Antique Soap

This past week, I saw a traveling display of old cleaning products and tools.  Included were 100 year old hand pump vacuums, antique roller sweepers that collected dirt inside the base as you pushed them along, an 80 year old predecessor to the dust buster, and one of my favorites, a wooden dust pan with curved, decorative molding around the outside edges and back.  In our day of disposable everything and  made out of plastic, these tools were out of place not only by their designs and style, but also by their durability and high quality. 

One of the other sections that caught my attention was the soap section; antique soap with various grating and sudsing tools.  Sorry, my camera died so I was forced to take a picture in a dark room with my flashless phone. 

Later, I talked to the owner of the display for a few minutes.  He told me about his larger collection back home that included tons of other stuff, including large, round chunks of 120 year old soap.  He was pretty proud of them.  He said they were made from animal fat and lye.  He told me that twice.  He said they came out of Russia.  He also said that twice. 

He told me about a big, interactive museum he is building to display his collection in.  He talked about having stations where people could touch, smell and use different soaps.  He even talked about the possibility of people making soaps there.  He kind of lost me there since making soap is a little dangerous and time consuming for the typical museum goer. 

Then he brought me right back into the conversation when he started talking about us making soaps with his logo so he could sell them in his gift shop.  

Now that’s a fantastic idea!