Soap Collection

The cast of Coronation Street on set. Eileen Derbyshire. 16th April 1968

The cast of Coronation Street on set. Arthur Leslie takes a nap while Doris Speed learns her script during rehearsals. 16th April 1968

Advert / Gossage Soap 1900
Gossages Carbolic Soap speaks for itself

The cast of Brookside. From left to right, Sue Johnston (Sheila Grant) Shelagh O Hara (Karen Grant), Simon O Brien (Damon Grant), Ricky Tomlinson (Robert Grant) and Paul Usher (Barry Grant)

Advert / Gossage Soap 1900
Gossages Soap - the right sort

Poster advertising Sunlight Soap -- for rest and leisure. Date: early 20th century

Advertising card for Thoms Castile Soap of Manchester
Advertising card by Louis Wain for the Gold Medal-winning Thoms Castile Soap - the Best in the World - manufactured by David Thom & Co. Ltd. of Pendleton, Manchester

Port Sunlight - a workers utopia
Page from The Illustrated London News with photographs reporting on the model factory village of Port Sunlight on the Wirral, near Birkenhead

Wrights Coal Tar Soap - WW1
Advertisement for Wrights Coal Tar Soap from the Great War showing a soldier and his wife or sweetheart bidding farewell to each other

Interior of tramshed, Lytham St Annes, Lancashire
Interior view of a tramshed at Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, showing various trams with advertising material: Jacobs Cream Crackers, Colmans Mustard, Lifebuoy Soap

Pears Soap Advertisement

The classical Turkish Bath massage and wash inside the Gagaloglu Hamam, Istanbul, Turkey, Europe

Carson Speaks 1913
Edward Carson, leader of the Irish Unionists (1910-21) speaks out against Home Rule at a meeting in Belfast

London - Piccadilly Circus in the 1920s
London - Piccadilly Circus photographed in 1924. The Trocadero is showing Wanderer in the Wasteland - an American colour silent Western film directed by Irvin Willat and starring Jack Holt

Advert for Pears soap 1887
A child steps into a bath tub of hot water helped by her mother 1887

Advertisement for Vinolia Soap - Mother! Mother!! Fidos eaten my soap!!! early 20th century

Goodwins toilet soap, 1930s
An advert for Goodwins toilet soap, featuring a smiling young woman holding a tennis racket. 1937-1938

PEARS SOAP ADVERTISEMENT. Engraved English advertisement, 1889

FRENCH SOAP ADVERTISEMENT. French advertising poster by Jean Carlu, 1925, for Monsavon soap

Barber shaving a customer with a razor
Barber of 1789 shaving a customer, shown in a Pears Soap ad, 1880s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Young woman washing clothes at a sink
A young woman at a kitchen sink washing clothes using a washboard. There is a stack of four dinner plates waiting to be washed up, a kettle, and a tin of One-O-One which cleans without scratching

Mother Shipton Soap
An advertisement for Mother Shipton Soap showing a Wise Woman sitting with her basket of sparkling white linen - almost as white as her pet cat!

Woman Shaving Man
A female barber or barbers assisitant, probably during World War Two, applies shaving soap to a mans face before his shave

Advert / Gossage Soap 1900
Gossages Soaps - magical soap Date: circa 1900

Main Office Entrance, Port Sunlight. Port Sunlight is a garden village which was founded in 1888 by Lever to house his soap factory workers

William H Lever
WILLIAM HESKETH LEVER 1ST VISCOUNT LEVER-HULME English soap manufacturer; built (1888-89) model industrial village of Port Sunlight

Advert / Wrights Soap
Wrights Coal Tar Soap: Britains Might is (W)right

Wrights Coal Tar Soap advertisement, WW1
Lucky Beggar!...Send a bar to YOUR soldier friend. Advertisement for Wrights coal tar soap with a soldier the envy of all his comrades as he is enjoying a wash with a whole bar sent to him from home

Three Little Kittens
The Three Little Kittens are washing their mittens. 19th century

