of which we are proud when we talk Wool Soap we talk right out loud.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Swift had many other soaps including the following: Maxine Elliott Complexion
Soap, 1902; Sunbrite Cleanser, 1907; Pride Cleanser, 1909; Wool Soap Chips Borated
(later renamed Arrow Borax Soap), 1912; Vanity Fair Beauty Soap, 1920; Quick
Naphtha Chips, 1923 (name changed to Quick Arrow Chips in 1929 and Quick Arrow
Flakes in 1931); Snow Boy Washing Powder, 1929; and Swift’s Cleanser, 1945. The
three best known and widely advertised products were the following: Pride Soap for
the laundry (Fig. 1.10); Pride Washing Powder for general cleaning purposes; Wool
Soap for toilet and bath, laces, fine fabrics and woolens. In 1968, a new modern soap
plant was built in Hammond, IN, for the production of a generic floating soap and new
toilet soap named Quote: One soap for the whole family. Swift could not establish a
viable bar soap business against the major competitors, and the soap plant was closed
in the mid-1970s.

Fig. 1.9. Wool Soap did not shrink

(MY MUMMA USED WOOL SOAP) (I WISH MINE HAD) woolens and was an “ideal bath soap.”

Fig. 1.10. Swift’s Pride laundry soap.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Other Soap Companies from the Past and Their Brands
A partial list of the many soap companies that do not exist anymore and some of
their well-known brands is presented in Table 1.1.

TABLE 1.1
Soap Companies That No Longer Exist and Some of Their Brands

Company Brands

R.W. Bell & Co. Soapona, Buffalo

Beach Soap Co. White Lilly, White Pearl, Full Value
B.T. Babbitt’s, Inc. 1776 Soap Powder, Best Soap
Comfort Soap Co. Comfort Soap, Pearl White Naphtha, Tip Top
Cosmo Buttermilk Soap Co. Buttermilk Toilet Soap
Cudahy Soap Works Old Dutch Cleanser
David’s Price Soap Co. Goblin Soap, Old Dutch Cleanser
Enoch Morgan’s Sons Co. Sapolio, Hand Sapolio
Gowans & Strover’s Oak Leaf, Home Trade, Miners
The Grandpa Soap Co. Grandpa Soap, Tar Soap
Hartford Chemical Co. Lavine
Haskins Brothers Co. Tribly Soap
Hecker Products Corp. Sunny Monday Laundry Soap
James Pyle Pearline
C.L. Jones Tulip
Kendall Manufacturing Co. Soapine, French Laundry Soap, Home
Kirman & Sons, Inc. Savonia, Kirkman’s Floating Soap
Fairchild & Shelton Ozone
Larkin Soap Co. Crème Oatmeal, Modjeska, Boraxinc, Sweet
Home
Lautz Bros. & Co. Acme, Gloss, Marseilles White, Snow Boy
Los Angeles Soap Co. White King, Cocoa Naphtha, Sierra Pine
Manhattan Soap Co. Sweetheart
Minnesota Soap Co. Eureka, Top Notch, Peek A Boo, White Lily
G.E. Marsh & Co. Good Will Soap
Oakite Products, Inc. Oakite
Oberne, Hosick & Co. Sweet Sixteen, German Mottled, White Prussian
The Packer Mfg. Co. Packer’s Tar Soap, Grandpa’s Pine Tar Soap
Pacific Soap Co. Citrus, Vogue
Potter Drug & Chemical Corp. Cuticura
Resinol Chemical Co. Resinol
The Rub-No-More Co. Rub-No-More Washing Powder
Schultz & Co. Star Soap, Gold
G.A. Shoudy & Son Wonderful Soap, Telephone Soap, Tip Top Soap
W.M. Waltke & Co. Lava, Oxydol
J.B. Williams Co. Jersey Cream Soap, Shaving Soap
Allen B. Wrisley Co. Olivilo, Carnation, Cucumber, Gardenia

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 The Big Soapers of Today
The Colgate Palmolive Company (1806)
William Colgate was an apprentice soap maker at the age of 15 in Baltimore; at 17,
he went to New York to work for a soap maker. In 1806 at the age of 23, he rented
a two-story brick building at 6 Dutch Street in lower Manhattan, NY and converted
it into a home, factory, and store. The first products were toilet and laundry soap,
but he also sold starch and candles. When he started, most soaps were homemade.
They were crude, coarse, and harsh on the skin with unpleasant scents. Colgate
offered a much improved quality perfumed soap to the urban crowd and also pro-
vided a personal delivery service. “Pale Soap” was one of the first products.
Other soap companies and their products became part of the Colgate Palmolive
Company. A timeline of the various mergers, company name changes, and products
follows:
1806: William Colgate opens a starch, soap, and candle shop on Dutch Street in New
York City.
1807: Francis Smith is made a partner in Smith and Colgate.
1857: Colgate & Company formed upon the death of William Colgate.
1864: B.J. Johnson Soap Company opens in Milwaukee and later becomes Colgate
& Company.
1872: The three Peet Brothers (William, Robert, and James) start a soap company in
Kansas City, KS.
1898: Palmolive Soap is introduced by the B.J. Johnson Company.
1906: At its 100th anniversary, there are 106 different kinds of toilet soap and 625
varieties of perfumes.
1914: The Peet Brothers build a soap plant in Berkeley, CA.
1914: The Crystal Soap Company of Milwaukee is acquired.
1923: The Palmolive Company office moves to Chicago, IL.
1926: The Palmolive Company merges with Peet Brothers to form the Palmolive-
Peet Company.
1928: Colgate Company merges with the Palmolive-Peet Brothers Company.
1929: The Kirkman & Son Company of Brooklyn, established in 1837, merges with
the Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company.
1953: The present Colgate Palmolive Company Corporate name is adopted.
1987: Colgate acquires the Softsoap liquid soap business from Minnetonka
Corporation, creating Softsoft Enterprises.

The Palmolive Building. The Art Deco style Palmolive Building, a 37-story office
building located on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue (the “Magnificent Mile”) opened in
1929 and has become an icon on the Chicago skyline. On its top was a revolving bea-

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 con, named in honor of Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh’s flight over the Atlantic Ocean.
President Herbert Hoover turned on the Lindbergh beacon with the push of a telegraph
button in the White House on the night of August 28, 1930. Lindbergh refused the
honor, and the beacon was renamed the Palmolive beacon. The beacon stopped operat-
ing in 1981. From 1967 to 1987, the Palmolive Building became the Playboy
Building; then, until 2002, it had no name, only the address 919 North Michigan
Avenue. In 2002, it was decided to transform this landmark building into luxury con-
dominiums and to rename it the Palmolive Building.

Octagon Products. The octagon shape was the trademark of a light yellow Octagon
Laundry Soap with rosin, first marketed in 1887. It was sold for general household
purposes. Later, a white version containing silicate was introduced. Other Octagons
brands followed: White Floating Soap, Naphtha White, Soap Chips, Soap Flakes, Soap
Powder, Scouring Cleanser and a Toilet Soap.

Octagon Coupons. From its early days and lasting for many decades, each Octagon
wrapper featured an octagon-shaped redeemable coupon. Beautifully designed
“Octagon Soap Premium List” catalogs listed many premiums. A 32-page catalog
from 1901 lists premiums redeemable for different quantities of coupons from a very
few to many. Children Picture Books, a Collection of Patriotic Songs for 10 wrapper
coupons and for 1600 wrappers, a Gentlemen’s or a Ladies’ Solid Silver Watch.

The Colgate Clock. This first octagon-shaped Colgate clock, which measured
37.5 ft in diameter and covered an area of 1104 ft2, was later removed and sent to
the new factory in Jeffersonville, IN. A new larger clock with a dial measuring 50
ft in diameter and covering an area of 1663 ft2 was installed. The world’s largest
clock started marking time December 1, 1924 on top of the eight-story Colgate
Building in Jersey City, NJ, overlooking the Hudson River and Manhattan. Next to
the clock there was a sign “Colgate’s”; under it, in smaller letters, it said “Soaps
Perfumes” (Fig. 1.11). The clock was visible for up to 20 miles and became a land-
mark. Years later, it was replaced by a large red Colgate toothpaste package design
placed under the clock. In 1986, Colgate closed the Jersey City facility and razed
the entire large structure. The clock was saved but up to now has not been rein-
stalled. There are plans to install it with a new computerized movement in a rede-
velopment project on the Jersey City waterfront at Exchange Place.

The Procter & Gamble Company (1837)

The first major depression, known as “The Panic,” took place in 1837, the year
Martin Van Buren was elected President. In October of that same year, the Procter
& Gamble Company was formed in Cincinnati, OH. William Procter, a candle
maker, came from London, England, to Cincinnati. James Gamble, a soap boiler,

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Fig. 1.11. Octagon-shaped Colgate clock became a landmark and was visible up to 20 miles.

emigrated from North Ireland. They were brothers-in-law, but it took many years
before they decided to form Procter & Gamble with a total capital of $7,192.24.
They made soaps and candles in a yard behind a small shop. James Gamble, 34
years old, ran the factory. William Procter, 36 years old, ran the office and store
and also delivered the products in a wheelbarrow to customers. There were 18 soap
and candle makers in Cincinnati at the time.
By 1840, Procter and Gamble had outgrown their simple place at 6th and
Main Street and moved to their first factory, a group of small buildings adjacent to
the Miami Erie Canal and close to the stockyards. Procter continued to attend only
to sales and finance and seldom went to see the factory. Gamble never went to the
downtown offices. They met on Saturdays. Their business grew; the factory had 80
employees and by 1859, sales exceeded $1 million, making it the largest manufac-
turing operation in Cincinnati. In the late 1850s, three of the five Procter boys
joined the firm, William A., George H. and Harley T., and three of the six Gamble
boys joined, James N., David B. and William A. In 1878, the company was making
24 varieties of soap and the second generation was running the firm. William
Cooper Procter from the third generation joined the family business in 1883.
The company grew rapidly and to speed up the rate of growth, they bought
established soap companies. In 1927, Procter purchased the William Waltke
Company (founded in 1893), “Soap Makers and Chemists” from St. Louis, MO.
Waltke had two major products, Oxydol and “Lava Chemical Resolvent Soap con-
taining vegetable oils and pumice to quickly remove greasy, inky and sticky sub-
stances from hands and face without injury to the skin.” The dark gray–colored
Lava was launched in 1928. Now it is a green-colored, fresh scent bar called “The
Hand Soap.” The most remembered Lava advertisement was as follows: World’s

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 worst bath soap, World’s best hand soap. The Lava brand was sold to the Block
Drug Company in 1995 and Block sold it to the WD-40 Corporation in 1999.
In 1930, Procter purchased the J.S. Kirk Company and its important American
Family brand. Procter became a leader among 432 national soap manufacturers.
Sales reached $10 million during the fiscal years of 1887–1890 with an average
annual net profit of a half a million dollars. One hundred years later in 1987, U.S.
sales reached $12.4 billion including all of the Procter products. Operating income
was $1 billion. Sales in 2003 were $43.4 billion with an operating income of $5.2
billion.

Armour & Company (The Dial Corporation) (1867)

Armour & Company is remembered mainly for its food products, but few know that
Armour was a major soap producer from the 1900s, long before Dial Soap was intro-
duced in 1948. Philip Danforth Armour started a pork smoking, pickling, and render-
ing operation on Chicago’s Archer Avenue and Halsted Street in 1867 when he pur-
chased the Old Bell House for $160,000. Five years later, he moved to the Union
Stockyards, which became the center of the meat packing industry in the United
States. In 1984, Armour purchased the Wahl Brothers Glue Works at 31st and Benson
Streets. This plant made hide, bone glue, and fertilizer and recovered grease. Grease
was made into soap and around 1888, soap manufacturing began.
In 1896, a separate soap plant was built and Armour Soap Works began its opera-
tion. The first product “Armour's Family Soap,” a laundry soap bar, was followed by
other laundry soaps formulated for the heavy-duty jobs required for the households in
those predetergent days: Armour’s White Soap, (Fig. 1.12) Big Ben, Sail, Hammer,
and White Flyer. Armour also became a leader in the manufacture of fine toilet soaps.
As early as 1901, Fine Art Armour’s first toilet soap was advertised in magazines. By
1927, Armour was producing ~60 brands of toilet soaps; Sylvan, Milady and Flotilla

Fig. 1.12. Armour’s White Floating Soap

was recommended for many years.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 (a white floating soap), La Satineuse, La Richesse, Florabelle Rose, Virgin Violet,
Sultan Turkish Bath, and many others. A very special soap was Savon Mucha
Sandalwood and Violet. The box was designed by Alphonse Mucha (1860–1939),
the world famous Art Nouveau poster artist. After the 1930s, Armour slowly
phased out the specialty soap business. In 1964, the company name was changed to
Armour Grocery Products, then to Armour-Dial Company. In 1964, when the new
soap plant opened in Montgomery, IL, the name changed to Armour-Dial, Inc.
Since 1986, it has been known as the Dial Corporation.

The Andrew Jergens Company (1880)

Andrew Jergens and his next door neighbor started their business in 1880. The
Cincinnati plant was called Charles H. Geilfus & Company, proprietors of the
Western Soap Company, Manufacturers of Fancy Toilet Soaps. In 1882, Andrew
Jergens, Charles H. Geilfus, and W.T. Harworth formed a partnership. The newly
named company, The Andrew Jergens Soap Company, at 180 Spring Grove
Avenue had 25 employees and a one soap kettle operation. The company was to
manufacture, buy, sell, trade, and deal in soaps, oils, candles, flavoring extracts,
perfumery, cosmetics, toilet articles, and glycerine.
Herman and Al Jergens joined later and on June 28, 1901, the company was
incorporated under the laws of the State of New York as the Andrew Jergens
Company, with an authorized capital stock of $1,250.00. Andrew Jergens was
elected president, Herman F. Jergens became vice president, and Charles H.
Geilfus assumed the duties of secretary and treasurer. In the early days, Jergens
soap featured flower fragrances and beautiful package designs. Each brand had a
distinct odor, true to the flower it represented. As early as 1911, the Andrew
Jergens Company had 82 different brands of soap listed in its catalog; the majority
were Jergens fragrance bars. During the 1920s, the Jergens soap line was reduced.
The main lines that remained included the flower fragrance bars and Pure Castile,
Hard Water, Pine Tar, Health Soap, and Baby Castile. Most of the soap wrappers had
the notation “made by the makers of Jergens Lotion.” In 1988, the Kao Corporation
from Japan acquired the Andrew Jergens Company.

Lever Brothers Company (1884)

The English soap industry was very large and well established in the early and
mid-1800s. Many firms were established before Unilever, which became the
world’s largest, including Joseph Crosfield & Sons (1815), John Knight (1817),
and R.S. Hudson (1837). In the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, a bewildering
variety of soaps was shown by 103 manufacturers.
William Hesketh Lever, later Lord Levenhulme (1851–1925), entered his father's
prosperous wholesale grocery business in Bolton, Lancashire, England, at the age of
16. His first job was to cut and wrap soap. Shopkeepers received disagreeably brown-
colored, anonymous long 3-lb slabs, which they sliced into pieces and sold by weight.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 In 1884, Lever, at the age of 33 and already a wealthy man, felt that he had fully
exploited the potential of the grocery business and contemplated retiring; instead, he
decided to enter the soap business. He shrewdly anticipated the forthcoming great
demand for soaps. The industrial revolution was underway; population, urban areas,
and factories grew in number. The social and economic conditions were changing very
quickly. A new middle class and a better paid working class demanded more soap as
they became more educated about health and hygiene.
On February 2, 1884, Lever registered the name “Sunlight” in England and in all
countries where the Trademark Act was in force. Once he had the name, he decided to
break with tradition by wrapping a single bar in imitation parchment with the colorful,
boldly printed Sunlight name (Fig. 1.13). At first, Sunlight was made for him by vari-
ous manufacturers. As sales grew quickly in 1885, he leased Winter’s Chemical
Works in Warrington to make a better quality product with more vegetable oil and less
tallow. The remarkably quick success of Sunlight demonstrated the potential for
“branded” products, and helped to change the entire soap industry. Lever could not sat-
isfy the increased demand. He decided to build a soap factory together with houses for
the workers on the banks of the River Mersey. On March 3, 1888, Port Sunlight was
born and by 1889, the first soap plant opened together with the first homes for employ-
ees. By mid-1890, 40,000 tons of Sunlight soap were sold in England alone.

