Pears soap
Encyclopedia
Soap
In chemistry, soap is a salt of a fatty acid.IUPAC. "" Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. . Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford . XML on-line corrected version: created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN...
first produced and sold in 1789 by Andrew Pears
Andrew Pears
Andrew Pears was farmer's son from Cornwall, born in 1766, who invented the transparent soap. He moved to London in 1789 from his home in Mevagissey, Cornwall, where he had trained as a barber....
at a factory just off Oxford Street
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate,...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It was the world's first transparent soap. Under the stewardship of Thomas J. Barratt
Thomas J. Barratt
Thomas J. Barratt was the chairman of the soap manufacturer A&F Pears and a pioneer of brand marketing. He has been called "the father of modern advertising"....
, A. & F. Pears Ltd. company initiated a number of innovations in sales and marketing. According to Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
records, Pears Soap was the world's first registered brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
and is therefore the world's oldest continuously existing brand.
History
Andrew Pears, the son of a farmer, was born in around 1770 and moved from his native MevagisseyMevagissey
Mevagissey is a village, fishing port and civil parish in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is situated approximately five miles south of St Austell....
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
to London in about 1787 to train as a barber. He completed his apprenticeship in 1789 and established a barber's shop in Gerrard Street
Gerrard Street
There are several streets called Gerrard Street, including:*Gerrard Street in London, United Kingdom.*Gerrard Street in Toronto, Canada....
in Soho and began to produce cosmetic products. At that time Soho was a wealthy residential area, and Andrew's clientele included many wealthy socialites who took great pride in their appearance. The fashion amongst the wealthy of the period was for pristine white (alabaster
Alabaster
Alabaster is a name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals, when used as a material: gypsum and calcite . The former is the alabaster of the present day; generally, the latter is the alabaster of the ancients...
) complexions; tanned faces were associated with those who laboured out of doors. Andrew 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 (many of which contained arsenic
Arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...
or lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
) that were in general use at the time. 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, Andrew gave the soap an aroma reminiscent of an English garden
English garden
The English garden, also called English landscape park , is a style of Landscape garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical Garden à la française of the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe. The...
.
In 1835, his grandson Francis Pears joined the business and created the company A. & F. Pears Ltd. In 1838 Andrew Pears retired, leaving Francis in charge of the company. In 1851 the company was awarded the prize medal for soap at The Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations or The Great Exhibition, sometimes referred to as the Crystal Palace Exhibition in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held, was an international exhibition that took place in Hyde Park, London, from 1 May to 15 October...
.
Francis' son-in-law Thomas J. Barratt
Thomas J. Barratt
Thomas J. Barratt was the chairman of the soap manufacturer A&F Pears and a pioneer of brand marketing. He has been called "the father of modern advertising"....
, sometimes referred to as the father of modern advertising, eventually managed the firm.
In 1862, production of the soap moved to Isleworth
Isleworth
Isleworth is a small town of Saxon origin sited within the London Borough of Hounslow in west London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane. Isleworth's original area of settlement, alongside the Thames, is known as...
, and three years later Francis' son, Andrew, joined A. & F. Pears Ltd. as joint proprietor and ran the factory, whilst Thomas ran the head office in London.
In the mid 1910s, A. & F. Pears Ltd. became part of Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers was a British manufacturer founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever and his brother, James Darcy Lever . The brothers had invested in and promoted a new soap making process invented by chemist William Hough Watson, it was a huge success...
and moved production to Port Sunlight
Port Sunlight
Port Sunlight is a model village, suburb and electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is located between Lower Bebington and New Ferry, on the Wirral Peninsula. Between 1894 and 1974 it formed part of Bebington urban district within the county of Cheshire...
in north west England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Pears soap is now made in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
by Hindustan Unilever a company in which Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
controls a fifty-two percent stake.
Manufacture
The entire Pears plant was a small almost self-contained annexe situated at the rear of the administration block. The plant 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 plant building.
The concave shape of the soap is formed by shrinkage while the soap is drying, and is not due to deliberate moulding
Molding (process)
Molding or moulding is the process of manufacturing by shaping pliable raw material using a rigid frame or model called a pattern....
.
Bars of soap produced in the factory come in two sizes: 75 g and 125 g.
Nowadays this soap comes in three colours - the classic amber, the green, and mint (blue color). Each variety has a unique aroma. The soap now comes in two new sizes: 69 g and 119 g.
Recent changes to quality of ingredients used in the manufacturing process (see "Changes to the Formula" below) have resulted in a noticeably different shape (flatter rather than concave) and difference in scent with the classic transparent amber bar. The aroma, which used to be a characteristically mild, spicy fragrance, is now a very strong frankincense-like smell. In the UK the same has been noticed in 2009 with a scent almost like coal tar and with a reduction in the moisturizing properties, and in a differently shaped bar.
Marketing
From the late 19th century, Pears soap was famous for its marketing, masterminded by BarrattThomas J. Barratt
Thomas J. Barratt was the chairman of the soap manufacturer A&F Pears and a pioneer of brand marketing. He has been called "the father of modern advertising"....
. Its campaign using Millais's painting Bubbles
Bubbles (painting)
Bubbles, originally titled A Child's World, is a painting by Sir John Everett Millais that became famous when it was used over many generations in advertisements for Pears soap...
continued over many decades. As with many other brands at the time, at the beginning of the 20th century Pears also used their product as a sign of the prevailing European concept of the "civilizing mission" of empire and trade, in which the soap stands for progress.