Advert / Gossage Soap 1900
Gossages Soap - magical Date: circa 1900

Advert / Tidmans Soap
Tidmans Herbal Skin Soap

Advert / Hudsons Soap
Hudsons Super Soap - just a little better than the rest

Advert / Pravia Soap 1916
Elegant Spanish woman in an advertisement for Heno de Pravia soap

Advert / Calverts Carboli
CALVERTs CARBOLIC SOAP for floors

Advert / Pravia Soap 1916
Heno de Pravia soap

The cast of EastEnders on set. Picture includes Mike Reid, June Brown, John Altman, Letitia Dean, Peter Dean, Daniella Westbrook, Ross Kemp, Steve McFadden, Gretchen Franklin, Adam Woodyatt

Morny Freres June Roses Advertisement
An illustrated advertisement for Morny Freres Limited, London based chemist-perfumers. The image promotes a range of toilet products fragrant with parfum, June Roses

Silver Soap Suds by Cecil Beaton in The Sketch, 1930
Miss Baba Beaton, (the photographers sister), the Hon. Mrs Charles Baillie-Hamilton (formerly Miss Wanda Holden) and Lady Bridget Poulett shown as decorative soap suds in a photograph by Cecil

Coronation Street producer Susi Hush on the set of the soap. 14th August 1974

Falmouth Railway Station, Falmouth, Cornwall. Early 1900s
A view of the platform at Falmouth Railway Station with a train in, looking towards the harbour and the town. Photographer: Unknown

Advertisement in High Street, Bromley, Kent
Advertisement for Palmolive soap, superimposed onto a photograph of High Street, Bromley, Kent. circa 1900s

Advert for Pears Soap - A Chemist Recommends... 1912
Advertisement for Pears Soap - A Chemist Recommends the product for its pure, genuine, good value and effective properties! Date: 1912

The Perfumers Costume (colour engraving)
XIR154617 The Perfumers Costume (colour engraving) by Bonnart, Nicolas (c.1646-1718); Musee de la Ville de Paris, Musee Carnavalet, Paris

CHIMNEY SWEEP, 1890. American advertisement for Pears Soap, 1890

SOAP AD, 20th CENTURY. Have You a Little Fairy in Your Home? : American magazine advertisement, early 20th century
SOAP AD, 20th CENTURY. " Have You a Little Fairy in Your Home?" : American magazine advertisement, early 20th century, for Fairy Soup

TITANIC: SOAP AD, 1912. The White Star liner Titanic used in an English newspaper advertisement for Vinolia Otto toilet soap shortly before the liner sank, April 1912, in the Atlantic Ocean

White men bringing cleanliness to native cultures, 1890s
" White mans burden" is to teach cleanliness, described in a Pears Soap ad, 1890s. Hand-colored halftone reproduction of a 19th-century illustration

Advert for Wrights coal soap 1916
Advertisement for Wrights Coal Tar soap, the soldiers soap suitable for all, from private to general. 1916

Toilet Services, Real Wedgwood Ware, Plate 50, showing patterned washing bowls, jugs, soap dishes, and a slop pail far too nice to put slops in. Date: circa 1880s

Elizabeth Arden Soaps advertisement, 1940
Advertisement for Elizabeth Arden Soaps. A little luxury a woman earned after a hard day during the Second World War. The advertisement reads

Victorian Scrap, Pears Soap -- a mother monkey washes her dirty son. circa 1880s

Water Baby by Muriel Dawson -- a little child in a bathtub. Date: 1939

Advert for Cussons Imperial Leather soap, one of a series of ads utilising the language of the fan. Date: 1954

Violet Carson as Ena Sharples, Coronation Street
Violet Carson (right, 1898-1983) as Ena Sharples in the long-running TV soap, Coronation Street, with her two friends, Minnie Caldwell (played by Margot Bryant)

Advertisement for Pears soap depicting a child at bath time (chromolitho)
6030602 Advertisement for Pears soap depicting a child at bath time (chromolitho) by English School, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info)

