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| Soap has been valued for generations for its ability to clean clothing and households as well as for bathing. Soap is a craft which is often neglected in history whether it be a discussion of 19th century skills or of the colonial era. Soap is made when very basic ingredients undergo a chemical change called saponification. Oils (or fats), water, and lye (sodium hydroxide) blended with the proper technique will yield soap, and it may be scented with oils and herbs. |
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| Through the 19th century lye was obtained by filtering water through hardwood ashes in an ash hopper until the solution was strong enough to float an egg. To increase the strength it was poured back through the ashes, and to dilute it fresh water was added. The ash hopper was constructed out of wood or an old barrell into which twigs and hay were placed to prevent the ashes from falling through. Water would filter through the hay but the ashes would be suspended above it. Water was carefully poured through and the solution which dripped out the bottom was lye water. |
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| Potash and pearlash were used by colonists for making soap and this produced a potassium based soap which continued to be made into the first half of the 19th century. Potash is the residue left after the water has been evaporated from the solution described above. Pearlash is the final product when that residue is baked to remove impurities. The first patent issued by the U.S. Patent Office went to Samuel Hopkins for his method of making pearlash. Potash treated with carbonic acid yielded saleratus or bicarbonate of potash. |
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| Common carbonate of potash was used for agricultural purposes as it existed in ashes. "It is manifest, therefore, that farmers who sell their ashes at the price generally paid by soap-boilers, and those who do not buy at these prices when they have an opportunity, commit a 'mistake'". |
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| In Colonial days ashes were valued to the extent they were exported to England, Europe and France. Capt. John Smith recorded such practices in Colonial Virginia. Facilities for collecting ashes were called "ashies" and dotted the countryside. In the early l850's the total trade in ashes for the U.S. was recorded as $l,000,000. per annum. A larger quantity was sent to France where they were used in the production of fine soaps, some of which found their way back into the U.S. |
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| Soap was usually produced in the fall and spring because in the summer months it is too hot to get soap to go through the proper chemical reaction. It was also at these times that tallow and lard were in greatest supply. If soap were only made once a year spring was the preferred time when there was also an ample supply of ashes which had been collected through the winter. |
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| It was the Roman scholar, Pliny, who first wrote of adding salt to soap to harden it. Theories are divided as to who first used soap - some credit the Celtics with being the first to use it for bathing, and the Romans for using it in cleaning textiles. The remains of a soap producing facility were found in the remains of Pompeii. During a period when bathing fell out of fashion the result was a devastating plague. |
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| In Jer. ii. 22 it states, "For though thou wash with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God." In explanation some countries burned plants found in salt water to extract chemicals which when combined with oil produces soap. This word nitre refers to soda extracted in such a manner, not saltpetre which is usually associated with the term. |
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| While its use rose and fell with time by the 13th century France was selling soap on the European market, and by the 14th century it was being produced in England. Oils varied according to the region in which the soap was being produced. At some point it was noted that soaps produced in Italy which had a ready supply of olive oil were in many instances preferrable to those produced elsewhere. It was at that point that olive oil became the preferred ingredient in soap by many. |
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| "Soap is made, as everybody knows, of soda or potash mixed with large quantities of oil. Marseilles alone consumes every year in her soap manufacturies twenty millions of chilos of olive oil. This precious liquid is composed of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon. Chemists have not yet discovered the manner to combine these three elements in suitable proportions so as to make oil. Industry is obliged, therefore, to extract it from natural productions which contain it, from the pulp of olives, from the seeds of fruit, from several kinds of fishes, and from the fat of certain animals. Its taste and quality vary according to the substance from which it was taken. Thus olive, almond, castor, and codfish oil are considered salutary medicines, while colza nut, linseed oil, and many others are used in manufacturies or for cooking in places where the olive does not grow." |
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| Soap is first mentioned in the U.S. by John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony when writing to his wife for supplies. Soap was shipped to the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England until they could produce their own. Once the colonists were settled it was found far easier to produce their own soap than to wait for it to be shipped to them. The ingredients - hardwood ashes and fats were readily available. |
