Soap Collection (#32)

Royal visit to Port Sunlight, April 1914
Double page spread from the Illustrated London News covering the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Port Sunlight, the famous model village

Port Sunlight - where work and pleasure go hand in hand
Double page spread from The Illustrated London News showing scenes at Port Sunlight, the model village built by William Lever (Lord Leverhulme) to house workers at his soap factory

Advet for Erasmic soap 1918
Advertisement for Erasmic Dainty Soap, showing a woman in Victorian style dress admiring her reflection in a hand mirror. Date: 1918

Erasmic soap advertisement, 1918
Advertisement for Erasmic soap, featuring a stylised illustration by the artist Annie Fish, depicting an elegant woman inspecting her reflection on a mirror. Date: 1918

Pears Soap advertisement, Red Cross Nurse, WW1
Advertisement for Pears soap from the First World War period, part of their Womanhood in Wartime series with this one featuring a Red Cross nurse

Pears Soap advertisement, land girl, 1918
Advertisement for Pears soap during the First World War, part of their Womanhood in Wartime, series, featuring a member of the Womens Land Army ploughing a field Date: 1918

Erasmic shaving stick advertisement, WW1
Advertisement for Erasmic shaving stick - British and Best, which includes a of a stick of shaving soap with a German bullet embedded in it

Erasmic Shaving Stick advertisement, 1918
Advertisement for Erasmic Shaving Stick with a smart gentleman in what can only be described as an artistic dressing gown

Erasmic Soap advertisement
Advertisement for the dainty Erasmic Soap showing a lady wrapped in a towel and b eing handed a box of the soap before her bath. Date: 1917

Erasmic Soap advertisement, 1917
Striking advertisement for Erasmic soap from the First World War era featuring a fashionable lady wearing a full-skirted outfit with a parasol or umbrella

Pears Soap advertisement featuring WW1 nurse
An advertisement for Pears soap during the First World War, part of a series called Womanhood in War Time and featuring a Red Cross nurse The copy claims that Pears is preferred by the brave women

Advert for Hudsons Extract of Soap 1887
Troops of people at home troops of people in the Colonies and abroad, say Hudsons Extract of Soap is the best for all washing and cleaning. 1887

Advert for Wrights Coal Tar soap 1915
Advertisement for Wrights Coal Tar soap, the ideal Christmas present to send to a soldier at the front, along with a stick of Coal tar shaving soap

Young woman washing, Japan. Date: circa 1890s

By-products developed from coal by G. H. Davis
The enormous importance of coal as the basic element in vital war manufactures. A diagrammatic drawing showing a great variety of by-products developed from coal. Date: 1944

Advert for Erasmic shaving stick 1920
Erasmic shaving soap is pure joy. 1920

Bonzos bath night by George Studdy
Bonzos bath night -- as bath night approaches he gets more and more nervous and jumps at every little sound. George Ernest Studdy (1878-1948), was the creator of Bonzo

Bath Night by Muriel Dawson -- a little child with dark curly hair sitting in a bathtub. Date: 1944

Erasmic Shaving Stick advertisement 1928
Erasmic Shaving Stick advertisement showing Columbine peeping around a curtain and a Pierrot strumming a guitar on a balcony by the light of a full moon

Jeek the puppy on bath day
Jeek the mongrel puppy undergoing the trials and tribulations of bath day. Date: 1940

Advertisement for B. T. Babbitts Soap

Nursery Rhymes -- washday, horse and crow
Nursery Rhymes -- two illustrations. Above -- a man and a woman on wash day. Below -- a crow startles a horse so much that the two riders are thrown off. Date: early 20th century

Advert for Dubarry gift cases 1934
A seletion of beautifully decorated gift cases from Dubarry, including perfume, flower scented bath crystals, fragant talcum powder, 2 tablets complexion soap and handkerchief puff. Date: 1934

Plantol Soap
Humorous advertisement for Plantol Soap, manufactured by Lever Brothers Limited of Port Sunlight, England, showing a rather startled customer who has been over-zealously lathered with shaving soap by

USA. Washington State. Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) chick forages along
USA. Washington State. Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus Mexicanus) chick forages along a lakeshore in Eastern Washington

USA. Washington State. Adult Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) forages along
USA. Washington State. Adult Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus Mexicanus) forages along a lakeshore in Eastern Washington

Europe, Czech Republic, Prague. Soap bubbles at Wenceslas Square. Credit as: Wendy Kaveney / Jaynes Gallery / DanitaDelimont