Fig. 1.13. Lever registered the

name “Sunlight” for their soap
in 1884.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 American ideas influenced Lever in the wrapping and “branding” of his soap, his
novel promotions and lively advertising. He signed contracts to place Sunlight plates
in railway stations, positioned bright looking posters in grey looking streets, distributed
puzzles, pamphlets, and helpful hints on health. Lever offered and gave a car and 11
bicycles to a prizewinner who saved 25,000 Sunlight wrapping papers. One promotion
that lasted was the £1,000 reward offered to anyone who could prove that Sunlight
“contained any harmful adulterant whatsoever.” No one ever got the £1,000. But he
did spend £2 million on advertising during his first 20 years of soap making. Famous
illustrators, among them Harry Furniss, Tom Browne, and Phil May, were commis-
sioned to design soap advertisements.
In 1888, during a trip to America, Lever bought a slogan for Sunlight which
became very popular: “Why does a woman look old sooner than a man?” Frank
Siddall, a Philadelphia soap maker, was greatly surprised when he received £2,500,
a large sum at that time, for his slogan. He wrote a letter to Lever “During the early
parts of my experience, or might I term it, my struggles, as an advertiser, I was
both flattered and encouraged to find that other advertisers were copying me, but
yours is the only case where any appreciation has been shown.”
Lever also founded the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight, which has
one of the most important art collections in England. Lever started publishing the
Sunlight Year Book and its companion the Sunlight Almanac in 1895. The name
“Unilever” was coined in 1929 when Lever Brothers Limited and the Dutch
Margarine Union merged.
In January 1999, Sunlight soap was discontinued in the UK and the end of an
era came in September 2001. Port Sunlight, once the world’s largest soap manufac-
turing plant, closed after more than 100 years of operation. Its closing was due to
the growth of shower gels and liquid soaps vs. the traditional toilet bar soaps and
the old age of the plant.

Milestone Brands: Origins and Development of Bar Soap

Categories
Purity, Beauty and Health Soaps (1872–1947)
Cashmere Bouquet (1872)
Colgate’s Cashmere Bouquet is the oldest U.S. made toilet soap. The name was regis-
tered in July, 1872, by Colgate & Company of John Street, New York. The soap was
part of a line of toiletries that included perfume, talc, face powder and lotion. Each
soap bar was hand-wrapped and individually sealed with sealing wax as a sign of good
taste and luxury. It sold for 25¢, a very high price for a soap product at that time. It
became very popular with women who used it for its fragrance; it was also kept in
drawers to scent linens, lingerie, and handkerchiefs. By 1883, it was claimed that more
Cashmere Bouquet was sold than all of the imported toilet soaps from Europe.
With the introduction of automatic soap presses in 1912 and wrapping
machines in 1914, soap shapes, packaging style, and production cost were drasti-

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 cally reduced. Cashmere Bouquet’s shape was changed into a flat oval bar, which
was wrapped without the hand-applied sealing wax. The price was dropped from
25 to 10¢. Advertising was very refined and stylish. It reflected luxury.
Sir Arthur Rackham (1867–1939) born in London, England became very famous
as an illustrator of children’s books, including Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Peter Pan, Alice
in Wonderland, and others. He was compared to the American Howard Pyle, the
illustrator of fantastic subjects. Colgate asked him to paint a series of aristocratic-style
pictures because Cashmere Bouquet was known as the “Aristocrat of Toilet Soaps.”
The four-color advertisements ran in the mid-1920s in Ladies Home Journal (Fig.
1.14), Pictorial Review, and other magazines. The original paintings were also exhib-
ited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
In 1904, at the St. Louis World’s Fair, a new soap mill from France and a plodder
were exhibited. Both machines were purchased by Colgate, and Cashmere Bouquet
became a milled soap. But it was not known until May 1926, when an advertisement
for Cashmere Bouquet appeared in the Ladies Home Journal. The heading stated
“Now this ‘hard milled’ soap, used every day, keeps skin young and lovely.” In the
text, “hard milling” was explained in great detail: “It is ‘hard milled’ which means that
it is put through special pressing and drying processes that give each cake an almost
marble firmness. It is not the least bit squadgy. This special hardness is what makes it
safe.” Roll mills are used to refine and homogenize soaps and they have nothing to do
with “special pressing and drying.” There is no “soft” or “hard milling.” Consumers do
not really know the meaning of “hard milled,” “French milled,” or “triple milled” but
these claims connote quality and long lasting soap, so they have been used for a long
time. In 1991 there was a “New and Improved Cashmere Bouquet Mild Skin Care
Bar,” which was changed in 1993 to “Cashmere Bouquet Mild Beauty Bar.” Since
2000, a 3-bar pack Great Value Price “Classic Fragrance Cashmere Bouquet Mild
Beauty Bar” has been available in limited markets.

Fig. 1.14. A beautiful 1922 advertising of the

oldest U.S. toilet soap.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Ivory (1879)
In the beginning, Ivory was an accident. One day in 1879, an operator left a soap
crutcher (mixer) running during his lunch hour. The mix was lighter than normal due
to the extra air whipped into it; the soap bars floated. Instead of dumping it, the soap
was sold and customers liked it and asked for more “White Soap” as it was called.
Harley Procter wanted a catchier name and he found it in church one Sunday in the
same year, 1879, when this passage from Psalms 45:8 was read: “All thy garments
smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces whereby they have
made thee glad.” Harley Procter was inspired and proposed the next day to the mem-
bers of the firm the name, “Ivory.” The name was approved. The official date of the
first use of Ivory Soap as a trade name was July 18, 1879. The first cake of Ivory
Soap was sold in October, 1879, a year that also saw the debut of the incandescent
lightbulb, the cash register, and the opening of Frank Woolworth’s first 5 and 10¢
store in Utica, NY (Fig. 1.15).

Ivory Advertising. The basic, simple story about Ivory’s quality, purity and mild-
ness has appeared in magazine advertising since the very first advertisement,
which appeared in the Independent Magazine on December 21, 1882. The opening
sentence read: “Ivory is a Laundry Soap with all of the fine qualities of a choice
Toilet Soap, and is 99 44/100% pure.” The first advertisement started with a remark-
able slogan and selling idea and has remained the same ever since. But Harley
Procter had to fight for $11,000 to advertise Ivory because his partners were not
convinced of the idea of advertising a single product directly to customers. Up to
this time, small advertisements had been submitted to local papers by store owners
or by soap makers for the benefit of the store owners.
As Ivory sales increased, new Ivory stories were needed. Famous illustrators drew
Ivory babies and children. Competitions were held with large cash prizes for the best
drawings, a new and revolutionary advertising ploy for its time. The Ivory Baby was
used for more then 80 years before it was phased out. In October 2003, the Ivory Baby
returned in Ivory advertising. It might well have been an Ivory advertisement that led
to defining advertising as “salesmanship in print.” In 1885, Ivory first advised buying
“a dozen cakes at a time. . .”; today, most soaps are sold in multipacks, up to 16 bars
per pack. Housewives were told: “Our advice to consumers of Ivory Soap is, buy a
dozen cakes at a time, take off the wrappers and stand each cake on end in a dry place;
for unlike many other soaps, the Ivory improves with age. Test this advice, and you
will find the 12 cakes will last as long as 13 cakes bought singly.”
The first full-colored soap advertising in magazines began in 1896. Quality color
printing had to be done in Europe and the finished pages were sent back to the United
States for insertion in the magazines. Later Procter & Gamble sent an employee to
Europe to learn four-color printing. From the many Ivory babies, Maud Humphrey’s
(Humphrey Bogart’s mother) “A Busy Day” painting from 1896, showing a little girl
hanging up her doll’s clothes, became a much sought after poster, which could be
obtained for 10 Ivory Soap wrappers (Fig. 1.16).

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Fig. 1.16. “A Busy Day” illustration by Maud
Fig. 1.15. Ivory started floating in 1879. Humphrey, circa 1896.

A few representative Ivory Soap magazine advertisements are listed: “Good

health and pure soap the sample formula for beautiful skin; The beauty treatment of
ten million babies; RX for your complexion; Ivory Soap kind to everything it touches;
Approximately 99 44/100% pure; it floats. If you want a baby clean, baby smooth skin,
use the Baby’s Beauty Treatment—Ivory Soap; Ivory Soap now comes in new “purity
sealed wrapper” dust and germs are sealed out; Keep your Beauty on Duty and give
your skin Ivory Care Doctor’s Advise; Sugar and Spice and a Skin so Nice; That Ivory
look so clear so fresh so easily yours; Three generations prove: Young looking skin
runs in an Ivory family; 1979—Thanks America we’re celebrating our 100th birthday
and you've made us your favorite soap.”
What is the origin of the famous 99 44/100% purity claim? In 1883, Ivory Soap
samples were sent to five colleges and independent laboratories for analysis and com-
parison with imported castile soaps, which were the standard of excellence then. At
Cornell, they defined the purity of soap as 100% minus impurities. The chemical
analysis indicated the following: free alkali, 0.11%; carbonates, 0.28%; mineral matter,
0.17%; total, 0.56%. By subtracting the total from 100%, “99 44/100% pure” was born.
Harley Procter and his associates combined “99 44/100% pure” with, the phrase “It
floats,” and made it America’s top slogan of all times.
After the great success of Ivory bars, other Ivory soap products followed. To help
housewives who had been shaving Ivory bars into flakes or chips for laundry use, in
1919, Ivory Soap Flakes were first sold in grocery stores. After several years of experi-
ence in producing soap in beads or granular form, Ivory Snow, a new form of quick
dissolving Ivory for dishwashing and fine washables, was marketed in 1930.

The “Sinking Ivory” Promotion. To celebrate the 120th anniversary of the birth of
Ivory, a limited edition Ivory promotion with the original 1879 package design was

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 offered; 1501 non-floating bars were produced. The grand prize for finding the “sink-
ing bar” was U.S. $100,000. The promotion ended in March 2002.

Lifebuoy (1887)
In 1887, Lifebuoy was introduced in Great Britain. Because it contained carbolic acid
and emphasized disinfectant properties, it became widely used in hospitals and on
ships. At the time, disinfecting properties had become increasingly important because
of the work of Joseph Lister, a British surgeon who began using dilute carbolic acid
(phenol) as a germ-killing agent during his operations, and Ignaz Semmelweis, a
Hungarian physician who discovered in 1847 that “childbed fever” (puerperal fever)
was contagious and simple hand washing could drastically reduce its occurrence.
Doctors did not wash their hands regularly because the theory that germs carry dis-
eases was not established. Lister spent over a decade further developing his ideas and
trying to convince the medical community to accept them.
Lever brought Lifebuoy to America when he opened an office with a staff of 10 in
New York in 1895. Three years later in 1898, he started manufacturing it when he pur-
chased the Curtis Davis Company of Cambridge, MA, together with the rights to
“Welcome Soap.” In 1900, he also bought from Sydney and Henry Gross, Benjamin
Brooks of Philadelphia and their “Crystal” and “Monkey Brand” soaps. Lifebuoy was
first advertised as “Lifebuoy Toilet, Bath and Shampoo Soap,” “The Friend of
Health,” “Skin Health,” “A Life Saver,” “A Sanitary Antiseptic, Disinfectant Soap
Which Purifies While It Cleans.” It was a heavily advertised product in all leading
magazines. In 1916, the picture of the fisherman and the life preserver associated with
Lifebuoy as a trademark was discontinued (Fig. 1.17). The antiseptic claim, which lim-
ited the sale for general use, was changed into a health claim. The name became
“Lifebuoy Health Soap.” The health appeal made the difference especially during the
1918 influenza epidemic.

Fig. 1.17. The fisherman and the

life preserver were associated with
Lifebuoy as a trademark.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Lifebuoy Clean Hands Health Campaign. Beginning in the early 1920s, Lever
Brothers Company in the U.S. started a very important hand-washing campaign for
children. To encourage children at an early age to be aware of the importance of per-
sonal cleanliness, in schools, every pupil received a Lifebuoy Wash-Up Chart and a
free “School Size Lifebuoy Health Soap.” A Health Pledge was printed on the top of
each chart: “Cleanliness is the first law of health. I owe it to myself, my family, my
school and my country to keep my body clean strong and healthy—free from dirt and
germs. I'll try.”
The chart had four tables, each marked with the days of the week. Each day, the
children had to mark a square with an X when they washed their face or hands “Before
Breakfast,” “Before Dinner,” “Before Supper,” “After Toilet,” and “Baths.” Gold
stars, merit badges, small Health Guards pins, and Clean Hands Campaign certificates
were awarded to those who completed the chart. In addition, children learned about
dirt, germs, and health using educational charts. This very successful campaign com-
bined a fun game with important health-related issues.
The germ-fighting advertising copy was used until 1926, when something hap-
pened in a locker room. Mr. D.L. Countway, brother of Francis A. Countway, the
President of Lever Brothers, on a hot May day after a game of golf, entered the locker
room and greatly disliked the prevailing odors. Countway smelled something, indeed
he did, and suddenly did something about it. The first “Perspiration Odors” advertise-
ments were run, followed by “Body Odors” and then simply “B.O.,” two letters that
became part of everyday language. With B.O., Lifebuoy sales quadrupled from 1926
to 1930. In 1941, Zephyr Fresh Lifebuoy was introduced, and in 1948, the package
and the shape were modernized.
In the 1950s there was a short-lived “New Pine Green Lifebuoy,” which had all
the ingredients, claims, and concepts that were present later in the United States and
Europe using today’s terminology, i.e., “freshness,” “deodorancy,” and “active peo-
ple.” In 1953, the medicinal odor was changed to a pleasant scent, the color became a
soft coral and a new germicide TMTD (Puralin) was added.
In England, a number of changes took place. A white version was added in
1962; superfatting agents were incorporated in 1969 and were removed in 1980. In
1986, Lifebuoy “Fights More Germs—Lifebuoy Antibacterial Soap” was
relaunched with a modern package design and softer perfume. A year later, the red
variant was discontinued. Lifebuoy’s largest market is India where in 2002, the bar
was completely changed from a carbolic soap with cresylic perfume to a soap with
a new “health perfume” and Active-B, an ingredient that protects against germs
that can cause stomach infection, eye infection, and infectious cuts and bruises.
This new Lifebuoy is advertised for today’s discerning housewife and mother as
“Family health protection for my family and me.” There is a Lifebuoy Active Red,
a Lifebuoy Active Orange, and two bars for the upper end of the market: Lifebuoy
International Plus against germs and body odor, and Lifebuoy International Gold
against germs that cause skin blemishes. Presently Lifebuoy is one of the world’s
largest selling bar soaps.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Palmolive (1898)
Palmolive soap was a floating soap when first made by the B.J. Johnson Soap
Company of Milwaukee in 1898. During a board meeting in 1911, Mr. Burdette
Johnson and his sales manager, Charles S. Pierce, were discussing Galvanic Soap, a
then well-known laundry soap. Someone mentioned that they also had a green toilet
soap made with palm and olive oils called Palmolive. Then someone else said that
Cleopatra and other Roman beauties used palm and olive oils. That day Palmolive was
born, or better reborn, as a different product. The first trial advertisement was supposed
to run in Grand Rapids, MI, for $1000. Everyone considered this too much money for
such an “uncertain venture” and for $700, the advertisement appeared in Benton
Harbor, MI. By 1928, Palmolive was the largest selling toilet soap in the world.
Anthony and Cleopatra “washed” with a mixture of fragrant oils and fine white
sand. This mildly abrasive mixture was rubbed on and cleaned the bodies. Cleopatra
also had a milk bath but used no soap. Legend also tells us that Cleopatra’s hand-
maidens bathed and massaged her from head to toe with gentle olive and palm oils.
When Cleopatra is mentioned, we think of exotic beauty, velvety skin, mystery, and
cosmetics. Palmolive Soap’s advertising started with the Cleopatra theme from its
very beginning in 1898. In 1984, the remnants of a nine-room perfume and cosmetics
laboratory were unearthed on the Western Coast of the Dead Sea. Cleopatra built it.
Palmolive bar soap advertising is one of the finest in bar soap advertising history.
The great variety, creative range, and excellence of execution of colored advertisements
in such magazines as the Ladies Home Journal, Delineator, and Woman’s Home
Companion, are both a visual joy and a learning experience for all of us. Many well-
known illustrators were hired to paint pictures for the Palmolive advertisements. After
Cleopatra, a very famous phrase was created in 1924 by the company President, Mr.
Charles Sumner Pierce: “Keep That Schoolgirl Complexion.” The Palmolive Girl was
very much part of the liberated 1920s (Fig. 1.18). She was active in sports, she traveled,

Fig. 1.18. “Keep That

Schoolgirl Complexion” was
an effective slogan for
Palmolive Soap.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 and she always looked beautiful, delicate, and stylish. The Palmolive Girl appeared as a
child, a young girl, a young woman, a mother, and a woman in the prime of life. By
1933, the “Keep That Schoolgirl Complexion” slogan became the most effective and
sought after Palmolive billboard poster in Colgate history.
A sampling of Palmolive advertising headings illustrates its extensive variety
and dedication to beauty:
1904: Palmolive—The Dream of Past Generations.
1916: An Ancient Luxury Brought up to date—Palmolive.
1917: Cleopatra’s vision Palmolive Soap.
1917: Four cakes a second 240 cakes a minute 14,400 cakes an hour for every
working day. This is the enormous manufacturing volume required by the
popularity of Palmolive Soap.
1918: Once a Queen’s Secret—Now Your Favorite Soap.
1919: Palmolive—The Oldest of Toilet Requisites.
1920: The Cosmetics of Cleopatra.
1920: Wash your face every day.
1920: Tell me the truth about beautiful skin. Ancient women put the plea to tears.
Their answer found carved in hieroglyphics dug up lately was “use palm oil
and olive oil”; modern scientists give the same advice to women.
1927: Mother, I'll bet the Princess who looked just like you.
1930: More Palmolive Soap was sold in 1930 than in any year in Palmolive history.
1933: Invite romance by keeping that schoolgirl complexion.
1937: The Dionne Quintuplets use only Palmolive.
1943: Doctors prove 2 out of 3 women can get more beautiful skin in 14 days.
1950: You can have a lovelier complexion in 14 days with Palmolive Soap,
Doctors prove!
1953: 100% Mild Palmolive Soap helps you guard that Schoolgirl Complexion
look.
1957: New Palmolive Gives New Life to Your Complexion Safely . . . Gently!
1964: New Continental Palmolive Care can help you be younger looking, too.