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| In the Colonial days men began to distinguish themselves as soap makers and sold their product commercially. Due to the process of obtaining fats for soap its manufacture was commonly combined with other trades such as candle making. Tallow which was rendered from beef fat was used in the production of both soap and candles so the production of the two was a natural combination. Someone who made soap was referred to as a soap-boiler, and someone who manufactured candles was referred to as a tallow-chandler. |
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| Benjamin Franklin seemed destined to follow in his father's footsteps as a soap-boiler and tallow-chandler, but his perseverence in educating himself led to other, perhaps more productive endeavors. |
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| During the 18th and 19th centuries soap became plentiful as ingredients were readily at hand and techniques for making it were perfected. It was during this time that bathing became common practice. At some point in the mid-1800's physicians began to realize that wounded soldiers who were bathed and kept in surroundings which were cleaned regularly were less likely to develop infections and the survival rate was higher. Germs were technically still not known, but cleanliness began to be encouraged by nurses and surgeons who saw its benefits. |
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| During the War Between the States soap had uses other than bathing. The Military Dictionary gives the following receipt for whiting used on accoutrements: "pipe clay 3 l/2 lbs.; Spanish whiting 8 ounces; white lead 4 ounces; glue l l/2 ounces; starch 6 ounces, white soap 5 ounces. Put the pipe-clay, Spanish whiting, in about five gallons of water; wash them and soak for six hours; 2d throw out the first water, and replace it with 5 l/2 gallons of pure water; add the white lead, glue and soap. Cook them together taking care to stir constantly the combination. At the moment that the foam shows itself on the surface, draw the vessel from the fire without suffering the composition to put then the starch in the whiting and mix all well together." This was quantity sufficient for l00 men. |
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| Brandy and soap were mixed and applied to the wounds on horses, and soap was listed as an ingredient to treat horses for urinary retention. |
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| Soldiers were allowed 4 lbs. of soap in their rations, along with 3/4 lb. of pork or bacon, l l/4 lbs. of fresh or salt beef, l8 oz. of bread or flour, or l2 oz. of hard bread, or l l/4 lbs. of corn meal; and at the rate of l00 rations of 8 qts. of peas or beans, or l0 lbs. of rice; 6 lbs. of coffee, l2 lbs. of sugar, 4 qts. of vinegar, l l/2 lbs. of tallow, l l/4 lbs. adamantine or l lb. sperm candles and 2 quarts of salt. Weight in bulk per l000 rations was 40 lbs. |
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| Soap can be made by one of two methods - cooked or cold process soap. Cooked soap tends to be softer and works well for laundry and household cleaning whereas cold process soap is harder, and better suited for bathing. Hard soap was more easily carried by soldiers although accounts exist of barrels of soft soap being shipped to the army. |
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| In 1863 soap making was thought of as a man's occupation because of handling the heavy kettles. Bar soap was hardened with muriate of soda and cut with wires. Barrels of almost white soft soap were stocked in New York grocery stores. While women were not routinely employed to make the soap in facilities which produced it in large quantities they were often hired to perfume it, package, and label it. |
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| In 1863 soap produced in the North was said to be of equal quality to that produced anywhere in the world. One such manufacturing center was located on Spruce Street in Philadelphia, PA. There were no such facilities located in the South and even in the North "hard times" were blamed for a decline in sales. The only such facility west of Philiadelphia was in Cincinnati. |
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| Soap was a valued commodity and is listed in the Commerce reports with such essentials as sugar, coffee, tea, indigo, cotton, etc. "Cheese, candles, Chocolate, Soap, and all small articles sold by weight, the actual tare". In a table entitied, "Tares Allowed by Law" soap was valued at 10% compared to sugar in casks at 12%, sugar in boxes 15%, cheese in boxes 20%, candles in boxes 8%, chocolate in boxes 10%, cotton in bales 2%, nails in cask 8%, sugar candy in boxes 10%. |
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| In 1853 a total of $660.054. was listed on a commerce report for tallow candles and soap manufactured in the U.S. The quantity and value of exports from the U.S. for all commodities and manufactured items combined rose from 8,779,669 lbs. in 1840 to 11,738,075 lbs. in 1852 with corresponding dollar values of $743,941,061. and $1,093,230,639. |
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| Soldiers on the march bathed irregularly due to the lack of water and weather conditions, however, when conditions were right and soap was available the majority enjoyed a bath as well as clean clothes. |
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| Soap became scarce during the War Between the States for several reasons - the first being the difficulty of shipping it to armies on the move. There may have been an excess in one area and none in others. |
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| Gen. Robert E. Lee petitioned the Commissary-General requesting soap stating his army was suffering for the lack of it. The reply was that there were 800 barrels of soap in Charlotte, NC that had been there several months awaiting shipment. The Confederate government was blamed for allowing the army to suffer for months with camp itch when all the while such a large quantity of soap could have been dispatched to them. About this time the Impressment Act adopted by commissioners was intended to fix the price of supplies for the army, and listed soap at 40 cents per lb. |