AD: SOAP, c1869. Advertisement for Dobbins Medicated Toilet Soap. Lithograph, c1869

AD: IVORY SOAP, c1898. Advertisement for Ivory Soap. Lithograph, c1898

RAPHAEL: MADONNA. Raphaels Madonna. Lithograph produced by soap company B. T
RAPHAEL: MADONNA. Raphaels Madonna. Lithograph produced by soap company B.T. Babbitt as a promotional card, 1898

CHINA: CHEFANG, c1940. People washing their clothes in a stream, at the family s
CHINA: CHEFANG, c1940. People washing their clothes in a stream, at the familys regular washing place, using a strong soap that keeps the immediate area of the stream free of mosquitoes

Tall light blue bottle with dispenser top

Bottle of soap

Towels and creams, close up

Illustration of soap and bubbles

AD: SUNSET SOAP DYES, 1927. American advertisement for Sunset Soap Dyes produced by the North American Dye Corporation, 1927

Advertisement for Beechams Pills, the Rosebud of Health, 1890 (engraving)
XJF869680 Advertisement for Beechams Pills, the Rosebud of Health, 1890 (engraving) by English School, (18th century); Private Collection; (add.info)

Broad Bottoms, 1745 (etching)
XJF863021 Broad Bottoms, 1745 (etching) by English School, (18th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Frontispiece to " An Address of Thanks to the Broad-Bottoms)

George Cruikshank, British (1792-1878), Expected--alarming rise in the price
George Cruikshank, British (1792-1878), " Expected--alarming rise in the price of soap!", pen and brown ink with pink, blue, brown, and green wash

Jean Sima on Chardin (French, 1699 - 1779), Soap Bubbles, probably 1733-1734, oil
Jean Sima© on Chardin (French, 1699 - 1779), Soap Bubbles, probably 1733-1734, oil on canvas

HARD MONEY CAMPAIGN. Hang General, its only Soft Soap!, engraving 1880
HARD MONEY CAMPAIGN. " Hang General, its only Soft Soap!", engraving 1880, us, usa, POLITICS, POLITICAL, POLITIC, CAMPAIGN, PATRIOTIC

The Picture of Pattenty, c. 1641-50 (engraving)
XJF347912 The Picture of Pattenty, c.1641-50 (engraving) by Hollar, Wenceslaus (1607-77); Private Collection; (add.info.: Who am I, who am I like, what nobody)

2657636; out of copyright

Bubbles, 1886 (oil on canvas)
BAL1960 Bubbles, 1886 (oil on canvas) by Millais, John Everett (1829-96); 107.5x77.5 cm; Elida Gibbs Collection, London, UK; English, out of copyright

Allegory of transcience (Vanitas), Jan de Groot, Johannes de Boekhorst, 1745

Washerwomen Disputing, 1871 (oil on canvas)
BAL14726 Washerwomen Disputing, 1871 (oil on canvas) by Aranda, Jose-Jimenes (1837-1903); Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK; Spanish, out of copyright

Golden Age, Nicolaes de Bruyn, 1604

Thailand, Samui Island, Ko Samui. Traditional handicrafts, intricately carved soap to look like tropical flowers

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From the trenches to the home front, soap played a pivotal role in history. During WW1, Wrights Coal Tar Soap became a trusted companion for soldiers, providing relief and cleanliness amidst the chaos of war. In 1900, Gossage Soap captured hearts with its captivating advert, leaving an indelible mark on society's consciousness. However, not all soap advertisements were progressive. The racist Pears ad serves as a stark reminder of past prejudices that we strive to overcome today. Yet amidst these dark moments, Port Sunlight emerged as a beacon of hope - a workers utopia built around the production of soap. The power of advertising was evident in posters promoting Sunlight Soap at every corner of London's bustling Piccadilly Circus in the 1920s. Inside tramsheds like those found in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, people would catch glimpses of Thoms Castile Soap cards enticing them towards cleanliness and luxury. Across borders, French artist Jean Carlu created an iconic advertisement for Monsavon soap in 1925 - showcasing both artistic brilliance and effective marketing strategies. Meanwhile, Pears Soap continued to captivate audiences since its groundbreaking advert back in 1887. As time progressed into the 1930s, Goodwins toilet soap brought elegance and sophistication into households worldwide. Through wars and societal changes alike, one thing remains constant - soap has been an essential part of our lives throughout history.