Woodbury (1899)
The story of the soap “For The Skin You Love To Touch” starts in 1876 when Mr.
John H. Woodbury founded the John H. Woodbury Dermatological Institute in the
State of New York. He developed the John H. Woodbury Facial Soap, which he
claimed to be the first soap that could safely be used on the face. In 1897, John H.
Woodbury and Andrew Jergens entered into a contract with The Andrew Jergens
Company to produce Woodbury Facial Soap. The first published quarter-page adver-
tising appeared on May 1911 in the Ladies Home Journal magazine and carried the
slogan, “For the Skin You Love To Touch.” This is considered, and rightly so, one of
the classic slogans in American advertising and one of the most famous and best for

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 selling soaps. The credit for this slogan goes to Helen Lansdowne Resor, secretary
and later wife of Stanley Burnet Resor, president and chairman of J. Walter
Thompson Company. This slogan also reflected a new marketing technique product
segmentation targeting women instead of a general market. It is interesting to note that
the Woodbury Facial Soap with its “neckless head” trademark on the package show-
ing a man with a mustache is anything but feminine (Fig. 1.19).
As sales increased, beautiful new advertisements appeared. The first full-page
color advertisement in the Ladies Home Journal magazine from September 1915 was
a fine illustration painted by F. Graham Coates, followed by an Alonso Kimball and
Mary Green Blumenschien painting in 1916. A 1919 advertisement illustrates how
early the concept of skin treatment with soap, facial cream, cold cream, and powder
was promoted with the aid of a “Skin You Love To Touch” booklet. “The Dawn of a
Great Discovery” Woodbury Facial Soap with “Filtered Sunshine” was launched in
April 1936. Full-color advertising appeared in the Ladies Home Journal, Vogue,
McCall’s, and other magazines and newspapers around the country. The advertisement
showed stylized photographs of a nude lady taken by Edward Steichen. This advertise-
ment is claimed to be the first nude advertising on record. “Filtered Sunshine,” vitamin
D, was also a real first. Vitamin E was added to soaps in recent years.

Lux (1925)
Lux first appeared in 1899 as Sunlight Flakes, but the name was changed in 1900. It
was sold as an excellent product for washing delicate fabrics by hand. In 1924 and
1925, Lever Brothers tested “Lux Toilet Form,” a white perfumed soap, and Olva, a
green palm oil toilet soap. Olva was a round bar packaged as a specialty soap. It was

Fig. 1.19. Woodbury soap

was first advertised in 1911
with the slogan “For the Skin
You Love To Touch.”

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 tissue wrapped, then placed into a carton that was overwrapped. The graphic design
showed a beautiful lady drawn in an art deco style of the times. The claim “Super-
creamed, made from vegetable and fruit oils” was ahead of its time. Lever looked at
the market and thought that there might be a world potential for a popularly priced,
white, milled toilet soap. Cashmere Bouquet was a luxury item, Palmolive, the market
leader, was green, inexpensive, and milled. At the time, no popularly priced, white,
milled toilet soap existed. Lever spent two years searching for the right bar size and
shape, the wrapper style, and the most preferred fragrance. Consumers tested 40 differ-
ent perfumes and eliminated 35 of them. Once Lux and Olva were launched, the pref-
erence for Lux was immediate and Olva was abandoned.
Lux, the Latin word meaning “light,” was short, easy to remember and to pro-
nounce in almost any language, a name that also had the advantage of sound asso-
ciation with luxury. It is possible that a Liverpool trademark and preferred agent
W.P. Thompson, who suggested the Sunlight name in 1884, might also have sug-
gested Lux because of the association with light. The first advertising for “Lux
Toilet Form” appeared in newspapers in April 1925, and the copy read, “Now
made just as France makes their finest Toilet Soaps/Ask for Lux Toilet Form
today.” In early 1927 the name was changed to Lux Toilet Soap and magazine
advertising, combined with large scale sampling, began. The comparison to
“French Soaps” was combined with an added economy note: “Yesterday . . . 50¢
for a French Toilet Soap/Today . . . the same luxury for . . . 10¢.”
In 1928, the “talkies” (talking motion pictures) were being developed and the
use of Hollywood movie stars and directors as endorsers was introduced, one of
the most successful soap selling ideas ever used. The first testimonial advertise-
ments referred to “Exquisite smooth skin, women’s most compelling charm” says
the 25 leading motion picture directors. More personal testimonials followed
endorsed by practically all the Hollywood stars who signed up to testify or testified
to the virtues of Lux Soap, with the prominent exception of Greta Garbo (Fig.
1.20). Lever never paid a cent to any star for their endorsements, During the 1930s
and 1940s, many black and white Lux beauty-related advertisements followed,
such as: “9 out of 10 screen stars use Lux Toilet Soap; Try Active Lather Facials
for 30 days/Lux Complexion; Lux Girl Be Lovelier Tonight; You are Lovely—
You are Adorable.”
In the 1950s, color advertisements continued to rely on the Hollywood star
testimonial: “Radiant is the word for Terry Moore’s complexion and she keeps it
that way with Lux Toilet Soap.” The other adjectives were Delicate, Luscious, Eye
Catching, Delectable, Charming, and each advertisement showed a different screen
star. Another slogan in the mid-1950s was “You’re just as lovely as a movie star,”
with stars such as Mitzi Gaynor, Donna Reed, Doris Day, Barbara Rush, and Joan
Fontaine appearing in the advertisements.
In 1957, in addition to the white Lux in gold foil, four new colors were intro-
duced: pink, green, yellow, and blue. Few people remember the unique looking
Lux advertised in 1962 as “Like no other soap in the world New Lux with three deep

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Fig. 1.20. Lever advertised for
decades that “9 out of 10
Screen Stars use Lux Toilet
Soap.”

beauty bands. Now three beauty bands go deep into new Lux. Its moisturizing creamy
lather says: forget your dry skin worries.” There were two gold-colored bands on the
face of a white bar and one gold band in the middle on the back. This bar predated all
of the multicolored products that followed years later. In the United States, Lux has
become an economy bar. In 1987 Lux was repackaged and was called the “The Pure
Beauty Soap.” By the mid-90s, Lux was removed from the U.S. market. It was
redesigned and relaunched in recent years with traditional and new positioning as well
as new packaging. New Lux bars were introduced in India, Brazil, England, and other
countries. New Lux will be discussed later in the chapter.

Camay (1928)
Camay’s birth was not easy. The name “Camay” was adopted from the French word
“cameo.” To a lady, a cameo suggests fine treasured things. There were many pro and
con arguments for a new product that would have to compete not only against Lux,
Palmolive, and Cashmere Bouquet, but against Procter’s own Ivory Soap. It would
have to be advertised as a perfumed soap while Ivory was advertising against “heav-
enly smelling soaps.” Cooper Procter, as chief executive, decided to test market
Camay in 1923: he affirmed an important Procter & Gamble principle, competing
with itself. By 1926, Camay was a national brand, but initially, it did not do very well.
Neil Mosley McElroy, who joined the company in 1925 fresh out of Harvard,
worked as an advertising department mail clerk. It was his idea that the marketing
of each brand should be the full responsibility of a specialized manager. This idea

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 evolved into the basic principle of brand management, i.e., that each brand would be
operated as a separate business. Camay was not selling well because Camay execu-
tives were not allowing it to compete freely against Ivory. McElroy suggested the
“one man one brand idea” in connection with advertising and on May 13, 1931, wrote
a historic memorandum in which he suggested that the “brand manager” should
devote single-minded attention to all aspects of marketing a brand with the help of a
support team. Richard R. Deupree, then president, approved the concept and with it
Procter & Gamble’s marketing philosophies and practices changed forever.
The concept of competing against similar company brands as vigorously as
against competitor’s products in similar price categories was a new concept in
American industry. Cars from the same maker did compete but they were in very
different price categories. Thus, Camay not only became a world renowned beauty
bar but the birth and survival of a soap was responsible for a new consumer mar-
keting concept of great future importance, one that has been copied by nearly every
packaged goods company.
Camay was called “The Soap of Beautiful Women” (Fig. 1.21) shortly after its
introduction, a claim maintained till the 1960s. An early magazine advertising stat-
ed: “For the first time in history, the greatest dermatologists in America give a sci-
entific approach to a complexion soap.” The advertisement also explained “What is
a dermatologist?” in addition to the benefits offered by Camay “to keep complex-
ions fresh, clean and outdoor looking and the natural look men admire.” Many
similar advertisements followed, all signed by Helen Chase, the famous beauty
consultant. In 1942 “Go on the Mild Soap Diet Tonight” for 30 days . . . let no
other soap touch your skin” was added. The “diet” lasted until 1946 and was
replaced by “Just One cake of Camay and your skin will feel softer, smoother!”
and by other variations such as “Your first case of Camay brings you a lovelier
complexion.” Cold Cream was added to Camay in 1954. “Your skin will love
Camay’s Caressing Care!” “There is fine Cold Cream in Camay.”

Fig. 1.21. Camay, “The Soap of Beautiful Women.”

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Camay Since 1983. The new 1983 “Camay with Creamy Coconut Soap” claimed
to be enriched with one-half creamy coconut soap to provide for more rich and lux-
urious lather. A year later for the first time for a Procter and Gamble soap, three
“Personalized Skin Care Camay” bars, one for each skin type, were introduced:
Normal Skin Formula, Oily Skin Formula and Dry Skin Formula. In 1987, Camay
was reformulated and redesigned into a “Moisture Cleansing Bar” in scented and
unscented versions. In Europe, “Camay Classic, Chic and Light” were launched in
a new upscale package. Camay was updated in France into an attractive pink pearl-
ized type scented luxury bar.
A year after the 1989 European launch, the new redesigned cameo and a fuchsia,
ivory and black package with three fragrances were test marketed and nationally dis-
tributed in the United States in 1990. P&G abandoned the skin care approach and
switched to fragrances. “More than 3 New Fragrances, 3 New Feelings” “Camay
Petal-Soft Scented all Over” was the tag line for: Camay Classic/Softly Romantic
Classic/Pink; Camay Natural/Fresh, Clean, Natural/White; Camay Flair/ Exciting
Sex/Flair/Peach. In 1992, the three bars became “The Camay Fragrance Collection”
bars all with more moisturizers—fragrance drops of natural moisturizers “Uncover a
New You and Be Softer Too” (Fig. 1.22).
The Camay Classic and Flair kept their name but the Natural was changed to
“Camay Innocent.” In 1993, Camay with a low market share and no longer the
beauty bar of the past, was repositioned to the mid-price soap category; 2-bar bun-
dles were changed to 3-bar bundles without a change in price. The bar was also
reformulated to give more lather and a less slick rinse feel. Ten years later in 2003
in the United States, there are two Camay bars left in limited distribution only and
without any advertising backing: Camay Classic with softly scented natural mois-
turizer with a floral romantic scent and Camay Flair with softly scented natural
moisturizer and a sexy exotic scent.

Fig. 1.22. The Camay “Fragrance Collection” bars of 1992.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Deodorant and Skin Care Soaps (1948–1967)
Dial (1948)
In 1946, Armour & Company wanted to offer a completely new soap product. An
employee suggested a soap containing a deodorant. A research chemist, Mr. Robert E.
Casely, remembered that three years earlier, Dr. William Gump from Givaduan-
Delawaana, Inc. had left a sample of a new germicide. This new chemical, hexa-
chlorophene (G-11), was introduced in 1943. It was offered to all of the major soap
companies but none felt that there was a market for a germicidal soap. Armour tested
the product in house and with outside laboratories, and it was confirmed that when
combined with soap, hexachlorophene was nonirritating to the skin and reduced bacte-
ria on the skin which, in turn, reduced perspiration odor. Dial was born on July 1, 1948.
After considering over 700 potential names including Revoke, Secure, and No
No, Dial was chosen. The Dial name suggested 24-hour protection, and the first slo-
gan, “Keep Fresh Around the Clock,” later changed to “Round the Clock Protection”
was coined (Fig. 1.23). The first advertisement's heading stated “Stops Odor Before it
Starts.” To promote a soap that can effectively control perspiration odor, rather than a
medicated soap for antiseptic purposes was a new concept, a novel idea. On July 1,
1948, Dial was introduced in Oklahoma City and Omaha, favorite test market cities. It
sold for 25¢ a bar in drug and department stores, making it twice as expensive as all of
the other soaps. In August the first “fragranced” advertising appeared in the Chicago
Tribune. It is said that in August 1948, four Armour employees snuck into the Chicago
Tribune’s press room and poured Dial perfume into the ink supply of the presses. The
next day as people read the newspaper in the buses, trolleys, subways, and trains, the
first public transportation air freshener with the help of Dial, was achieved. The suc-
cess of this novel approach was immediate. Another “first” used in the Dial introduc-
tion was to show a young lady taking her bath in the window of a drugstore.
By 1949, Dial was available in grocery stores throughout the country. Three
years after its introduction, Dial passed Lifebuoy, which dropped its familiar medi-
cinal odor. In tonnage sales, it overtook Palmolive to take fourth place behind Lux,
Ivory and Camay. Dial’s commitment to advertising and marketing support shows
how expensive it is to launch a new soap and that profits are usually not made for

Fig. 1.23. Dial started the “Round-the-Clock”

deodorant protection in 1948.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 some time even for a highly successful new product such as Dial. The advertising bud-
get for the 1.5 years (1948 and 1949) was <$1 million. In 1950, it was $2 million while
the selling price was cut from 25 to 19¢. In the first two years, Armour lost $3 million,
and in 1950 $800,000. In 1951, a profit of $200,000 was achieved. In 1952 and 1953
the combined earnings reached $4 million, canceling all of the previous combined
losses. In 1954, the profits reached $4 million before taxes. These profits can be best
appreciated in comparison to the same $3 million of Armour’s pretax earnings on its
entire $2 billion business in the same year.
In 1953, the still current famous “Aren’t you glad you use Dial?” theme started. It
was created by Fairfax M. Cone, Chairman of Foote, Cone and Belding. The full slo-
gan now is “Aren’t you glad you use Dial, don’t you wish everybody did?” This slo-
gan is currently used in a series of creative, humorous TV commercials. Then came
the well-known and much imitated “wet head” full page magazine advertisements,
showing close-ups of men and women enjoying a shower. The same year in 1953, Dial
had become the nation's number one selling soap in dollar volume. A unique distinc-
tion for Dial was being chosen to be the first “space age soap.” In the Smithsonian
Institute’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., a bar of Dial soap is
displayed in the Astronaut’s Tools and Equipment exhibit. Alan Shepard, the Mercury
7 astronaut, carried a bar of Dial soap on the historic first U.S. manned space flight
above the earth on May 6, 1961.

