EACH CHRISTMAS SEASON PEARS SOAP WOULD PRODUCE A NEW LITHOGRAPHE POSTER ADVERTISEMENT ITEM.  THIS 1900 PRINT WAS ON THE BACK COVER OF THE SPECIAL CHRISTMAS ISSUE.  FEW PEARS COMMERICIAL ADWORKS WERE IN COLOR SUCH AS THIS.  A GREAT VICTIORIAN IMAGE OF A SWEET LITTLE BABY AND A PUPPY DOG GETTING INTO TROUBLE WITH THE COAL SHUTTLE.   GOOD THING THAT THEY HAVE THE PEARS SOAP TO CLEAN UP WITH.....  GOOD BRIGHT COLORS

PLEASE SEE PHOTO FOR DETAILS AND CONDITION OF THIS NEW POSTER

SIZE OF POSTER PRINT - 12 X 18 INCHES

DATE OF ORIGINAL PRINT, POSTER OR ADVERT - 1900

At PosterPrint Shop we look for rare & unusual ITEMS OF commercial graphics from throughout the world.

The PosterPrints are printed on high quality 48 # acid free PREMIUM GLOSSY PHOTO PAPER (to insure high depth ink holding and wrinkle free product)

Most of the PosterPrints have APPROX 1/4" border MARGINS for framing, to use in framing without matting.

MOST POSTERPRINTS HAVE IMAGE SIZE OF 11.5 X 17.5.

As decorative art these PosterPrints give you - the buyer - an opportunity to purchase and enjoy fine graphics (which in most cases are rare in original form) in a size and price range to fit most all.

As graphic collectors ourselves, we take great pride in doing the best job we can to preserve and extend the wonderful historic graphics of the past.

Should you have any questions please feel free to email us and we will do our best to clarify.

We use USPS.

WE ship items DAILY.

We ship in custom made extra thick ROUND TUBES..... WE SHIP POSTERPRINTS ROLLED + PROTECTED BY PLASTIC BAG

For multiple purchases please wait for our invoice... THANKS.

We pride ourselves on quality product, service and shipping. 

POSTERPRINTARTSHOP

DESCRIPTION OF ITEM: additional information:

Pears transparent soap is a British brand of soap first produced and sold in 1807 by Andrew Pears, at a factory just off Oxford Street in London. It was the world's first mass-market translucent soap. Under the stewardship of advertising pioneer Thomas J. Barratt, A. & F. Pears initiated a number of innovations in sales and marketing. English actress and socialite Lillie Langtry was recruited to become the poster-girl for Pears in 1882, and in doing so she became the first celebrity to endorse a commercial product.

Lever Brothers, now Unilever, acquired A. & F. Pears in 1917. Products under the Pears brand are currently manufactured in India and Saudi Arabia for global distribution.

Andrew Pears, the son of a farmer, was born about 1770 in Cornwall and moved from his native Mevagissey to London around 1787. He completed his apprenticeship in 1789, established a barber's shop in Gerrard Street in Soho and began to produce cosmetic products. At that time, Soho was a high-end residential area, and Pears' clientele included many wealthy socialites who took pride in their appearance. The fashion among the wealthy of the period was to have pristine white complexions; tanned faces were associated with those who laboured outdoors. Pears found that his powders and creams were frequently being used to cover up damage caused by the harshness of the soaps and other beauty products that were in general use at the time, many of which contained arsenic or lead. Pears began to experiment with soap purification and eventually managed to produce a gentle soap based on glycerine and other natural products. The clarity of the soap gave it a novel transparent appearance, which provided a marketing advantage. To add to the appeal, Pears gave the soap an aroma reminiscent of an English garden. It was first sold in London in 1807.

In 1835, when his grandson, Francis Pears, joined the business, the firm was renamed A & F Pears. After three years, Andrew retired and left Francis in charge. At the Great Exhibition of 1851, A & F Pears was awarded the prize medal for soap. Production moved to Isleworth in 1862. 23-year-old Thomas J. Barratt, sometimes referred to as the father of modern advertising, was appointed bookkeeper in 1864. The next year, Francis' son, Andrew, joined A. & F. Pears as joint proprietor, and ran the Isleworth factory. That same year, Thomas married Mary Pears, Francis's eldest daughter, and was appointed to run the administration in London. During the nineteenth century, Pears built a large market for its soap in the United States.