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| Southern civilians encountered difficulties in producing adequate quantities of soap when beef and pork became scarce reducing the amounts of available fats. Whether willingly given or impressed farm animals often ended up as dinner for the soldiers. Those remaining often could not be fed due to a lack of grass and other items. The situation became very grave in some areas after the foraging of horses of both armies left pastures and open areas incapable of sustaining the farm animals. The lack of animals was first experienced as an inadequate food supply, and the lack of fat for soap and candles followed. |
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| In 1856 the Philadelphia Relief Committee reported its efforts in ending a yellow fever epidemic in Portsmouth, VA. In their report describing the town and its industry they listed a soap factory and stated that the refuse from industrial facilities and slaughter houses was being emptied into a stream which became stagnant, washed clean only in times of torrential rains. A bookkeeping entry lists, "Cash paid W. H. Dodge's bill for Castile soap, per voucher 13, $56.81. Other items in the list included nursing supplies, lint, etc. |
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| By the mid-l800's Americans, North and South, considered soap a necessity and when the materials for making it the traditional way disappeared Southerners began to look for alternative ways of producing it. |
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| Cotton seed oil was used in soap making in the South but was technically not a substitute because cotton seed oil was being investigated for its use in making soap by the early 1850's. Edgar Conkling of Cincinnati stated in 1856, "I am satisfied that the value of cotton seed fibre; of oil that may be made from the seed for burning, lubricating, and perhaps for painting and for soaps...is equal in value to that of the cotton crop." The Scientific American reported that, "In paper, oils, and soap, the South can thus beat the world in quality and value...". |
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| The Cotton Planter's Manual stated in 1857, "Perhaps there is now more cotton seed oil used for table and other purposes than even consumers themselves are aware of, to say nothing of the soap, which is of a superior quality, made from the refuse of the oil after clarifying". Cotton seed oil was known to smoke when used for lighting, but that was blamed on using seeds which had not first been "hulled" before extracting the oil. By extracting the kernal from the hull before extracting the oil, and by clarifying the oil it was said to give brilliant light without smoke, and the oil was compared to the best olive oil for cooking and soap production. "We of the cotton-growing States can safely feel ourselves perfectly independent of the world for oil for all purposes". |
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| Gentlemen by the name of Smith and Follin had patented a machine for cracking open cotton seed and extracting the kernals which were then pressed and oil extracted in the early 1800's. Linseed oil was extracted in the same manner. Mills were built in the early 1800's in Natchez, Miss. and Mobile, Ala. for the purpose of extracting oils in this manner, but both facilities had ceased to function by 1855. |
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| DeBow's Review stated in 1855 that it took 500 bales of cotton to yield 1500 bushesl of seed and from this 9,000 gallons of oil could be extracted. Because of the inability to use the seeds after they'd gone through a heat and lost their oil it was recommended that in order to successfully extract the oil and produce large quantities of soap in this manner a soap-making facility should be built on the plantation. |
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| The Mobile mill was reduced to rubble before the end of the war. "A large brick block, containing a cotton press which stood between the magazine and the river, had entirely disappeared. The bricks were all blown into the water and we never saw them anymore". |
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| Soap became so scarce in the South during the war years that hotels stopped supplying it. Substitutes included fuller's earth, and soap made from rosin, corn shucks, chinaberries, berries from the Pride of India plant, myrtle berries, bayberries, soapwort, sunflower seeds, etc. Southern women tried to perfume these rude concoctions with rose petals and herbs. |
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| Since cotton seed oil was being used for soap manufacturing prior to the war it wouldn't necessarily be considered a substitute, however, Southern women in the later war years began to produce it by crushing the seeds with a pestle then boiling this mixture with a lye solution. This was a much cruder product than that produced in the 50's, and on a much smaller scale. |
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| A substitute for lye was suggested in burning sea weed and extracting the soda. |
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| A typical Southern soap receipt was: "One half-box of concentrated lye, four pounds of grease, one pound of rosin, five gallosn of water. Boil all together until the soap is made...then add a half pint of salt dissolved in a quart of water, boil a few minutes longer, and pour off." |
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| Salt had long been known to harden soap, however, in the South during the war years it was far too scarce to use in soap so ingenious Southern women began to search for other items which would serve the same purpose. Prickly pear was discovered to harden soap or candles and became a common substitute for the salt. |