Dial Soaps Since 1986. Various Dial bar soaps were introduced, some of which are
still on the market. These include: Mountain Fresh Dial (1988), blue marbleized “New
Mountain Fresh Dial” refreshing deodorant soap, “Invigorating as a mountain breeze
and as clean and refreshing as a mountain stream”; Ultra Moisture Dial Antibacterial
with Vitamin E (1991) (discontinued); Dial Plus, a moisturizing antibacterial body
soap in versions for normal-to-dry skin and sensitive skin. This was a pearlized bar
introduced in 2000 (discontinued); Skin Conditioning Dial Ultra Skin Care # 1
Antibacterial Soap (1998), the first translucent bath soap in the United States sold in
supermarkets next to the mass market commodity bars. Each bar is packaged individu-
ally in a clear stretch film and labeled like specialty soaps, with two bars packed into a
window-style printed carton; Dial with Vitamins (2002); Dial with Vitamins E, A, and
B5. It is an amber-colored translucent bar, which replaced the green translucent Dial
Ultra Skin Bar. Each bar is individually stretch film, wrapped and labeled, with three
bars packed into a clear hard film carton. The current 2004 Dial Antibacterial
Deodorant bars are offered in the following versions: Gold, White, Mountain Fresh,
Spring Water, Aloe, Tropical Escape, and Herbal Springs.

Vel (1948)
Colgate’s Vel Beauty Bar introduced in 1948 was the first synthetic detergent (syndet)
soap-free complexion bar in the United States. Consumer Reports magazine evaluated
76 toilet soaps in October 1948. Vel was found less alkaline than normal soaps; it lath-
ered easily and did not form a curd in hard water. It was also suggested for use by

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 those who are sensitive to all soaps. The current 2004 “Vel Mild Skin Care Bar” for
soft smooth skin is now sold only regionally. Vel never reached national distribution
and lacked promotional backing in spite of being the first “syndet bar.”

Jergens (1951)
In 1951, Jergens Lotion Mild Soap was introduced as an economy mild soap. In 1976,
New Fragrance Jergens Lotion Mild Soap was reintroduced in a new shape as the
“Economy Model—Mildness at a very mild price.” In 1985, the bar was renamed
“Jergens Mild.” Jergens Gentle Touch Soap with Baby Oil: “Discover the feeling of
baby soft skin” was a marbleized soap. Later, a 1984 magazine advertising explained
“You have almost 3000 square inches of skin/let Gentle Touch with Baby Oil Baby all
of them.” Gentle Touch was discontinued in 1998.

Jergens Skin Conditioning Bars (1984). In 1984, Jergens introduced two ingredient
bars—the Aloe & Lanolin Skin Conditioning Bar and its companion, the Vitamin E &
Lanolin Skin Conditioning Bar. Aloe, vitamin E, and lanolin are the most preferred bar
soap ingredients other than moisturizing/cleansing cream. Cocoa butter, baby oil, glyc-
erine, and bath oil follow in order of importance. The well-known Jergens Skin
Conditioning Lotion was offered in combination with the Skin Conditioning Soap.
In 1993, the Skin Conditioning bars of 1984 were restaged into an improved
Jergens Aloe & Lanolin Soap Skin Care and Vitamin E & Lanolin Skin Care bars
packaged in a new carton; the bars were advertised together with the Jergens Skin
Conditioning Lotion for “Natural Skin Conditioning.” Jergens indicated to potential
customers “Aloe Works Wonders on Wet Skin (showing the soap) and Miracles on
Dry Skin.” The bar soap and the lotion were offered as a pair of complementary prod-
ucts with two distinct functions: washing followed by moisturizing by the same
ingredients with the same brand. Jergens was the first company to offer the soap
and lotion combination in the United States. Today, it is common practice to offer
bar soaps with other moisturizing skin care products. Many times the bars are
offered as a free promotion.

Jergens Mild Antibacterial Deodorant Soap: 1994. Jergens Mild Soap was first
introduced in 1947 when Jergens Lotion dominated the market. The Mild
Antibacterial, Deodorant version appeared 47 years later.

Jergens Naturals. In 1995, a new line of three Jergens Natural ingredient bars was tar-
geted for “Skin Care for the whole family. . . Naturally!” They included: Jergens
Naturals Skin Care Bar with Baking Soda—Deodorant; Jergens Naturals Skin Care
Bar with Aloe and Lanolin—for Normal to Dry Skin; and Jergens Naturals Skin Care
Bar with Vitamin E and Chamomile—Unscented, Hypoallergenic for Sensitive Skin.
In 1997, two bars, the Jergens Moisturizing Body Bar—Refreshing for Touchable
Soft Clean Skin and The Jergens Moisturizing Body Bar—Extra Moisturizing for
Touchable Soft Clean Skin, were introduced together with two Jergens Moisturizing

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Body Shampoos. A year later another change took place: Jergens Moisturizing
Sensitive Skin Body Bar/Clean Rinsing/Hypoallergenic and Jergens Extra Moisturizing
Body Bar/Soft Clean Skin/Extra Softness That Lasts.
In 2004, only three bar soaps are offered: Jergens/Trust the mildness/White All
Family Bar and two of the 1995 Jergens Naturals, Jergens Naturals Skin Care Bar with
Aloe and Lanolin—for Normal to Dry Skin and Jergens Naturals Skin Care Bar with
Vitamin E and Chamomile—Unscented, Hypoallergenic for Sensitive Skin.

Zest (1952)
Procter & Gamble’s syndet Zest Beauty Bar was introduced in 1952. A Consumer
Reports April 1958 review of 102 brands of toilet soaps reported that Zest, like Vel in
the 1948 report, was less alkaline, lathered well even in salt water, and left no ring in
the bath tub. In 1956, it was renamed Zest Deodorant Beauty Bar and advertised as
“More than just a soap. Zest gives you both glorious new cleansing action and new
deodorant action! Feel Really Clean. Get that Zest Glow From Head to Toe!” The Zest
tub test advertisements showing “an awful looking residue on the bathtub with soap”
were followed by many TV commercials showing eyeglasses rinsed with Zest and
with soap. “Give up sticky soap film and feel cleaner with Zest” and “Zest, the deodor-
ant bar that leaves no sticky film” (Fig. 1.24).

Fig. 1.24. Zest, the “Zestfully Clean” bar.

Zest Since 2000. The Zest claim of “Rinses cleaner than soap” is still used, but a
number of new Zest variants have appeared since 2000:
2001: Zest Energy Rush/Zestfully Clean/Refreshingly Fun
2003: Ultimate Clean Zest/Anti-bacterial, Deodorant Protection/that’s Gentle on
Skin
Zest Aqua Pure Deodorant Bar
Whitewater Fresh Zest Deodorant Bar/Smooth, clean feeling skin for your
whole family
Zest Spring Burst
Zest Cool Xtreme with Refreshing Mint
Zest Citrus

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Some of the Zest bars now offered in the U.S. are imported from P&G, Mexico.
Zest Citrus, which was sold since 2004 in the United States, has a special Mystery Bar
contest. U.S. $10,000 is offered for the correct naming of the bar’s mystery scent.

Dove (1955)
In 1956, Dove was introduced as a new toilet bar that “looks like a soap, it’s used like
a soap, but it is not a soap.” Lever explained that one quarter of the content of each bar
was rich emollient cleansing cream; it was completely neutral, nondrying, and kind to
tender skins (Fig. 1.25). In addition, it left no soap scum or ring in the bathtub. Dove is
the leading beauty bar in the United States today. The advertising strategy is still based
on the original concept. “Dove is one quarter moisturizing cream.” “Dove won't dry
your skin like soap.” The present advertising campaign uses testimonial letters from
housewives, teachers, overseas enlisted women, and even doctors in Alaska who
praise Dove’s superior quality and performance. In 1989, Dove was test marketed in
Italy. It was very quickly accepted and by 1992, Dove was launched in the UK,
Germany, France, and other European countries.

Fig. 1.25. Dove is the leading beauty

bar in the United States today.

Safeguard (1962)
Procter moved slowly into the growing deodorant soap segment. In 1963, Safeguard
New Deodorant and Anti-Bacterial Soap with RD 50 for complexion and bath was
introduced. In 1969 the “New Hand Hugging Shape” (dog-bone shaped) appeared, fol-
lowed in 1970 by the higher coconut oil content “Richer, Livelier Lather Safeguard—
The Perfect Family Soap.” A “Fresh Scent” version came out in 1979. From 1988 to
1991, Safeguard DS Deodorant Soap for Dry Skin Protection, treating both body odor
and dry skin, was on the market. In 1992, Safeguard became the “All Family Germ
Fighter Antibacterial Deodorant Soap—Mild enough for the Whole Family” (Fig. 1.26).

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Fig. 1.26. Safeguard, the “All Family
Germ Fighter Antibacterial Deodorant
Soap—Mild Enough for the Whole
Family.”

Tone (1968)
Armour’s Tone “The Moisturizing Soap” with Cocoa Butter emphasized skin care
since its introduction in 1968. Today it is called “The Skin Care Bar.” In 1979, the
“Beauty Begins with Tone” TV campaign used a hit song from the 1960s, “Pretty
Woman.” “Bye, Bye Dry” magazine advertisements followed in 1985. The “new for-
mula with 50% more Cocoa Butter” in its original yellow and recent cream color has a
new health-oriented theme: “After you tone up your body, tone up your skin.” Tone
gives your healthy looking body that healthy looking skin. “Tone up with Tone.”

Freshness, Deodorant and Skin Care Soaps (1968–1993)

Fa (1968)
Fa produced by Henkel in Germany appeared on the German market in 1954. It
was called “die Seife Fa” (The Fa Soap). In 1968, a brand new “die frische Fa”
(The Fresh Fa) (Fig. 1.27), a green and white marbleized, natural, freshness soap
with the “Wild Freshness of Limes” was launched. At the same time, Coca Cola
introduced a new advertising campaign showing a group of young people on a
small sailing boat and using a new German word “Frischwärts,” (Freshwards), i.e.,
onward to more freshness, liveliness, fitness, youthfulness. Fa’s natural, fresh,
youthful theme emphasizing the use of soap all over the body from head to toe
became very successful and led the way to a new generation of fresh, natural, self-
indulgent soaps with marbleized effects.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 In the Fa Brand Manual published in 1997, an interesting and unique “Fa Mission
of Freshness” summarizes “The Unique Dimensions of Fa Freshness” on different
levels: (i) physical level: Fa sensations—rejuvenation, naturalness, cleanliness, fluidi-
ty, lightness, airiness, vitalizing, stimulating; (ii) social level: Fa behavior/attitudes—
confidence, energy, vitality, new drive, dynamism, harmony, inner equilibrium with
others; (iii) psychological level: Fa sentiments—surprise, discovery, new feeling,
revival, replenishment, joy, lightness, inspiring liberating; and (iv) metaphysical
level—life, birth, spring, youthfulness, radiance, vitality, mythical, space and time,
transcendence, a short moment in eternity, freedom, spontaneity, untamed, unlimited.

Fig. 1.27. The “die frische Fa” started the

freshness soap category in 1968.

FA (1984). Since 1968, which heralded the freshness era, Fa had only very minor cos-
metic changes. But in 1984, as part of a line of toiletry products, Fa Fresh and Fa Soft
were introduced, followed a year later by Fa Beauty. It is the first time that universally
recognized English words were used on foreign products for product differentiation
and positioning. This novel approach became very popular and is widely used by
many products worldwide.

Atlantic and Pacific (1969). The next marbleized soap in the German market was
Lever’s “Atlantic” in 1969. Atlantic was a very well-executed consistent product. It
was a multicolored blue bar with seaweed extract; it was shaped like a sea shell and
packaged in a pictorial carton that showed the bar. Later “Pacific,” a companion bar,
was launched. Atlantic used very stylish outdoor and magazine print advertising cam-
paigns.

Irish Spring (1972)

Colgate’s Irish Spring was the first U.S. freshness category bar. “The Double
Deodorant Soap” bar with “The Freshness of an Irish Morning,” introduced in 1968
(Fig. 1.28), was a green and white marbleized lightly fragranced bar. Shortly after, it
had a more invigorating scent “to keep you feeling fresh and clean.” Irish Spring bars
with different names, all packaged in a black carton, were launched in many countries.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Fig. 1.28. The original Irish Spring was a
“Manly Deodorant Soap.”

Irish Spring Since 1986. The first change since the original 1972 Irish Spring was in
1986. Line extensions started 10 years later. In 1986, Irish Spring was completely
changed in the United States. The “Manly Deodorant Soap” in the original black car-
ton became a “Deodorant Soap with Skin Conditioners” in a green carton. Further
changes included the following:
1996: Irish Spring Sport, a deodorant soap with antibacterial protection for active
lifestyle people.
1999: Irish Spring Aloe, with aloe vera gel, helps to retain the natural moisture of your
skin.
2000: Irish Spring Fresh, a variation of the original with a revitalizing scent (formerly
the 1994 Irish Spring Waterfall Clean).
2002: Irish Spring Vitamins, a deodorant soap with a provitamin E formula.
2003: Irish Spring Icy Blast, a blue, icy cool, icy clean deodorant refreshing bar.

Coast (1974)
Procter & Gamble followed in 1974 with the blue and white marbleized “Refreshing
Deodorant Coast,” “The Eye Opener.” Since the addition of a yellow marbleized Sun
Spray Coast, which did not last, Coast has not changed. The Dial Corporation pur-
chased the Coast brand from P&G in 2000 and continued to offer the original bar. In
2003, a new Coast Max with aloe for maximum deodorant protection with a blend of
botanical extract (aloe vera and papaya) was added.

Caress (1974)
The original white “Caress with medicated cream” of 1968 did not succeed. In 1974, a
new peach color, newly shaped Caress “Body Bar with Bath Oil,” “with 101 drops of
bath oil” was introduced with eye-catching print advertising and slogans: Caress with
bath oil For the soft you can't get from soap/Caress . . . Before you dress/Before you
dress . . . Caress/You dress to look irresistible. You Caress to feel soft. In 1988, the bar
was repackaged and the slogan changed to “Caress with more bath oil.” “Skin feels
best when it’s Caressed.”

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Shield (1980)
Lever’s Shield was originally test marketed in 1975 as “The Soap Deodorant.” To
emphasize deodorancy, the dot on the letter “I” on the Shield wrapper was drawn as a
spray nozzle. The product failed in the United States, but when it was introduced in
England, it was well received. Based on its success, Lever reintroduced it here in 1980
as a green and white marbleized “Extra Strength Deodorant Soap.”

Shield (1988). In 1987, a “New Fresh Scent” was added and in late 1988, the bar was
repackaged and somewhat repositioned. It became “New Fresh Formula Shield/ Feel
Fresh All Day” and in rather small letters on the package it still states “Deodorant
Soap.” In England, Shield was “The Soap Deodorant.” Shield was discontinued in the
United States in 2000.

Cleopatra (1984)
Cleopatra lent her beauty and fame to early Palmolive Soap advertising, but she had to
wait a long time to have a soap named after her. Years ago “Cleopatra Beauty Soap
with five fragrance oils” was test marketed in the United States, but it did not succeed.
Finally, in 1984, Cleopatra got her own “Cream and Perfume” soap, introduced in
France with TV advertising that showed her taking a luxurious bath as in the historical
times. Cleopatra takes us back to the most enduring and classic soap theme: skin care,
moisturizing, and beauty. From “Cleopatra to Cleopatra,” first as an advertising classic
and now her own soap. Cleopatra is sold only in France.

Pure and Natural (1985)

Dial introduced Mild & Gentle Pure and Natural Soap in 1985 as the purest and
mildest soap on the market. It was the first time that a nonfloating soap was positioned
directly against Ivory. In 1990, a new version packaged in a carton became “A Mild
and Gentle Body Soap with Great Lather” with the tag line “The Natural Clean Your
Family Deserves.” The 2003 bar presented with new graphics is Hypoallergenic and
Dermatologist Tested. It is claimed to be “Gentle enough for all family use, even
babies.” It is an economy bar sold in 3 bath-size (4.5 oz) and 6 personal-size (3.5 oz)
packs.

Spirit (1986)
This was Dial’s short-lived Spirit Refreshing Deodorant Soap with droplets of nat-
ural liquid scent. The encapsulated fresh scent was released as the soap was used.
Spirit was a blue and white two-color bar with a well-defined different look that
Dial referred to as the “butterfly pattern,” a look that has not been seen in any other
bar soap since. In spite of its unique look and fresh scent release feature, it was dis-
continued after a short time. In 1992, a new solid blue color 3-in-1 Spirit was
launched. The 3-in-1 multibenefit claim was: cleaning, deodorant protection, and
moisturizing. The bar remained on the market for only a few years.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Lever 2000 (1987)
Lever 2000, a soap/synthetic combination (combo) bar is the first product with the
company name. It was test marketed and went into full distribution only two years
later. Lever 2000 was formulated to provide a combination of superior mildness
with superior combined antibacterial deodorant protection. It was advertised as
mild enough for use by the whole family, children, teens and adults, “Lever 2000
The Deodorant Soap That’s Better for Your Skin” (Fig. 1.29) “Lever has special
skin care ingredients, so it’s good for all your 2000 body parts” (advertising
showed mama parts, papa parts, baby parts. Lever 2000’s advertising was creative
and different. The soap became Lever’s most successful new bar soap since Dove.

