4004 – Mother Shipton Soap
- Physical description:
- A rectangular bar of caramel-coloured soap, designed to be divided into two square bars, each with the words 'Mother Shipton Soap' on one side and a picture of Mother Shipton on the other. The pictures have lost definition, but are portrait style and show Mother Shipton looking towards the viewer and wearing a pointy hat. The soap still has a pleasant mild fragrance.
- Museum classification:
- Images of Witchcraft
- Size:
- 55 x 140 x 45
- Information:
Information from the donors: The soap was found in a sealed crate in a hardware store (in a very old building) in Gloucestershire, along with other soaps that seemed to be World War One army surplus. It probably dates from 1918-20.
This soap is very similar to MWM object no. 2521, a soap made at Charles Goodwin's Ivy Soap Works in Salford, Manchester.
For other examples of witch-related soap and soap advertising, see 612, 1825, 1841, 1987, 2080 and 2081. It seems that manufacturers thought that images of witches and magic would appeal to women purchasers, and that magic was an appropriate image to represent the transformative power of their soaps.
- Resource:
- Object
- Materials:
- Soap
- Copyright ownership:
- MWM
Information from the donors: The soap was found in a sealed crate in a hardware store (in a very old building) in Gloucestershire, along with other soaps that seemed to be World War One army surplus. It probably dates from 1918-20.
This soap is very similar to MWM object no. 2521, a soap made at Charles Goodwin's Ivy Soap Works in Salford, Manchester.
For other examples of witch-related soap and soap advertising, see 612, 1825, 1841, 1987, 2080 and 2081. It seems that manufacturers thought that images of witches and magic would appeal to women purchasers, and that magic was an appropriate image to represent the transformative power of their soaps.