Baby's soap
M and R Norton Ltd.
Category
Childcare objects
Date
circa 1930 - circa 1939
Materials
Soap, towelling, cotton and cardboard
Measurements
Box - 193 mm (length); 45 mm (height), Soap - 45 mm (width); 80 mm (height), Flannel - 240 mm (width)
Place of origin
Battersea Park Road, 417/419
Order this imageCollection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 668186
Caption
This brown soap from the mid-1930s has been carved in the shape of a baby’s face and can be seen at Sudbury Hall. On one side the baby has a happy face, on the other sad. The box, which includes a flannel, has the wording: ‘Baby Crys Baby Laughs … Make bath-time play-time with this novel twin-faced baby soap. Change the baby’s tear to a happy laugh in an instant.’
Summary
A baby face made of soap in its original box, placed within a flannel (1930s). The brown soap, in a tight plastic covering, has a happy baby face carved on one side and a sad face on the other side. The soap face is contained within a white towelling flannel edged with blue blanket stitch. A pale blue ribbon is tied around this flannel to form a hood for the baby face soap. The original white rectangular cardboard box has an attached cardboard spacer in it. The white, paper covered, lid has a dark blue section on which is depicted two white heads of babies, one crying, one smiling with the words 'Baby Cries Baby Laughs, Nortons baby face soap with face flannel Made In England' with a white nappy pin at either side. Above this section is printed, in blue, 'Make bath-time play-time with this novel twin-faced Baby Soap . Change the Baby's tear to a happy laugh, in an instant' on the left side and 'This delicately perfumed soap is ideally suited to Baby's soft skin especially soothing because of its rich Lanoline content'. On one long side is printed, in blue, 'Bath-time is Laugh-time with Norton's Baby Soap!' On the other side it reads 'Contains Lanoline Essential For Babies Skin, Sole Distributors M and R Horton Ltd. 417/419 Battersea Park Road, London, SW11'. Total number of items is 5.
Provenance
Donated to the Museum of Childhood by Mr and Mrs Gammons in February 1994.
Makers and roles
M and R Norton Ltd., maker