Fig. 1.29. Lever 2000: “The Deodorant Soap That’s Better for Your Skin.”

Antibacterial, Deodorant, Moisturizing and Ingredient Soaps:

The Last Decade
Antibacterial soaps contain germ-fighting ingredeients that inhibit odor-causing germs
for hours. Since the early 1990’s antibacterial properties were emphasized over
deodorancy with many soaps using the combination “Antibacterial/Deodorant” protec-
tion claims. In addition, moisturizing (skin care) became very popular for most cos-
metic products and, as a consequence, many moisturizing-type bar soaps wrre intro-
duced. The most significant change during the last decade has been the introduction of
many line extensions with ingredient soaps. In the past, there were soaps with added
ingredients but these new bars are offered with a much larger range of ingredients.
Many of the new “ingredient soaps” maintained the main claims and market position-
ing of the previously described categories. Also older well known brands have been
revived and expanded like Lifebuoy, Lux, and Palmolive.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Oil of Olay (1994)
Richardson-Vick’s “Oil of Olay Beauty Bar” appeared in 1983 as a line extension
of the internationally successful Oil of Olay Beauty Cream, Beauty Cleanser, and
Night of Olay products. Magazine advertising stated “Now, Clean Skin With the
Touch of Innocence/New Olay Beauty Bar.” Another suggested “Give Yourself the
Bubble Facial and Discover a Secret of Beautiful Skin.” The bar was recently
repackaged and renamed with a more defined claim, “Daily Cleansing Bar Enriched
With Moisturizers.”
In 1985, Procter & Gamble purchased Oil of Olay from Richardson-Vick.
Procter reformulated the original soap-based beauty bar into a product with a syn-
thetic cleansing system. P&G claimed that this synthetic (snydet) bar holds the
skin’s moisture better than soap, leaving the skin smoother and softer; the bar does
not melt away quickly and it is not messy. Three types were offered: Oil of Olay
Bath Bar, White and Pink and an Unscented/Hypo-Allergenic Sensitive Skin
White Bar. In 1996, there was a change to two totally new bars, a Bath Bar and a
Sensitive Skin Bath Bar Soft Moisturized Skin.
In 2000, the bar name was simplified to Olay, and three types were introduced:
Olay Scented Skin Care Bar in white and pink and an Olay Unscented, Hypo-
Allergenic Skin Care Sensitive Skin White Bar. The “Olay—love the skin you’re in”
slogan was added to the magazine advertising pages. Further change took place in
2003 with the introduction of a new customized collection of Olay Bars in four ver-
sions: Normal Skin, Sensitive Skin, Dry Skin with Shea Butter, and Unscented for
Sensitive Skin (Fig. 1.30).

Fig. 1.30. The “Cumstomized Olay Bar Collection” of 2003.

Palmolive Botanicals, Naturals, and Marseille Since 1995

In the United States, Colgate offers only an economy Palmolive Classic Scent Mild All
Family Soap and a Palmolive Gold Deodorant Soap. Both are economy so-called
“Great Value Price” products. Since 1995, there has been a worldwide revival of
Palmolive Bar Soaps and new bars have been introduced in various categories.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Palmolive Botanicals (1999). The most important innovation started with the intro-
duction in 1999 in Mexico of the Translucent Palmolive Botanicals with glycerine and
essential oils. Bars wrapped with a clear BOPP (biaxially oriented polypropylene) film
coated with humidity-resistant acrylic on both sides were introduced. The four bars are
listed in Spanish and English versions: (i) Palmolive Botanicals: Energizante—Girasol y
Acacia en Agua de Manantial/Energizing—Sunflower and Acacia; (ii) Palmolive
Botanicals: Revitalizante—Romero e Ylang Ylang en Agua de Manantial/Revital-
izing—Rosemary & Ylang Ylang; (iii) Palmolive Botanicals: Relajante—Botones de
Rosa y Malva en Agua de Manantial/Relaxing—Rose and Mallow; (iv) Palmolive
Botanicals: Acariciante—Manzanilla y Calendula en Agua de Manantial/Soothing—
Chamomile & Marigold. These bars are now also marketed in Argentina, Brazil,
Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.

Palmolive Fruit Essentials. Colgate’s Softsoap liquid products are the large selling
personal care liquid products in the United States. Two Softsoap Translucent Bars
made in Mexico and distributed in Canada have been added to the Softsoap line of
products: Softsoap Fruit Essentials/Essentiels aux fruits—Juicy Melon/ Melon juteux
and Softsoap Fruit Essentials/Essentiels aux fruits—Fresh Picked Raspberry/
Framboises fraiches. In some markets, Softsoap Fruit Essentials are called Palmolive
Fruit Essentials. The Botanicals and the Fruit Essentials are specially formulated
extruded type translucent produced at speeds that come close to the production rates
for opaque bars. Worldwide, several companies now offer this type of extruded
translucent bar wrapped in a clear film.

Palmolive Aromatherapy Bars (2002). In 2002, two Palmolive aromatherapy bars

came onto the market: (i) Palmolive Aroma Therapy—Energy with Pure essential oils,
Mandarin & Ginger, Green Tree Extract and (ii) Palmolive Aroma Therapy—Anti-
Stress with Pure essential oils, Lavender, Ylang Ylang & Patchouli. These translucent
Palmolive bars are now produced in other countries with distribution to other locations.

Palmolive Naturals. Another new Palmolive bar category is the current opaque
Palmolive Naturals (with added ingredients) wrapped in printed opaque glossy paper.
These include: (i) Silkening Care Palmolive Naturals with Milk and Honey Extracts;
(ii) Revitalizing Care Palmolive Naturals with Grapeseed and Orchid Extracts; (iii)
Balanced Care Palmolive Naturals with Jasmine and Rose Extracts; and (iv) Extra
Moisture Care Palmolive Naturals with Aloe and Olive Extracts.

Palmolive Marseille. There has been a revival of the age-old Marseille soaps mainly
in Europe. Since the early 9th century, soaps made in Marseille, France were made of
vegetable oils. These cubed-shaped vegetable soaps contained 72% copra, olive oils,
and palm oils. No animal fats were used in their manufacture. Through an edict in
1688, they became known as Savon de Marseille. The soap’s gentleness on clothes
and the hands made it so popular that by the 1880s, there were close to 100 Marseille
soap producers in France. Synthetic detergents took over the market, and the Marseille

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 soap for laundering practically disappeared. Because of the increased interest in veg-
etable, natural products during the last decade, the opaque cube-shaped was rediscov-
ered; benefiting from the use of the Marseille name, which is still remembered, several
translucent toilet soaps appeared.
Colgate introduced the translucent Palmolive Marseille bars: Palmolive
Marseille—Milk & Lemon; Palmolive Marseille—Peach and Sweet Almond; and
Palmolive Marseille—Chevrefeuille & Olive. The French Palmolive Les Bien Faits de
Marseille translucent bars are the Energisant, Revitalizant and Apaisant types. The
English translations of the claims are as follows: Palmolive Marseille Energizing—
Enriched with Essential Oils—Sunflower, Acacia & Glycerine; Palmolive Marseille
Revitalizing—Enriched with Essential Oils—Rosemary, Ylang Ylang & Glycerine;
Palmolive Marseille Relaxing—Enriched with Essential Oils—Chamomile, Calendula
& Glycerine.
In Europe, there are other Marseille bar soaps in cube and standard shapes, such
as Le Petit Marseillais and Le Chat. In Italy, the Marseille name is used for soap flakes
and even detergents: Sole Marseille Soap Flakes, Omino Bianco Detersivo Lavatrice
Marsiglia and Ace Detersivo Marsiglia Detergents. All of the packages show an illus-
tration of Marseille Bar Soap.

Ivory Moisture Care (1997)

In 1997, 118 years after the birth of the 99 44/100% floating Ivory, Procter & Gamble
introduced Ivory Moisture Care Bath Bar and Body Wash, two companion products
“for ultra mild cleaning and moisturizing benefits for the entire family.” Ivory
Moisture Care Bath Bar is a nonfloating synthetic detergent (syndet) bar. It is offered
in Light, Fresh Scent and Unscented versions.

Safeguard from 1999

The easy to hold hand-hugging “dog-bone” shaped bar of 1969 reappeared in 1999.
The tag line associated the easy-to-hold shape with “get a better grip on fighting
germs.” In 2001, the bar shape was changed back to the original classic pillow shape.
Since then, minor formulation and package graphic changes have been made. Over the
years, Safeguard switched deodorant and antibacterial claims several times. Safeguard
today is an antibacterial, deodorant soap offered in white and beige colors. It claims to
be the #1 selling antibacterial, deodorant soap brand worldwide.

Lux Since 1999

For over a decade, Unilever concentrated on the worldwide expansion of Dove, but
since 1999, decided to change the image, expand, and strengthen Lux except in the
United States where it was discontinued. Several Lux soaps types were introduced in
India, Latin America, and elsewhere. The Lux ingredient bars include three Lux
Beauty Soaps: Good Day Sunshine—with Orange Extracts & Apricot Kernel Oil;
Milk and Honey—with Honey & Almond Milk; Morgentau—with Lemon Grass &

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Herbal Essence; and two Lux Beauty Moments: Milk & Honey—with Honey and
Almond Milk; and Garden of Japan—With Lotus Blossoms and Ginkgo Extracts.
In 2000, there were four Lux Milk Cream ingredient type bars in India with
the tag line: “New Lux brings out the star in me.” They are Lux Rose Extract &
Milk Cream, Lux Almond Oil & Milk Cream, Lux Fruit Extracts & Milk Cream,
and Lux Sandal Saffron & Milk Cream. In 2003, these bars were relaunched as
Skin Care bars with a marbleized effect: Lux Skin Care with Rose Extracts, Lux
Skin Care with Almond Oil, Lux Skin Care with Fruit Extracts, and Lux Skin Care
with Sandal Saffron. In India, the high end bar soaps are sold as Toilet Soaps and
the more economical ones as Bathing Bars. Lux is sold in over 100 countries and it
is now the world's largest selling bar soap brand.

Lux Tanslucent Bars. In 2003, translucent Lux bars wrapped in a clear BOPP film
with a very attractive Lux logo and with a woman’s face went on the market for the
first time in Brazil and later in other countries. It is also the first time that a mass-mar-
keted product's appearance, i.e. transparency, is mentioned. The bars are wrapped in
the clear BOPP film with Portuguese and Spanish text: Lux Glicerina—Transparencia
Irresistible. They are offered in an amber and a green color. The attractive BOPP clear
film is also used for these new opaque Lux bars: Lux Perfeiçaó Cremosa—Perfeccion
Cremosa; Lux Massagem Marinho—Masaje Marino; Lux Nutriçaó Radiante—
Nutrición Radiante; Lux Rosa Aveludada—Rosa Aterciopelado; Lux Toque de
Suavidade—Toque de Suavidad; Lux Beleza Negra—Belleza Negra.
In Australia in 2003, the new translucent Lux Skin Sense Translucent Body
Bars packaged in a carton with a rectangular clear window to show the product
were launched: Lux Skin Sense Awaken Translucent Body Bar—Grapefruit &
Lemongrass; Lux Skin Sense Calm Translucent Body Bar—Chamomile &
Geranium; Lux Skin Sense Refresh Translucent Body Bar—Green Tea & Lime;
Lux Skin Sense Embrace Translucent Body Bar—Neroli & Ylang Ylang.
Two special Lux bars merit notice. The first is the International Lux Skin Care
Sunscreen Formula with sunscreen lotion launched in India in 2002. A clinically
proven patented triple sunscreen system forms an invisible layer of “UV Guard”
against the sun’s UV rays, protecting the skin and preventing it from darkening.
The second is the 2003 Brazilian Lux Skin Care—Morena e Negra bar specially
targeted for dark-skinned women.

Lever 2000 Since 2000

Lever 2000 was reformulated and reintroduced in 2000 as a line of Lever Moisture
Response Bars: Anti-Bacterial Lever 2000 Moisture Response; Perfectly Fresh Lever
2000 Moisture Response with Vitamin E; Pure Rain Lever 2000 Moisture Response
with Vitamin E; Fresh Aloe Lever 2000 Moisture Response with Aloe Vera; Lever
2000 Moisture Response/Sensitive Skin/Contains Vitamin E/ Unscented.
Very creative magazine print advertising follows the original Lever 2000
approach. Different advertisements show two people or mother, father, and child

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 touching, embracing different body parts, which are numbered. The advertisement
indicates, for example, Part 64 Meets Part 1820, with the tag line “I like every part
of you.” Other taglines: “You are the best part of my life,” and “You touch me.”

Dove (2001)
In 2001 Lever introduced Dove Nutrium, the first Lever bar soap since the 1986
Lever 2000 bar. Dove Nutrium Nourishing Dual-Formula Skin Conditioning Bar
with Vitamin E is a striped syndet bar with two separate formulas. The white
stripes contain Dove’s gentle moisturizing cleanser and the pink stripes a nutrient-
enriched lotion with Vitamin E. Print advertising emphasized that Dove Nutrium
goes “beyond cleansing and moisturizing—it replenishes skin’s essential nutrients”
and it “looks different because it is different.”

Dove Exfoliating. This beauty bar with ultrafine tiny smooth exfoliating beads is
the latest Dove Bar line extension. The beads gently polish away dead skin cells
while conditioning the skin with the 1/4 moisturizing lotion Dove formula. The
current (2003) Dove Bars in addition to the Nutrium and the Exfoliating bars
include Unscented, White and Pink Dove bars, which were introduced in 1999 and
reformulated in 2001 and Dove Sensitive Skin Bar Hypo-Allergenic—Fragrance
Free, which was launched in 2001.

FA Wellness System SPA (2002)

An updated summary of Henkel's Fa bars is included here because of Fa’s impor-
tance in starting the Freshness category in 1968. It is worth noting the latest Fa
bars, which are sold in many countries, but not in the United States. The Fa
Moisturizing and Revitalizing with Sea Minerals product category had four
translucent Fa bars packed in a window carton; it was launched for the European
market in 2002, but it did not succeed and was discontinued early in 2004. The
bars were: Green Tree SPA; Orange Blossom SPA; and Bamboo Essential SPA.
The original marbleized Fa Bar soap line did not change much over the years.
The present “The Wild Freshness” Fa Body Care bars are as follows: Fa Body
Care Caribbean Lemon—Refreshing; Fa Body Care Aqua—Vitalizing Freshness;
Fa Body Care—Delicious Paradise—Delicate Freshness; Fa Body Care—Exotic
Fruits—Exotic Freshness; and Fa Body Care—Papaya Grape—Natural Moisturizer.
The other Fa ingredients bar are as follows: Fa Caring Bar Soap—Palm Milk; Fa
Energizing Bar Soap—Ginkgo Extract; Fa Moisturizing Bar Soap—Grape Extract;
Fa Refreshing Bar Soap—Caribbean Lime; Fa Sensitive Bar Soap—Aloe Vera
Milk; and Fa Vitalizing Bar Soap—Water Plant Extract.

Old Spice High Endurance (2002)

Procter & Gamble purchased the Old Spice brand from Shulton, Inc. in 1991. During
the last few years, several new products were introduced, targeted mainly for active

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 men. Old Spice High Endurance Fresh—Refreshing Deodorant Soap and Old Spice
High Endurance Refreshing Deodorant Soap—Pure Sport were launched in 2002 fol-
lowed by two companion High Endurance Body Washes in 2003.

Ohm by Olay (2003)

The “Holistic Beauty from head to soul” line with a Body Mist, Body Scrub, Body
Wash and Bar was launched in 2002. There are three Ohm Beauty Bars: Sandalwood
& Chamomile, Rose & Jasmine and Ginger & Citrus. The Oil of Olay cosmetic line is
being extended into a large variety of personal care products. In 2003, Olay Vitamins
was added to the ever increasing Olay Products Family. It is the first time that a cos-
metic product name has made such a crossover leap and entered into the health arena.

Lifebuoy (2003)
Lifebuoy is no longer sold in the United States, but it is Unilever’s largest selling bar
soap brand in India where it has been repositioned as a premium deodorant soap. The
current bars are: Lifebuoy Active Red—Active Protection for Complete Family
Health; Lifebuoy Active Orange—Active Protection for Complete Family Health;
Lifebuoy Active Gold—Active Protection for Complete Family Health—with sooth-
ing Milk Cream; Lifebuoy Active Green—For Complete Family Health—with
nature’s Tulsi and Neem. The Active Green bar, the latest line extension, is a natural
ingredient bar, different from the traditional health bars. A photograph of a Mother,
Father, Daughter, and Son appears on each soap wrapper.

