The History of Baths

Soap in the American Colonies

Originally any settlers to the new world had to import soap and its value is determined by the fact that HMS Talbot listed two wooden firkin barrels of soap on its manifest. John Winthrop, who was to become the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, wrote to his wife in 1630 from Boston begging her to bring soap when she crossed.

Within a short time the activities of sawing wood to make new homes meant that the early American settlers had potash as well as fats to manufacture soap rather than squander what little money was made by importing soap. In general, the soap making was done on may farms in the Spring, as they had an accumulation of ashes from the Winter fires.

Modern Soap is a different concept it is in fact more actually a detergent made from petroleum products. Even the modern soaps supposedly made from natural ingredients have different manufacturing processes than the soap of two hundred years ago. Soap was made from rancid cooking fat that had accumulated over a winter and chemically it worked as a cleanser but its smelling properties would have left a lot to be desired.

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