British Matrons who love their homes seek to make them the brightest spots on earth. A snow-white table cloth laid with shining cups laid with shining cups and saucers, and a bright clean fireside greet the breadwinner as he returns from his daily toil. A smiling welcome from a happy wife is his, and the children make music at his coming.
The secret to this happiness and harmony? Sunlight Soap, of course!
Published in 1899, by Lever Brothers, Port Sunlight.
(A bit of family history here, we were robbed! Someone back in our family line allegedly had inheritance rights to part of the Sunlight fortune, they didn't receive it, thanks to chicanery - or so the story went! We never did find out what that was all about, too late now, my mother and her sister are dead and they were the only ones from that line.)
Back to the Almanac, it seems that Sunlight soap is the answer to almost everything.
It is a fragile little book, but a great read. It has articles ranging from Ankles (weak) right the way through to Worms, with far more interesting ones on Dressmaking, Cottage Gardening, Keeping House on Small Means, with menus and recipes, Military History and Liver Derangement, to name but a few.
One hundred and sixty pages of delight, with charming old advertisements.
It seems that Lifebuoy soap is the Grace Darling of the soap world - and perhaps it was, being the first soap made with carbolic acid, in a time when life expectancy was so much lower than it is today, poor hygiene being one factor.
Just remember:
"Slavery to dirt and to disorder, to work and to worry is abolished, and of such freed and comfort
The Secret is SUNLIGHT SOAP!
I have heard of both the soaps and remember carbolic soap, big bars of it at school that you never seem to be able to get to later up, even remember the smell of it. Wonder what happened to the fortune
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how the memory of that smelly soap lives in the memory!
DeleteI tried to photograph the crusader today, for the first time in ages the church was locked! Luckily, I have an old photograph so I'll use that.
Another Joy, in your collection! :-)
ReplyDeleteSo sorry about the possible lost share in the fortune. My husband has some such story, in his family history too. Perhaps not being swindled out of it... Perhaps not being smart enough, to get in on the ground floor of a company. ??????? Gotta' love old "stories."
All this is quaint reading today. But the basic idea, still holds. Dirt/clutter do nothing for a home.
The more things changed, the more they remain the same.... Etc. Etc.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I love the fact that the basic ideas really haven't changed, people still need to be educated and taught these things, despite all our 'advances' and technology.
DeleteAs to the fortune - it was one of those things which my mother and my aunt talked about, but as children we didn't really take it on board. Their maternal grandparents were very wealthy people, I do know that, but no inheritance came down to their mother...perhaps in part because she ran away with my grandfather and he was a married man...scandalous behaviour just after the first world war. Their grandmother always used to send them enormous hampers of food and clothes for Christmas and holidays. Perhaps she was more forgiving than her husband!! I have no idea whether the two things are linked. it must remain a mystery!
Love your posts, by the way.
ReplyDeleteAlways something interesting. Something, from your collection. Some photo. Some happening. Always a bright way to start my morning.
Thank you!!!
Such an interesting post... I do believe many British people have had similar tales ... as my mother always talked about the family fortune that got away too... so in the scheme of things the world was so small then and full of thieves... but aren’t you lucky to have it all written and published ...Hugs
ReplyDeleteHello Zaa, lovely to meet you. Aural history can be wildly inaccurate, that's for sure and every family has tales to tell. Thank you for visiting!
DeleteI have no recollection of carbolic soap. Sounds like it would take your skin off.
ReplyDeleteSo if the fortune is still out there can't you trace your ancestry to it? After all they are your ancestors, too. Maybe they've been looking for you? LOL. Sounds like something out of a book.
Hello Marcia, Carbolic soap is mildly antiseptic, so it probably helped to save many people from infection and possibly death. It is pretty stinky though, I remember it from childhood, though not since then!!
DeleteI remember Carbolic Soap, and the big bars of green Palmolive soap which mum used in the kitchen (well, she called it the scullery).
ReplyDeleteWonderful family history - I would be delving into THAT story, I can tell you! Very romantic, marrying for love and being overlooked when the parent died . . .
Glad that the Lardy Cake was a success by the way,.
The cake disappeared in a trice! A relief, because there are some very good bakers in our group.
DeleteOne of these days I'll begin to explore the family line. My mother's favourite soap was always Pears - if I remember rightly they were the direct rival to Sunlight... I occasionally buy Pears soap for a trip down memory lane. Imperial Leather was my father's soap. One sniff and I am whisked back to another time.