Pears (2004)
A new line extension was added to the Classic Pears Transparent Soap, a green colored
Pears Transparent Oil-Clear Bathing Bar. The Classic version is recommended for dry
skin and because it is Pure and Gentle, it is fine for babies. The new special Oil-Clear
formula “helps to gently clean excess oil on the surface while retaining the essential
oils and moisture on the skin.” Presently all Pears soaps are produced only in India.

Ivory (2004)
The best proof of the permanence and longevity of this classic brand is that the latest
Ivory package has the original story: “The Soap That Floats—99 44/100% Pure—
Simple Naturally Clean.”

Test Marketed and Discontinued Soaps

A number of bar soaps by the major companies that did not do well on test markets
were abandoned. Some brands did last but were discontinued when their market
shares went below a sustainable level. Offerings from five major companies are
summarized below.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Colgate: Nature’s Chlorophyll Green Palmolive (1952); Aromatic Balsam Essence
(1958); Spree (1960); Choice—Beauty Bars for Normal, Dry and Oily Skin (1960);
Cleopatra Beauty Soap with five fragrant oils (1963); Spree Deodorant Bar (1965);
Petal Deodorant Beauty Bar (1966); Skin Mist Complexion Bar (1969); Cadum
(1971); Dédoril Deodorant Soap (1971); DP-300 Antibacterial Beauty Soap (1971);
Irish Spring Sunshine Yellow (1980); Softsoap Bar (1980); Experience Beauty Bars—
Creamy Milk Bath Essence, Rosewater & Glycerine Essence (1980); Dermassage
Moisture Bar for Dry Skin with Protein (1980); Hypo-Allergenic Palmolive (1989);
Palmolive Essential—Hydrating Cleanser—Sensitive Skin (1995).

Dial. Glad—Soap/Synthetic (Combo) Bar (1958); Princess Dial—Superfatted Bar

(1958); Soaprize—The floating fun soap with the prize inside—Alvin Alligator,
Sylvester Sub and Willie Whale (1965); Nutrelle Face and Body Bar with Vitamin E
(1986); Spirit—Refreshing Deodorant Bar—Blue and White Striped Bar—Liquid
scent burst with extra freshness (1990); Spirit—Three Soaps in One—Cleanses, mois-
turizes, deodorant protection—Solid blue color (1991).

Jergens. Nature Scents—Wild Flower, Herbal & Lavender (1975); Gentle Touch—
Bath Bar with Baby Oil—Marbleized (1977); Duo-Care—Deodorant Soap with
Moisturizers (1980); Fiesta Refreshing Deodorant Soap—Marbleized (1982); Jergens
Clear Complexion Bar—Transparent Medicated Bar for Problem Skin (1972).

Lever. Olva Supercreamed Soap (1925); Swan—Pure White Baby Soap (1941);
Praise 3 soaps in 1—Anti-Blemish, Deodorant and Cleansing Cream (1959); Pine
Green Lifebuoy Deodorant Soap with Puralin Plus (1961); Lux with Beauty Bands—a
unique bar with longitudinal bands across the two sides of the soap, two on the front
and one centered across the back. The bands we were a different color than the rest of
the soap (1962); Phase III—Deodorant Beauty Bar with Cream (1966).

Procter & Gamble. Dawn—Synthetic Floating Deodorant Beauty Bar (1958);

Blossom—Facial Soap—Pampers your Skin—Will not leave an unsightly bathtub ring
(1961); Velvet Skin (1944–1947 and test marketed again in 1963); Monchel with
Moisturizing Glycerelle (1982–1988); Zest Free (1987–1988); Safeguard DS Dry Skin
Protection (1988–1990).

Handcrafted and Specialty Soaps

The U.S. specialty soap market is estimated to be about 10% of the total U.S. bar soap
market. Medicated soaps for special skin care needs, gift soaps, and luxury fragranced
soaps are sold mainly in drug stores, department stores, cosmetic centers, and bou-
tiques. A few examples are Estee Lauder’s Clinique, Beiersdorf’s Basis and Eucerin,
Johnson and Johnson’s Aveeno and Purpose bar soap. Bath and Body Works,
Body Shop, Caswell Massey, Crabtree & Evelyn, H2O, L’Occitaine and Sephora,
and other firms offer a large variety of opaque, translucent, transparent personal

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 care and gift soaps in their own stores. During the last two decades, the art of hand-
made, handcrafted soap making has grown from a hobby into small businesses for
many home soap makers. Sandy Maine started making soap in her farm kitchen in
1979. Her SunFeather Natural Soap Company grew into one the most important and
largest handcrafted natural soap producers. The www.sunsoap.com website is an
excellent resource. The Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild’s website www.soapguild.org
provides very complete information. The Guild is a trade organization that started in
1998 and in 2003 had over 750 members.

Neutrogena (1930)
The history of Neutrogena illustrates how a small company that started importing a
special transparent soap became a very large corporation. E.M. Stolaroff founded the
Natone Company in 1930; it was a specialty cosmetic company located in Los
Angeles, CA. In 1954, he started importing a mild, alkali-free transparent tri-
ethanolamine-based soap developed by Dr. Edmond Fromont, a Belgian chemist. The
soap was less irritating than other soaps and was sold for $1.00 when other soaps cost
only 10–15¢. Neutrogena sold so well that in 1959, production began in Los Angeles;
a year later, Neutrogena soap sales reached $1 million. In 1962, the company name
was changed from Natone to Neutrogena Corporation.
Over the years many variations of the original formula have been developed.
Neutrogena has been the most widely advertised specialty soap. Educational-type
advertising explained in detail the hypoallergenic nature, pH balance and mildness of
Neutrogena Soaps (Fig. 1.31). Using the “Healthier Skin” guide in advertising helped
the consumer choose the right product for oily, normal/combination, and dry skin.
Testimonial advertising by well-known professional women from tennis stars to bal-
lerinas was used in “Neutrogena, The Sensitive Soap For Sensitive People.”
Neutrogena skin and hair-care products were added over the years, and the name
Neutrogena became firmly associated with skin care. Johnson and Johnson purchased
the Neutrogena Corporation in 1994 and expanded further the Neutrogena product line.
In late 2003, the first bars sealed in textured cloth were introduced. The purpose
of this specially designed cloth was to gently exfoliate the skin. Other benefits claimed
included the following: no need to use a washcloth or pouf, easy to use and to grip,
quick drying of the bar without leaving a mess in the soap dish. There are two types:
Men’s Power Scrub Deodorant Bar and a Deep Clean Body Scrub Bar.

Fig. 1.31. “Neutrogena, the Sensitive Soap

For Sensitive People.”

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Hotel Amenities
An amenity is a feature that adds convenience, comfort, and value to one’s sur-
roundings. Amenities, as we think of them today, began many years ago in Europe.
The fine European hotels always offered their guests the highest quality hand
soaps, shampoo, and other personal care items as part of the overall ambience of
their world-renowned establishments. American hotel operators adopted this con-
cept in the early 1970s as a means of offering their guests “a little extra luxury”
that would also help create a distinction in the guest's mind between a particular
hotel or hotel chain and its competitors. Most hotels now provide soaps with their
own name and also offer “hotel-size” versions of well-known brands from the
major soap companies. Hotel bar soaps are the number one amenity, followed by
shampoos, lotions, bath gels, bubble bath, colognes, shoeshine cloths, sewing kits,
and shower caps. Hotel soaps are offered in standard-wrapped, more expensive-
cartoned, and even more costly pleat-wrapped and stretch-film packaged varia-
tions, depending on the quality of the hotel.

Laundry Washing Products

Laundry soaps were used in all households until the introduction of synthetic deter-
gents. There were key factors that led to the replacement of soaps by detergents.
The inability of soap to clean cloth adequately over a range of temperatures and the
formation of lime soap curd in hard water were two important drawbacks. There
was a shortage of fats and oils for soap production before and after World War II.
Synthetic detergents made laundering much easier and simpler, and less time con-
suming. New automatic washing machines started replacing the old wringer-type
washers and washboards. In the early 1950s, 3% of homes had automatic washers;
by 1960 it was >30% and in 2000, it reached 77%.

Laundry Bar Soaps

Laundry soaps in bar form were used since the turn of the 19th century in the
United States and Europe, and they are still widely used in many developing coun-
tries as the sole washing agent or in combination with powdered detergents. There
are various types of laundry bar soaps, e.g., soaps made of fats and oils with and
without fillers, combination soap/synthetic, and all synthetic types. Chapter 6 cov-
ers in detail Laundry Products in Bar Form.
Some of the best-known laundry bars were mentioned earlier in the company
histories. Table 1.2 summarizes those already mentioned together with many other
popular brands of the past. The date of introduction for many laundry bars could
not be found.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 TABLE 1.2
Laundry Bar Soaps

Brand Company Year

Sunlight Lever Brothers Co. 1884

White Star Soap N.K. Fairbank & Co. 1884

Mascot N.K. Fairbank & Co.
Sunny Monday N.K. Fairbank & Co.
Chicago Family Soap N.K. Fairbank & Co.
Santa Claus N.K. Fairbank & Co.

Lenox Soap Procter & Gamble Co. 1884

P and G White Naptha Soap Procter & Gamble Co. 1905
OK Laundry Bar Procter & Gamble Co. 1930
P and G White Laundry Soap Procter & Gamble Co.
Luna Procter & Gamble Co.
Blue Barrel Procter & Gamble Co.
Blue Ribbon Procter & Gamble Co.
Star Soap Procter & Gamble Co.

Armour Family Soap Armour & Co. 1888

Lighthouse White Naptha Armour & Co.
Big Ben Laundry Soap Armour & Co.
Hammer Armour & Co.

American Family J.S. Kirk & Co. 1890

White Russian J.S. Kirk & Co. 1892
Kirk’s Flake White Laundry Soap J.S. Kirk & Co.

Fels Naptha Fels & Co. 1894

Swift’s Pride Soap Swift & Co. 1895

Cream Laundry Bar Soap Swift & Co. 1900
Classic White Laundry Soap Swift & Co. 1910
Quick Naptha Soap Swift & Co. 1914
T.N.T. Laundry Soap Swift & Co. 1925

Octagon Colgate-Palmolive Peet 1896

Crystal White Family Soap Colgate-Palmolive Peet 1897
White Eagle Family Soap Colgate-Palmolive Peet
Galvanic The Palmolive Company

Good Will Soap E. Morgan & Sons

Big Jack Laundry Soap Fitzpatrick Bros. Inc.
Big Master Soap Lautz Bros. & Co.
Grandma's White Laundry The Globe Soap Co.
Tag The Rich Soap Werk Soap Co.
Omaha Family Haskins Bros. & Co.
Blue Barrel White Laundry Soap Purex Corporation
White King Laundry Soap Los Angeles Soap Co.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Laundry Soap Powders
As washing machines were introduced in developing countries, soap powders in
flake, chip, granule and bead form were introduced. Table 1.3 lists the main
brands, their manufacturer and the product’s introductory date.

TABLE 1.3
Main Soap Powder Brands

Brand Company Year

Oxydol Waltke & Co. 1896
Octagon Colgate 1898
American Family J.S. Kirk 1898
Lux Flakes Lever 1905
Persil Henkel 1907
Persil Lever 1918
Ivory Flakes P&G 1919
Rinso Granulated Soap Lever 1919
Fab Colgate 1921
Chipso P&G 1921
Fels Naptha Golden Soap Chips and Soap Granules Fels & Co. 1922
Silver Dust Lever 1925
Oxydol P&G 1927
Super Suds Colgate 1927
Duz P&G 1929
Ivory Snow P&G 1930
Palmolive Beads Colgate 1930
American Family P&G 1930
Concentrated SuperSuds Colgate 1939
Chiffon Soap Flakes Armour & Co. 1942

Powder Laundry Detergent

The early history of the search for synthetic detergents goes back to 1831. Edmond
Frémy, a French chemist, reacted sulfuric acid with olive oil. When the resulting
thick brown liquid was diluted in water and neutralized with caustic soda, it had a
soapy appearance; it foamed and removed some grease from greasy objects. Frémy
had actually produced a crude form of soap. It was many decades later before fur-
ther work was done.

Persil (1907). In 1907 Henkel & Cie of Düsseldorf, Germany introduced “Persil,”
the world's first “self-acting” washing powder. The product consisted of soap with
perborate as the bleaching agent and silicate (waterglass). The Persil name is
derived from perborate and silicate. In 1909, the English firm, J. Crosfield & Son,
Ltd., a competitor of Lever Brothers, purchased the Persil name. In 1919, Lever
acquired Crosfield and together they promoted the sale of Persil in the UK.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Today Persil is a major brand for Henkel worldwide except in the UK, France,
and the Netherlands where Lever Brothers Limited (now Unilever) acquired the
rights to sell Persil. Henkel’s Persil advertising presented the public with beautiful
images of young ladies and young girls washing clothes. The most famous is the
“Lady in White” painted in 1922 by the German artist Kurt Heiligenstaedt. Later
there were other “ladies in white,” all projecting the Persil image of cleanliness
(Fig. 1.32). Persil continues to be a widely used powder detergent in Europe and
elsewhere, but not in the United States.

Fig. 1.32. “Persil,” the world’s

first “self-acting” washing
powder.

Fewa (1932). Henkel’s Fewa, introduced in 1932, claimed to be the world’s first
synthetic detergent for fine fabrics. The inventor, Bruno Wolf, believed that it was
a completely new product, but nobody else did. The original package indicates that
“it is alkali free.” Fewa’s advertising used a figure called “The Wool Man,” which
appeared on the first package and later was replaced by the “The Cleaning Fewa-
Johanna” figurine (Fig. 1.33), used until the 1950s.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Fig. 1.33. Fewa, introduced in 1932, claimed to be the world’s first synthetic detergent for fine
fabrics.

Dreft (1933). “Dreft,” originally called “Drift,” America’s first synthetic deter-
gent was introduced two years after Robert Duncan, a Procter & Gamble
researcher, visited two firms in Germany. At the I.G. Farben Research Laboratories
they showed him a “wetting agent” sold to the textile industry that let dye solutions
penetrate fibers uniformly. After Farben chemists learned that a small textile firm
used a product made from cattle bile instead of soap, they reproduced it syntheti-
cally and sold it in a product called “Igepon.” At Deutsche Hydrierwerke (pur-
chased by Henkel in 1932), Duncan was shown a product under development,
which was to compete against Igepon. He had 100 kg of this paste-type product
called a “surface-active agent” (surfactant) sent to Cincinnati for immediate test-
ing. After quickly obtaining licensing agreements in 1932 and a great deal of work,
Dreft was test marketed in the United States in 1933. Dreft did eliminate the hard
water soap curd problem but it worked well only for lightly soiled clothes. Since it
became a detergent in 1958, Dreft had been targeted for laundering baby clothes;
its positioning in the market has remained the same (Fig. 1.34).

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Fig. 7.34. Dreft, the first U.S. powder deter- Fig. 7.35. Tide is America’s best selling
gent, was introduced in 1933. powder detergent.

Tide (1946). It took more than 10 years after Dreft to find the right “builder” to
help a surfactant to do a “heavy-duty job” on all fabrics. In the early 1940s, com-
plex phosphates were discovered; among them was sodium tripolyphosphate, a key
chemical for formulating an all-purpose powder detergent. Procter & Gamble
applied for a patent in 1944, but restrictions on raw materials delayed the introduc-
tion of Tide until 1946 as the “New Washing Miracle Tide—Oceans of Suds—
Whiter Clothes—Sparkling Dishes” (Fig. 1.35). The “Tide’s In, Dirt’s Out” slogan
was used on radio and TV against P&G’s own Chipso, Duz, and Oxydol and com-
petitive soap powders and flakes.
The success of Tide was immediate; by 1949, it became America’s best selling
laundry detergent and it has been number one ever since. In 1996, for its 50th
anniversary, P&G estimated that of ~35 billion wash loads, 100 million tons of
clothes, done each year in the United States, one third are washed with Tide. A
timeline of the main Tide innovations and changes since 1946 follows:
• Tide Detergent (1946) The first heavy-duty detergent with phosphate builder
introduced in the United States.
• Tide XK (1968) First U.S. powder detergents formulated with XK enzyme
that removes protein stains.
• Liquid Tide (1984).
• Tide with Bleach (1988) First with color-safe bleach.
• Tide Free (1989) Free of perfumes, dyes, and phosphates.
• Ultra Powder Tide (1990) Compact powder detergent.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 • Ultra Liquid Tide (1992) Compact liquid detergent.
• Tide Powder (1992) Phosphates replaced by zeolites.
• Tide Free Liquid (1992) Free of dyes and perfumes.
• Liquid Tide Clean Rinse (1998) Clean Rinse technology with a polymer that
“captures dirt in the rinse cycle.”
• Tide Powder (2000) WearCare technology added and removed in 2003 from
all powders.
• Tide Rapid Action Tablets (2000) First Tide in tablet form; discontinued
January 2004.