Following Barratt's death in April 1914, Lever Brothers took a major shareholding in A & F Pears. The takeover process was completed in 1920 and marketing and other secondary functions moved to Port Sunlight in north-west England, but production continued at Isleworth.

In the mid to late 1950s, each batch of soap, about 12 a day, was tested to ensure the absence of excess alkali or free fatty acid. Production moved to Port Sunlight in the 1960s, when Unilever, successor to Lever Brothers, set up a cosmetic development laboratory on the Isleworth site. A major fire at the site completely destroyed the original factory.

Pears soap is now made in India by Hindustan Unilever, a company in which Unilever now has a 67 percent share.

Pears soap was made using a process entirely different from that for other soaps. A mixture of tallow and other fats was saponified by an alkali. Clearly, this is currently caustic soda (sodium hydroxide), since the ingredients list shows sodium salts of fatty acids, but a chemist reports that in the 1960s, caustic potash (potassium hydroxide) was used. It has not been possible to determine what was used in the early days of the product, as the writings of Francis Pears mention only alkali in industrial methylated spirits. After saponification was completed, the resulting glycerol was left in the batch. Batches were made not in huge pans, but in small kettle-like vessels. As soon as the translucent amber liquid had cooled enough to solidify, it was extruded into opaque oval bars that were cut into bath- or toilet-weight tablets, ready for beginning their long spell in the drying rooms (ovens). The hot liquid soap fresh from the vessel had a total fatty matter (TFM) of 45% compared with the TFMs of 70–80% usual in soaps made by the conventional method. The TFM increased considerably as the alcohol content fell during drying. The concave shape of the soap is formed by shrinkage while the soap is drying, and is not due to deliberate moulding.

The entire Pears plant was a small almost self-contained annexe at the rear of the administration block. It was run by a handful of staff, who not only had experience of the specialised process, but had developed immunity to the effects of breathing the alcohol-laden atmosphere in the building. Bars of soap produced in the factory come in two sizes: 75 g and 125 g. Nowadays the soap comes in three colours: the classic amber, green, and mint (blue colour). Each variety has a unique aroma. The soap now comes in two new sizes: 69 g and 119 g.

The first of the famous Pears soap marketing campaigns used Giovanni Focardi's most well-known statue, You dirty boy!, exhibited at the Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1878. The statue was so popular that Pears purchased the rights to produce copies as advertisements for its soap products. The statues were in terracotta, plaster and metal, and were used in shop counter displays.

From the late 19th century, Pears soap became famous for its marketing, masterminded by Barratt. Its campaign using John Everett Millais' painting Bubbles continued over many decades. As with many other brands at the time, at the beginning of the 20th century, Pears also used its product as a sign of the prevailing European concept of the "civilizing mission" of empire and trade, in which the soap stood for progress.

In the late 19th century, to publicise its products, Pears distributed coins countermarked with "Pears Soap". They were 10-centime French coins, imported by Pears. About the same size and shape as the British penny of the time, the French coins were generally accepted as pennies in Britain.

Lillie Langtry became the first woman to endorse a commercial product, when her famous ivory complexion gained her a contract to advertise Pears soap. Her fee was related to her weight, so it was said that she was paid "pound for pound".

Between 1891 and 1925, Pears issued its now-famous annuals, which are highly collectible. From the early 20th century, Pears was famous for the annual "Miss Pears" competition, in which parents entered their children into the high-profile hunt for a young brand ambassador to be used on packaging and in consumer promotions. Many Miss Pears subsequently entered acting or modelling.

Pears' Cyclopaedia is a one volume encyclopaedia, continuously published in the United Kingdom since December 1897.

Beginning with 2003, a British company called Cert Brands took charge of the marketing and distribution of Pears soap.