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| Field and Fireside gave the following soap receipt March 8, 1862: "Take one gallon of strong lye, add a half pound of shucks, cut up fine. Let the shucks boil in the lye until they are reduced to shreds. Then fish the shreds out, and put half a pound of crackling grease in, or six ounces of lard, and boil until it is sufficiently thick to make a good soap". |
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| Regardless of ingredients the chemical process which takes place in making soap remained steady over time. In 1869 the technology of soap, illuminating gas oil, varnishes, dyes, fermented and distilled liquors, etc. was part of the courses required for a Civil and Mining Engineering degree. |
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| A Confederate general wrote to his wife asking her to send some of the scented soap he had given her to repay the kindness shown to him by a local woman, but cautioned her not to send much because there was no possibility of replacing it. |
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| Soap was often requested from home by the soldiers and whenever possible it was included in packages sent to the field. It was, perhaps, one of the things taken for granted until Providence took it away. |
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| Trade had resumed by 1866, however, when a riverboat captain stated goods were being shipped up the Alabama River to Selma as never before. The supplies being shipped consisted mostly of supplies for plantations up and down the river, "...barrels of Western flour and whiskey that had come down the Mississippi, and boxes of fine liquors, soap, starch, and case goods from the North Atlantic ports. Her downward freight was chiefly cotton". |
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| The availability of soap was largely effected by geography, and economic conditions. In 1869 Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote, "Formerly, in New England, soap and candles were made in each separate family; now, comparatively few take this toil upon themselves. We buy soap of the soap-boiler, and candles of the candle-factor". The war wreaked such havoc on the Southern economy that many women in the South continued to produce their own soap into the 20th century. |
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| Widow Rumble's note: Please see the Victorian Miscellany page for more soap receipts. |
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| Bibliography: |
| (Books) |
| A Rebel War Clerk's Diary. Jones, John B. 1866. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia |
| Ersatz in the Confederacy: Shortages and Substitutions on the Southern Homefront. Massey, Mary Elizabeth. University of SC Press |
| A Very Violent Rebel: The Civil War Diary of Ellen Renshaw House. Sutherland, Daniel E. University of Tenn. Press |
| The Diary of Miss Emma Holmes, 1861-1865, Holmes, LSU Press |
| The Employments of Women, 1863. Virginia Penny. |
| The South: A Tour of its Battle-fields and Ruined Cities, a Journey Through the Desolated States, and tasks with the people; being a Description of the Present State of the Country-Its Agriculture, Railroads, Business and Finance. 1866. Trowbridge, J. T. L. Stebbins Publisher. |
| The Cotton Planter's Manual. 1857. Turner, Joseph Addison. New York, C. M. Saxton Co. |
| House and Home Papers. 1869 Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Boston, Fields, Osgood & Co. |
| Military Dictionary Comprising Technical Definitions, Information on Raising and Keeping Troops, Actual Service, Including Make-shifts and Improved Material. 1861. Scott, Henry Lee. New York. D. Van Norstrand Publisher |
| The Progressive Farmer: A Scientific Treatise on Agricultural Chemistry, the Geology of Agriculture; on Plants, Animals, Manures, and Soils Applied to Practical Agriculture. 1859. Nash, John Adams. New York, A. O. Moore Publisher. |
| Resources of Southern Fields and Forests. 1863. Porcher, Francis Peyre. Charleston. |
| (Journals) |
| Cotton Seed Oil and Other Productions of the Refuse of the Cotton Plant. August 1856. Debow's Review, Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial and Resources. New Orleans. |
| Charleston Chamber of Commerce. May 2846. DeBow's Review. New Orleans. Vol 1, issue 5 |
| The Olive Tree and its Culture. October 1876. The Ladies Repository: A Monthly Periodical, Devoted to Literature, Arts, and Religion. Publixhed by the Methodist Episcopal Church, Cincinnati. Vol. 4, issue 4. |
| Can Cotton-seed oil or Rosin oil be Manufactured with Advantage in Alabama. Nov. 1855. DeBow's Review, New Orleans. Vol. 19, issue 5. |
| Early History of Agriculture in Virginia, No. 1. April 1858. Cabell, N. F. DeBow's Review. New Orleans. Vol. 24, issue 4. |
| General Lee As a Teacher. July 1869. Burwell, William M. DeBow's Review. New Orleans. Vol. 6, issue 7. |
| Philadelphia, PA. Relief Committee to Collect Funds for the Sufferers of Yellow Fever at Norfolk and Portsmouth, VA, 1855. 1856. Inquirer's Printing Office. Phildelphia |
| Annual Statistics of New Orleans Trade. 1866. Debow's Review. Vol. 2, issue 4. |
| Commercial Progress Home & Foreign. April 1853. DeBow's Review Vol. 14, issue 4. |
| Bible Natural History; or a Description of the Animals, Plants, and Minerals Mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures, with Copious References and Explanations of Tests. October 1853. Ewing, Francis A., M.D. The Princeton Review. Vol. 7, issue 4. New York. G. & C. Carvill Publishers |
| New York in 1852-53. June 1853. DeBow's Review. Vol. 14, issue 6. New Orleans |
| Adversity, the Nurse of Intellect. August 1844. The Ladies Repository. Vol. 4, issue 8. |
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