Detergent powders did not change much until the revolutionary first ultracom-
pact detergent Attack introduced in 1987 by the Kao Corporation. In 1989, the new
compact products appeared in Europe and the United States. Table 1.4 lists the
brand name, manufacturer, date of introduction, and the salient features and claims
of the most important U.S. and international powder detergents. In the United
States, powder detergent sales have been decreasing in recent years at a rate of
2–4% per year. In 2002, powder sales fell 9.5%, a very large drop.

Liquid Laundry Detergents

The first liquid detergents contained only a limited amount of phosphates; there-
fore, they lacked the cleaning power of powdered detergents and also cost more.
But customers liked the convenience of using liquids. Beginning in the 1970s, liq-
uids were phosphate-free and environmentally friendly. In time, the major manu-
facturers improved the performance of their products.
The first liquid detergent in the U.S. was Lever’s Wisk introduced in 1956. It
was the market leader for three decades. P&G’s first entry into liquids was in 1973
with Era, but its big success came with Liquid Tide in 1984. It is documented that
400,000 hours of research and development and U.S. $30 million were spent on
Liquid Tide. Colgate entered with Dynamo in 1974.
Concentrated liquid products followed concentrated powders. The first one
appeared in Europe in 1991 and a year later in the United States. Tide, Wisk, All,
Cheer, and Purex (in that order) are the leading liquid detergents in the U.S market.
During the last decade, the use of liquid detergents has been increasing steadily.
By 2000, liquids reached a 50% market share. Liquids have been gaining market
share at the expense of powders. From 1997 to 2002 liquids grew 7.7% and cur-
rently have ~70% of the market share in the United States. Convenience in use and
rapid dissolution contribute to consumer preference as do the better margins for
retailers. Table 1.5 lists U.S. liquid detergents.

Unit Dosing Laundry Products

In the mid- and late 1980s, a number of “unit dose” products were introduced,
including Fab One Shot, Tide Multi-Action sheets, Cheer, Clorox, and others.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 TABLE 1.4
Major U.S. and International Powder Detergents

Brand Company Year Features and claims

Fewa Henkel 1932 First synthetic detergent in Europe
Dreft P&G 1933 First synthetic detergent in the U.S.
Vel Colgate 1939
Tide P&G 1946 World’s first all-purpose laundry detergent
Breeze Lever 1947
Sterox (later All) Monsanto 1947 First low-sudsing detergent for front-
loading machines
Fab Colgate 1948 Name is derived from Fabric
Surf Lever 1949 With Solium the Sunlight ingredient
Rinso Lever 1950
Persil Lever 1951 Name derived from Perborate and Silicate
Surf Lever 1952
Cheer P&G 1952 Blueing
Oxydol P&G 1952 Changed from soap to detergent
American Family P&G 1952 Changed from soap to detergent
Felso Fels & Co. 1952
Super Suds Colgate 1953 With White and Blue Lighting Granules
Omo Lever 1954
Dash P&G 1954 Concentrated low suds
Duz P&G 1956 Changed from soap to detergent
American Family P&G 1956 Speckled
Detergent
All Lever 1958
Persil 59 Henkel 1959
Ajax Colgate 1963
Cold Power Colgate 1966 For cold water laundering
Bold P&G 1965
Gain P&G 1966
Ariel P&G 1967 With Enzymes (in Europe)
Persil Automatic Lever 1968
Cold Power Colgate 1968 Heavy Duty with Enzymes
Drive Lever 1969 With Enzymes
Arm & Hammer Church & 1970
Dwight
Purex Purex 1971 First U.S. Phosphate-Free Detergent
Trend Purex 1975
Era P&G 1978
Seseragi Lion 1973 Phosphate-Free
Fresh Start Colgate 1978 Concentrated Detergent in a Plastic Bottle
Dixan Henkel 1982 Phosphate-Free
Surf Lever 1983 Detergent formulated to remove
dirt and odors
Wisk Lever 1986 Discontinued January 2004
Persil Henkel 1986 Phosphate-Free
Attack Kao 1987 First Ultra Compact Detergent
Persil Lever 1988
(Continued)

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 TABLE 1.4
(Cont.)

Brand Company Year Features and claims

Tide with Bleach P&G 1988
Wisk Powerscoop Lever 1989 First U.S. Superconcentrate
Radion Micro Powder Lever 1990
Bold, Cheer, Dash, P&G 1990–
Dreft, Gain, Oxydol, 1991
and Tide Ultras
Ultra Purex Dial 1991
Spark Ultra Compact Lion 1991 MES (methyl ester sulfonate) based—LAS
Free
Fab and Ajax Ultra Colgate 1991
Ariel P&G 1991 In the U.S. (regional distribution only)
All, Surf, and Wisk Lever 1991 Concentrated Ultra versions
Surf Micro Lever 1992
Persil Micro Lever 1992
Persil Megapearls Henkel 1992
Ultra Purex Dial 1993
Ultra Ivory Snow P&G 1993 Changed from soap to detergent
Ultra Tide P&G 1994 With Carezyme Technology (removed from
all powders in 2003)
Radion Micro Active Lever 1994
Activating Zab Kao 1997 World’s most concentrated powder
detergent
Bounce P&G 1998
Fab Sensitive Skin Colgate 1997
Cheer P&G 1999 With Fabric Protecting LiquifiberTM
Purex Advanced Dial 2000 Double Action
Persil Aloe Vera Lever Faberge 2002

Cheer and Clorox offered unit doses in PVA film. By the early 1990s, all of these
products were withdrawn from the market.
Tablets comprise the other unit dose type of product. The first detergent in
tablet form was Salvo by P&G followed by Lever’s Vim, both introduced in the
1960s. Salvo was withdrawn from the market in the 1970s. Tablets were successful
in Europe and they were tried again in the United States. Salvo came back in 2000
and others followed: P&G’s Tide Rapid Action Tablet (2000), Tide with Bleach
(2001), and Quick Dissolve (2002) and Lever’s Wisk and Surf Tablets (2001). In
spite of their convenient use, U.S. households have not accepted tablets, which
reached only a 2.5% market share in 2002; for this reason, all those listed were dis-
continued in January 2004, except Dial’s Purex Tabs (2001), which are still on the
market. Tablets (Tabs) are best suited for the European front-loading washing
machines where they have about one third of the laundry market. In the United
States, 95% of the washing machines are top-loading, and users like to set the
detergent and water levels to suit the load size.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 TABLE 1.5
U.S. Liquid Detergents

Brand Company Year Features and claims

Wisk Lever 1956 First Heavy-Duty All-Purpose Liquid
Detergent
Biz P&G 1956 Heavy-Duty Liquid Detergent
All Lever 1960 First Low-Sudsing Liquid Detergent
News Purex 1960
Cold Water All Lever 1963
Dawn P&G 1972
Era P&G 1973
Dynamo Colgate 1974 Concentrated Heavy-Duty Liquid
Detergent—”The Blue Jug”
Purex Purex 1975 Concentrated No Phosphate Liquid
Detergent
Trend Purex 1977
Solo P&G 1979
Tide P&G 1984 Nonconcentrated version
Bold P&G 1985
Surf Lever 1985
Cheer P&G 1986
Dreft P&G 1989
Ivory Snow P&G 1989
Purex Dial 1990 All Temperature
All, Surf and Wisk Lever 1991 Double Power versions
Tide with Bleach P&G 1991 Nonconcentrated version
Tide Ultra P&G 1992 More concentrated than the original
Tide Free P&G 1992 Free of dyes and perfumes
Gain P&G 1993
Ultra Power Fab, Ajax, Colgate 1993
and Dynamo
Fab Sensitive Skin Colgate 1997 Colgate’s first dye and perfume free product
Tide Clean Rinse P&G 1998 Clean Rinse technology to suspend soil in
the wash water
Downy Care P&G 1998
All Lever 1999 The Stain Lifter
Surf Unilever 1999 With Active Oxygen
Purex Advanced Dial 2000 Double Action
Wisk Sport Lever 2002 Tackles Tough Grass Stains and Dirt

Selling Soap
Sixty years ago a bar of soap sold to the trade for ~4.5¢. Raw materials cost was
2¢; labor cost was 0.25¢; selling cost was 1.25¢; and overhead and profit were 1¢.
Compare today’s costs and profits with those six decade old figures. From the very
beginning, soaps and detergents were always highly competitive products to sell;
today, this is even more true. In the past, more sales methods and tools were used,
some of which are still in use in this electronic age.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 In addition to extensive magazine advertising, soaps were promoted beginning in
the 1880s with a variety of selling tools. Billboards, enamel plaques, thermometers,
store displays, trading cards (hand bills), booklets, streetcar (trolley) cards, school
posters, coins, a large variety of premiums, and colorful advertising posters
redeemable for soap wrappers were used extensively. A unique way of introducing a
new product was used by the Peet Brothers in 1897 for a new white laundry soap made
from vegetable oils. Because they did not have money to advertise, they added one bar
of Crystal White to each wooden shipping soap box of 100 yellow laundry soap bars.
When nobody objected, they put two in each box. As the demands for the white bar
grew, they increased the quantity in each crate and started to market it under its own
name. Later, millions of bars were made in two large factories.
The first self-service grocery store, the Piggly Wiggly, opened its doors on
September 11, 1916, in downtown Memphis, TN. It was founded by Clarence
Saunders, whose idea was to have one clerk and to offer quicker service and lower
prices. By 1922, there were 1241 Piggly Wiggly stores. A full-scale replica of the first
store with many of the soaps sold in the 1920s is in the Pink Palace Museum of Arts
and Industry in Memphis.
Today, most soaps are sold in multisoap packs, up to 16 bars per pack, in which 2
or more bars are offered free. Detergents are offered in large packages too. In the
Sunday newspaper supplements, >50 million soap and detergent coupons reach poten-
tial buyers.

Magazine Advertising
Advertising records and illustrates the lifestyles, social customs, interests, dress styles,
and even the problems of any given period in history. The sole purpose of an adver-
tisement is to persuade the consumer to buy the product. But to persuade anyone to
buy anything takes persuasive effort, a fact examined humorously in “Hints to
Intending Advertisers,” by Thomas Smith, London, 1885.
The first time a man looks at an advertisement, he does not see it.
The second time he does not notice it.
The third time he is conscious of its existence.
The fourth time he faintly remembers having seen it before.
The fifth time he reads it.
The sixth time he turns up his nose at it.
The seventh time he reads it through and says, “Oh brother!”
The eighth time he says, “Here's that confounded thing again!”
The ninth time he wonders if it amounts to anything.
The tenth time he will ask his neighbor if he has tried it.
The eleventh time he wonders how the advertiser makes it pay.
The twelfth time he thinks it must be a good thing.
The thirteenth time he thinks perhaps it might be worth something.
The fourteenth time he remembers that he has wanted such a thing for a long time.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 The fifteenth time he is tantalized because he cannot afford to buy it.
The sixteenth time he thinks he will buy it some day.
The seventeenth time he makes a memorandum of it.
The eighteenth time he swears at his poverty.
The nineteenth time he counts his money carefully.
The twentieth time he sees it, he buys the article or instructs his wife to do so.

Great advances were made in printing and publishing during the last two decades
of the 19th century. Soap advertising was both beautiful and creative from its very
beginning. Soap advertising in magazines began in the 1880s and was widely used
from the start of the 20th century. Famous illustrators were commissioned to produce
original work for soap advertisements in magazines. Delineator, Woman’s Home
Companion, Ladies’ Home Journal, Harper’s, Saturday Evening Post, and Good
Housekeeping carried many soap advertisements including the work of these promi-
nent illustrators: Maxfield Parrish, “The Dutch Boy” for Colgate’s Cashmere Bouquet;
Sir Arthur Rackham, a series of Cashmere Bouquet advertisements; Maud Humphrey
(Humphrey Bogart’s Mother), “The Busy Day” (Ivory Girl), P&G’s first color print
advertisement; Saida (Henrietta W. LeMair), FAB illustrations for Colgate.
Howard Pyle, the father of American illustrators, Jessie Wilcox Smith, Joseph C.
Leyendecker, Andrew Loomis, Willie Pogany, Coles Phillips, Jessie Wilcox Smith,
Palmer Cox, N.C. Wyeth, Steven Dohanos, Sewell Collins, and Elizabeth S. Green
illustrated and signed their names on many soap advertisements. Unfortunately,
Norman Rockwell did not create any soap-related illustrations. Artist-illustrated soap
advertising was used until the early 1940s when advertising became photography
and illustrations were phased out. Soap advertising practically disappeared from
the magazines in the late 1970s, but returned in the 1980s and has been growing
since the mid-1990s.
An example of “creativity” is this unusual full page advertisement in the
December 11, 1886 issue of the Youth Companion Magazine placed by Frank Siddall,
who sold the slogan “Why does a woman look old sooner than a man?” for Sunlight
Soap.
Try The Frank Siddalls Soap.
An Eminent Divine says: “The Advancement of the World and the Spread of
Civilization and Christianity depend on interchange of thought among people, and
their willingness to learn, and that the man or woman who opposes the introduction of
new improvements, the trial of new ways and the use of new things, should be con-
demned as not being good and useful members of society. Every word in this adver-
tisement is the truth. Don’t Be A Clam. Clams are not a proper model for human
beings to copy after for they open their shells to take in their accustomed food, but
they shut up very tight when anything new comes along for they are clams. Although
it seems strange to use the same soap that is recommended for kitchen use, for toilet,
shaving, etc. still, sensible people know that the world moves, and will be glad to try
The Frank Siddalls Soap.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Many years ago, a small soap company in California had to be different to be
competitive. Here is how they advertised Strykers soap: “An Honest Confession from
G. Stryker Suddsfaster, the Old Soapmaster: Strykers does not contain phoolium,
hooeyum, hotairium, baloney um or any other mysterious ingredients you can’t under-
stand. It’s just good soap.”

The Soap Operas: Radio and TV

Radio Advertising and Soap Operas. In 1920, Station KDKA, in Pittsburgh, was the
first American station to begin broadcasting. Its first broadcast on November 2, 1920,
was the election of Warren G. Harding as President of the United States. In 1921, there
were 393 radio stations, and two years later 573. In 1924, radio station WEAF New
York, WGY Schenectady, and KDKA Pittsburgh hooked up for the first commercial
network radio programs in history. The first radio commercial was in 1922 on station
WEAF in New York for the Hawthorne Court apartment complex in Jackson Heights,
New York. The “Palmolive Show” for Colgate’s Palmolive Soap started in 1927. It
was a mid-week musical comedy program of classical and popular music.
On August 19, 1929, over the stations of the NBC’s Blue Network the Amos
’n’ Andy serial started for Lever’s Pepsodent Tooth Paste. The program was an
instant success and became one of the longest running and popular comedy radio
programs of all times. Amos ’n’ Andy was brought to television in 1951 by
Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, the two men who created and started the
radio show. The television series with an all-black cast lasted only two years on
CBS because civil right groups complained about the show’s racial stereotyping.
In 1930, the first Ivory radio show, “Mrs. Reilly,” was broadcast over 62 radio sta-
tions. Ivory advertisements were appearing regularly in 38 leading magazines. Ivory’s
success as an advertising pioneer was being emulated by other company brands. Also in
1930, Emily Post’s “Etiquette Chats” and Helen Chase’s “Beauty Forums” who talked
about Camay. There was also George, the Lava Soap Man, and the Mills Brothers sang
on the evening programs. In 1930, Lever’s first radio show, “Peggy Winthrop,” was
introduced and on October 14, 1934, the “Lux Radio Theater” took to the air.
Market research found that housewives liked to be entertained by radio, and not
instructed by it. The “Soap Opera” was born. The Colgate-Pamolive-Peet Company
was the first firm to sponsor a serial for a soap product. On January 27, 1931, the first
broadcast for Super Suds “Fast Dissolving” Soap Beads nightly program featuring
three gossiping housewives Clara (Clara Roach) Lu (Lu Casey), ’n’ Em (Emma
Kueger) aired on NBC’s Blue Network. December 4, 1933 is considered a historic day
in network broadcasting. On NBC’s Red Network, the first episode of Procter &
Gamble’s “Oxydol’s Own Ma Perkins” program, was presented. Ma Perkins was a
self-reliant widow with business problems (Fig. 1.36). Oxydol was a very popular
granulated soap because it has made laundering easier and faster.
In time, Procter & Gamble began to dominate the radio and television serials
and because many of them were sponsored by soap products, somebody unknown

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Fig. 1.36. In 1933 NBC’s Red Network presented the first episode of Procter & Gamble’s
Oxydol’s Own Ma Perkins.

coined the slang name “soap opera.” In 1938, Procter & Gamble had 21 radio shows,
using five hours per day of radio time, and spending $6 million, the largest amount
for radio advertisement.
In 1934, Procter & Gamble’s American Family Soap and The American
Family Flakes sponsored an NBC’s Red Network Chicago-based serial called “The
Songs of the City.” During the commercial the announcer said, “It’s cheaper to buy
a new soap than to buy new clothes.” This statement meant a lot to people trying to
recover from the Great Depression. Each American Family wrapper had a coupon
that could be redeemed at American Family outlet stores for various items. The
American Family coupons became very popular and are still remembered by many
people today. They were last redeemed in June of 1971.
Lever Brothers spent $5 million in 1939 on radio for two daytime and four
evening programs. This included the $1.4 million “Lux Radio Theater Shows”
with movie stars who were paid up to $5,000 for each appearance. Radio serials
were sponsored by Ivory Soap, such as, “The Road to Life” and “The Guiding
Light” in 1937 sponsored by Duz, a granulated soap, which used its selling slogan
“Duz does everything.”