Advertisement, Pears Transparent Soap (engraving)
1621705 Advertisement, Pears Transparent Soap (engraving) by English School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Advertisement, Pears Transparent Soap)

Pears soap advertisement. Matchless for the complexion (colour litho)
560423 Pears soap advertisement. Matchless for the complexion (colour litho) by English Photographer, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Pears soap advertisement)

Cleanliness - Health - The Truest Wealth - promotional postcard for the Health & Cleanliness Council (HCC) - 5 Tavistock Square, London. Date: circa late 1920s

Advert for Wrights coal tar soap, 1914. A print from the Illustrated London News, 13th June 1914

Advertisement for Sunlight household soap, c1890. The advertisement recommends the soap it to the housewife by claiming it would make life easier

Fairy Soap Advert
A lady takes a bath, using Fairy Soap which, whatever its merits as soap, has the extra benefit that it floats... Date: 1925

Boy Scouts cleaning street sign, London
Two Boy Scouts cleaning a street sign in Downshire Hill, Hampstead, north-west London during Scout Job Week. In their spare time

Advert for Yardley Lavender 1932
Yardley Lavender, The lovable gift most welcome and acceptable of all delightful things at Christmas time. Date: 1932

Poster, The Magic of Soap and Water. Coo... is that me with the dirt off? Showing a boy admiring his nice clean face in a soap bubble. Issued by the Health and Cleanliness Council. circa 1940s

Poster, Don t be afraid of Soap and Water. Showing a little boy welcoming a humanised jug and a bar of soap. Issued by the Health and Cleanliness Council. 20th century

Hypo-allergenic soap. Top view of a bar of soap that has been developed so as not to cause an allergic reaction when used

The Bath Parade by Muriel Dawson
Three children dressedin pyjamas, dressing gowns and slippers march in a procession towards the bathroom armed with towels and soap

Cleaning Day, by Ethel Parkinson. A little Dutch girl wields a mop, while a little boy kneels down and scrubs the floor

Outdoor washing, Boys Club 1936
Two boys from a Boys Club wash using soap and a small bowl of water outside

First aid hamper supplied by St Johns Ambulance
A large first aid hamper (ie first aid kit) for ambulance station and railway purposes, supplied by St Johns Ambulance Association

Advert / Kaiser-Borax Soap
Kaiser-Borax Soap

Advertisement for J D Larkin & Co soap, Buffalo, New York (colour litho)
3104941 Advertisement for J D Larkin & Co soap, Buffalo, New York (colour litho) by American School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Advertisement for J D Larkin & Co soap, Buffalo)

Advert, Fels-Naptha Soap -- I just couldn t keep house without it! 1926

Advertisement for Lifebuoy soap with the message that the soap fights dirt and disease (colour litho)
6030590 Advertisement for Lifebuoy soap with the message that the soap fights dirt and disease (colour litho) by English School

The cast of Coronation Street on set. Pat Phoenix eats an apple in a break, with Margot Bryant. 16th April 1968

Coronation Streets Pat Phoenix at home with her mink coats. 16th April 1968

Advert for Hudsons Soap 1890
Advertisement for Hudsons Soap, showing a laundry woman holding her basket. Date: 1890

Folding Advertisement for Sunlight Soap - Cupboard doors - A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed - as used in the Royal Laundries and brightens homes everywhere. Date: 1897

PEARS SOAP AD, 1887. American advertisement, 1887, for Pears Soap

Gal toliet soap
Full page colour advertisement for Gal toilet soap from 1929

Maypole Soap

Good Boy by Muriel Dawson
A little boy in a charming blue smock and shorts outfit, washes his face using a flannel, soap and metal wash bowl

Poster advertising Cooks Pure Toilet Soaps. Ed. Cook Ltd, East London

Advert / Cooks Soap
Cooks Pure Toilet Soap

All Professionally Made to Order for Quick Shipping

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.