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Television Advertising and Soap Operas. On April 30, 1939, President Franklin
D. Roosevelt opened the New York World’s Fair. NBC provided 3.5 hours of live
coverage, thus starting the first regular television programming in the United
States. Transatlantic Clippers opened regularly scheduled air service to Europe in
1939. Announcer Red Barber, between innings of a Brooklyn Dodgers Cincinnati
Reds baseball game, “sold” an Ivory contest over a brand new experimental TV to
the few New York “lookers.” Ivory was pioneering again with a completely new
form of visual advertising.
Procter & Gamble made a TV pilot of “Ma Perkins” in the late 1940s but it
was not well received. It was in 1951 when TV viewers finally liked a 15-min seri-
al called “Search For Tomorrow.” In 1952, “Guiding Light” became the first radio
serial to succeed on TV, and it has become the longest running program of any
type or any medium. Many other “soap operas” became famous and some are still
running, including “As The World Turns” and “Another World.” The “Colgate
Theatre” debuted on network TV on January 3, 1949. It was a half-hour show fea-
turing short story adaptations from the Ladies’ Home Journal and Collier’s maga-
zines.

Other Advertising Media

Trade Cards and Trading Cards. Trade cards were colorful advertising cards
from the Victorian Era. They were chromolithographs that were given away free to
promote a product, a business, or a service. The trade cards evolved from the so-
called “handbills” or “shopkeeper bills” and “flyers.” The merchants used the
backs of handbills to tally the buyer’s account. They were introduced in 1876 at
the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition and faded away completely by the 1904 St.
Louis World’s Fair. In spite of being short-lived, a large number and variety of
soap-related trade cards were offered by soap companies. Many of these survived
and are now sought after collectables. In the United States, trade card collector
publications and clubs exist. England, Italy, and other countries also produce trade
cards.
It is interesting to note another type of card that was very popular but was not
used for soap promotions. Trading cards, different from the trade cards, were
called “gum cards” before World War II. One or two cards were packed inside
each package of bubble gum. They featured sports and other subjects. Baseball-
related trading card collecting is still very popular in the United States.

Trolley Signs. From the latter part of the 1800s to the early 1900s, trolley cars
(also called streetcars) became a fast and reliable mode of transportation in cities.
Inside each trolley car, there was a metal holder located above the windows. Signs
for different products, measuring exactly 21 in long by 11 in high, were used until
the 1930s by all of the soap firms, and the few that survived are collectables. The
use of trolley signs was also very popular for many other products (Fig. 1.37).

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Fig. 1.37. Trolley cars carried colorful advertising called “Trolley Signs.”

Soap Posters. The first posters created for advertisements appeared in France in the
mid-19th century. Jules Chéret called “the Father of the Poster” and many famous
artists created posters and elevated their status to an art form. Many soap posters
were produced. A few soap posters by well known artists are listed: Bubbles by Sir
John Millais (1886); Chiozzi e Turchi Fabbrica di Saponi by Adolph Hohenstein
(1899); Cosmydor Savon by Jules Chéret (1891); Savon le Chat by J. Calao (1910);
Cadum Baby by Arsene-Marie Le Feuvre (1912); The Persil White Lady by Kurt
Heiligenstaedt (1922); Cadum by Georges Villa (1925); Palmolive by Emilio Villa
(1926); Savon La Tour by L. Capiello (1930); Savon Fer a Cheval by H. Le Monnier
(1931); Monsavon by Charles Loupot and Jean Carlu (1940); Monsavon au Lait by
Raymond Savignac (1949/1950).

Premiums. All of the important companies published very attractive, colorful

Premium Catalogs for their main products starting in the early 1900s. Some cata-
logs included practical information on how to use the products. The premiums
were toys, school supplies, sporting goods, cutlery, kitchen utensils, china, glass-
ware, towels, linens, purses, toilet articles, leather goods, jewelry, silverware,
watches, clocks, books, furniture, and many more items. The number of coupons to
be sent for the premiums varied from 10 to 2000 depending on the value of the
item.

Product Booklets. Beautiful, colored, freely distributed Product Booklets were

widely used as promotional tools. Poems or fairy tales, such as Little Red Riding
Hood or Mother Goose and topics such as American History, were the subject mat-
ter. A Handbook for Mothers, How to Bring Up a Baby, a 40-page booklet, pub-
lished by Proctor & Gamble in 1906 and written by Elizabeth Robinson Scovil, a
nurse and author of several mother and child books, was given to expectant moth-
ers. This nicely written, illustrated, and printed guide naturally included tips on
how to use Ivory Soap Flakes and bars. It was reprinted until the mid-1920s. The
foreword reads, “The little book is sent to you with the compliments of the manu-

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 facturers of Ivory Soap.” Likely, their doctors gave the books to new mothers. A
similar Procter booklet called “Bride” was distributed to brides.

Soap Sculpting. In 1924, Proctor & Gamble sponsored the first National Ivory
Soap Sculpture Competition held at the Art Center in New York. There were 300
entries and cash prizes were awarded. The competition became an annual event for
many years. The National Soap Sculpture Committee, with headquarters at 160
Fifth Avenue in New York City, was responsible for organizing an annual nation-
wide competition for small sculptures made of Ivory Soap. Monetary prizes were
awarded in three categories: Advanced, for over 18 years old (only nonprofession-
als were eligible to participate); Senior, from 14 to 18 years old; and Junior, for
under 14 years of age. The winning entries were sent around the country to be
shown in schools, libraries, art centers, and even museums. Soap sculpting became
a fun educational event and an everyman's art activity. Due to rationing of soap
during World War II, the annual event stopped from 1942 to 1947. It was restarted
in 1949 and finally ended in 1961.

Ivory Stamp Club. Doug Storer died in 1986 at the age of 86. He created, operat-
ed, and sold the largest stamp promotion in U.S. history. In 1933, he learned that
Proctor & Gamble had $10,000 left over from an unspent advertising budget of the
year before. He was given a free hand to use it. One day a stamp collector, Captain
Tim Healy, a World War I hero Irishman, came into Storer’s office. Healy was a
great storyteller. Storer was impressed and thought that kids would like the stories.
He booked Healy on small radio stations in Hartford, CT and Worcester, MA.
Healy went on the airwaves for 15 minutes twice a week. His radio show opened
with, “Hello boys and girls, mothers and fathers, grandpas and grandmas, we are
going to hear some fascinating stories today about stamps.” He seized the interest
of children and asked them to send for his stamp album—10¢ and two Ivory Soap
wrappers. “Keep clean with Ivory Soap, collect stamps, and learn about history,
geography and people” gained the support of parents and teachers and helped to
sell more Ivory Soap. The kids asked friends and neighbors to buy Ivory Soap so
they could get extra wrappers and, with them, buy more stamps.

Coupons. “Couponing,” the favorite pastime and hobby of many families, started
a long time ago. Kirk’s American Family laundry bar wrapper premium coupons
started after the Chicago fire in 1871. The American Family Soap coupons, the
most popular and still remembered by many, were last redeemed in June of 1971,
100 years after they were first offered. Kirk was also the first to use colorful trad-
ing cards as advertising and public relations tools. Baseball cards came later.

Slogans and Jingles. Some of the slogans, jingles, and product positioning state-
ments were described before, and they are summarized along with others in this
following list:

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Ajax Laundry Detergent: The White Knight—Stronger Than Dirt
Caress: Before you dress, Caress
Coast: The Eye Opener
Dial Soap: Aren’t you glad you use Dial? Don’t you wish everybody did?
People who like people like Dial
Dove: For the beauty that’s already there
Duz Soap: Duz Does Everything
Jergens Body Bar: For touchable soft, clean skin
Irish Spring Soap: Feel Fresh and clean as a whistle, Play as hard as you like
Ivory Soap: 99 and 44/100% pure
Lever 2000: Deodorizing and Moisturizing for all your 2000 parts
Lux: The Soap of Hollywood Stars
Oil of Olay: A lifetime of beautiful skin
Palmolive Soap: Keep that schoolgirl complexion
Pears Soap: Matchless for the complexion
Shield: A blast of Pure Refreshment
Tide Detergent: Tide in dirt out
Wisk Laundry Detergent: Ring around the collar
Woodbury Soap: A skin you love to touch
Rinso: Happy Little Washday Song
Rinso White or Rinso Blue? Soap or Detergent it’s up to you
Both wash whiter and brighter than new.
The choice, lady, is up to you.
Zest: Zestfully Clean

The challenges and opportunities of tomorrow lie in being different and in offer-
ing choices for the more demanding and selective customers of tomorrow in an
increasingly competitive and more mature market place. Albert Einstein thought oth-
erwise; for him one type of soap was enough. When asked why he used only one
soap for bathing and shaving, he replied, “Two soaps? That is too complicated.”
This journey down the soap and detergent memory lane closes with the lyrics of
I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles, a song composed and written in 1919 by Jaan Kenbrovin
and John William Kellette.
I am dreaming dreams/I am scheming schemes
I am building castles high/They’re born anew/Their days are few
Just like a sweet butterfly/And as the daylight is dawning/They come again in the
morning
I’m forever blowing bubbles/Pretty bubbles in the air
They fly so high nearly reach the sky/Then like my dreams they fade and die
Fortune’s always hiding/I’ve looked everywhere
I'm forever blowing bubbles/Pretty bubbles in the air.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Acknowledgments
A very special note of gratitude is extended to Mr. Ed Rider, chief archivist of the Procter &
Gamble Company. His help for over three decades with current and old hard-to-find histori-
cal information on soap and detergent-related subjects has been invaluable. I thank Mr. Jack
Linard from Unilever USA for information provided for the detergent section of this chap-
ter. I appreciate the information provided by the Colgate Palmolive Company, the Dial
Corporation, Henkel, the Andrew Jergens Company, Unilever USA, Lever UK, and Lever
Faberge UK.

Suggested Readings
Gathmann, H., American Soaps, Henry Gathmann, Chicago (1893).
Trumann, B.C., The World’s Fair—Columbian Exposition, Mammoth Publishing Co.,
Chicago (1893).
The Armour Magazine, Chicago, March 1912, July 1914, July 1915.
The Palmoliver, Colgate & Company Magazine, New York, Vol. 10, 1928.
The Pulse, Colgate & Company Magazine, New York, Vol. II, July 1930; Vol. III, 1931.
Procter & Gamble, Fortune, December 1931, April 1939, March 1956.
Colgate Palmolive Company, Fortune, April 1936.
Lever Brothers Company, Fortune, April 1939.
What Soap, Consumer Union Reports, May 1936.
Toilet Soap, Consumer Reports, October 1942, September 1944, October 1948, April 1953,
September 1957, March 1978, March 1981, January 1985.
Your Servant Soap, Association of American Soap & Glycerine Producers, New York,
October 1941.
Soap History, Ciba Geigy Review, Basel, Switzerland, April 1947.
Soap Through the Ages, Unilever Educational Booklet, Unilever House, London, 1952.
Moonbeam Special Edition, Procter & Gamble Co., 1954.
Cashmere Bouquet, Soap & Chem. Specialties, May 1955.
Klaw, S., How Armour Cleaned up with Dial, Fortune, May 1955.
Levey, M, The Oldest Soap in History, Fortune, December 1957.
Boys, C.V., Soap Bubbles, Their Colors and Forces Which Mold Them, Dover Publications
Ltd., New York (1959).
The Moon and Stars, Procter & Gamble Co., 1963.
100th Anniversary 1867–1967, Armour Magazine, Chicago, February 1967.
Bergwein, K., The Early History of Soap, Dragoco Report, Vol. 6 (1968).
James, B., P. Taylor, and M.A. Murray Pearce, The House of Yardley, Tillotsons Ltd., London,
1970.
Wilson, Charles, The History of Unilever, Vol. 1, Cassel & Company Ltd., London (1970).
Johnson, B., Dial: How a Number One Product Stays on Top, Product Marketing, February
1977.
Weinroff, L.A., The Sweet, Sweet Scent of Soap, Chicago Historical Society Magazine, Vol.
VI, No. 1, Spring 1977.
Dunn, S.W., and A.M. Barban, Advertising, Its Role in Modern Marketing, Dryden Press,
Hinsdale, Illinois, 1978.
Celebrating 100 Years—Ivory Soap, Moonbeams, Procter & Gamble Co., 1979.
Colgate Palmolive Company, Historical Review, 1980.

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press

 Reader, W.J., Fifty Years of Unilever, William Heinemann Ltd., London, 1980.
Osteroth, D., Soap Through the Ages, Dragoco Report, April 1981.
20th Century Advertising and the Economy of Abundance, Advertising Age, Chicago, April
30, 1980.
The Shape of Things to Come the Next 20 Years in Advertising and Marketing, Advertising
Age, Chicago, November 13, 1980.
Schisgall, O., Eyes on Tomorrow, J. G. Ferguson Publishing Co., Chicago, 1981.
Memorable Years in History, Procter & Gamble Publication, 1982.
Green, V.W., Cleanliness and the Health Revolution, Soap & Detergent Association, New
York (1984).
Weill, A., The Poster, G.K. Hall & Company, Boston, 1985.
150 Years of Procter & Gamble, Advertising Age, Chicago, August 20, 1987.
150 Years of Excellence Through Commitment and Innovation, Moonbeams, Procter &
Gamble Co., August 1987.
Our First 150 Years, Procter & Gamble Publication, 1987.
Williams, E., The Story of Sunlight, Unilever PLC, London, 1988.
Luckman, Charles, Twice in a Lifetime, W.W. Norton & Co., New York (1988).
Then, Now and Tomorrow, Inside the Archives, Moonbeams, Procter & Gamble Co., April
1989.
Opie, R., Packaging Source Book, Chartwell Book, Secaucus, NJ (1989).
Spitz, L., ed., Soap Technology for the 1990s, AOCS Press, Champaign, Illinois, 1990.
Goodrum, C., and H. Dalrymple, Advertising in America—The First 200 Years, H.N. Abrams,
Inc., New York (1990).
Swasy, L., Soap Opera, Time Books, New York, 1993
Encyclopedia of Consumer Brands, edited by J. Jorgensen, Vol. 2, St. James Press, Detroit,
(1994).
Kiefer, D. M., The Tide Turns for Soap, Today’s Chemists at Work, October 1996.
Fa Brand Manual, Fa a Mission of Freshness, Schwarzkopt & Henkel Cosmetics, 1997.
Linard, J.E., Laundry Products: A Glance at the Past, a Look to the Future, Book of Papers
International Conference and Exhibition, American Association of Textile Chemists and
Colorists, 1997, pp. 133–140.
Strategies for the 21st Century, in Proceedings of the 4th World Conference on Detergents, edit-
ed by A. Cahn, AOCS Press, Champaign, Illinois, 1999.
Riggs, T., ed., Encyclopedia of Marketing, The Gale Group, Farmington, MI (2000).
Leblanc, R., Le Savon: De la Prehistoire au XXIeme Siecle, Montreuil l’Argille Pierann
(2001).
Encyclopedia of Advertising, edited by J. McDonough and K. Egolf, K, Taylor & Francis
Group, London (2003).
Handley, J. Art Deco Landmark Getting New Life as Pricey Condos, Chicago Tribune,
February 2, 2003.
McCoy, M., Soaps and Detergents, Chem. Eng. News 82:23–28 (2004).

Copyright © 2004 AOCS Press