In the late 19th century, Pears used coins countermarked with "Pears Soap" as a way of advertising its soap. The coins used were French, imported by Pears. About the same size and shape as the British pennies at the time, these French coins were generally accepted as pennies in Britain.
Lillie Langtry
Lillie Langtry
Lillie Langtry , usually spelled Lily Langtry when she was in the U.S., born Emilie Charlotte Le Breton, was a British actress born on the island of Jersey...
's famous ivory complexion brought her income as the first woman to endorse a commercial product, advertising Pears Soap. Her fee was allied to her weight so she was paid 'pound for pound'.
Between 1891 and 1925 Pears issued their now famous annuals
Annual publication
An annual publication, more often called simply an annual, is a book or a magazine, comic book or comic strip published yearly. For example, a weekly or monthly publication may produce an Annual featuring similar materials to the regular publication....
, now 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.
Beginning with 2003, a British company called Cert Brands is in charge of marketing and distribution of Pears soap.
Historical overview
Pears' unique manufacturing process required the soap to be dried for up to thirteen weeks in order for the alcohol used in the process to evaporate and be re-used. The soap bars were laid out on wooden trays in drying rooms known as "ovens" about the size of a domestic garage. Bars were placed on trays with both sides open to the air. Ovens were graded in warmth from around 100F (39C) to 70F (21C) and as drying proceeded trolleys loaded with trays were moved to progressively cooler ovens. In practice the soap often became opaque, and Unilever explored a variety of options to prevent this from happening, all of which would have added to the cost:- rotating the trays periodically so that those at the top were moved to the bottom;
- adding large paddle wheels to circulate the air better;
- completely re-duct the way in which the warm air entered the ovens to achieve the same effect.
In 1971, a team from the Pears soap advertising agency, Foote Cone and Belding, visited the Pears soap factory in Port Sunlight in order to have a better understanding of how the soap was made, in the hope this might provide some insight for their next advertising campaign. During the visit they attended one of Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
's product meetings, at which point Richard Oldcorn, the agency account director, suggested a novel solution. He had read chemistry at Cambridge University and had previously worked for Unilever, with a company that made industrial margarines. There had been a problem with lard going rancid due to oxidation, and Oldcorn remembered that Butylated Hydroxytoluene
Butylated hydroxytoluene
Butylated hydroxytoluene , also known as butylhydroxytoluene, is a lipophilic organic compound that is primarily used as an antioxidant food additive as well as an antioxidant additive in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, jet fuels, rubber, petroleum products, electrical transformer oil, and embalming...
had been used as an antioxidant which successfully overcame the problem. He suggested this during the meeting, and the solution was adopted. It allowed not only different coloured transparent Pears soap is to be produced, but also Pears shampoos.
2009 change
In October 2009 the formula for the transparent amber soap was altered from the original formula to become 'Gentle Care' wrapped in an inner cellophane covering. The new soap was slightly softer in texture and lasts half as long, the most noticeable difference was the scent. The aroma of the classic transparent amber bar, which used to be characterized by a mild, spicy herbal fragrance, was altered to a stronger aromatic scent. The "Hypoallergenic, non-comedogenic" claim was dropped due to the new ingredient additions. Furthermore, the 3-month aging process described on the original box does not appear on the box of the 'Gentle Care' formula, suggesting that the "improvements" made were motivated by the desire to produce the soap more quickly and with cheaper ingredients, therefore increasing profits.On 6 January 2010, after a Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
campaign, it was reported in the media that Pears planned to abandon the new formula and that by March 2010 a new version would be available that is "much closer to the original". On 8 January 2010, it was reported in the media that Pears will not abandon the new formula but will "make further improvements, by delivering a scent that more closely resembles the original formula.. However, this has not occurred.
Comparison of the historical formulas
- The information in the table below needs to be verified. The dates in particular need documented support. Also, the information may need to be expanded as there are at least four different ingredient listings known to exist for Pears soap in recent years.
An analysis of the current ingredients list indeed reveals items such as limonene
Limonene
Limonene is a colourless liquid hydrocarbon classified as a cyclic terpene. The more common D isomer possesses a strong smell of oranges. It is used in chemical synthesis as a precursor to carvone and as a renewably-based solvent in cleaning products....
, whose variant called L-limonene is characterised by a "turpentine
Turpentine
Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from trees, mainly pine trees. It is composed of terpenes, mainly the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and beta-pinene...
-like odor" also typical of frankincense. Ironically, it is an insecticide as well. However, this item has already been present in the pre-2009 formula. Therefore the perceived change might be explained not only by different ingredients, but also by different proportions of ingredients.
The latest 2009 modification mainly breaks down to an addition of artificial colouring and substances whose hypothetical function is either as detergent
Detergent
A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with "cleaning properties in dilute solutions." In common usage, "detergent" refers to alkylbenzenesulfonates, a family of compounds that are similar to soap but are less affected by hard water...
s (i.e. cleaning substances) or stabilisers
Stabilizer (chemistry)
In chemistry a stabilizer is a chemical which tends to inhibit the reaction between two or more other chemicals. It can be thought of as the antonym to a catalyst...
(i.e. product longevity enhancers). However, even the pre-2009 formula was a far cry from the original one. The latter was completely free of industrial cleaners, free of synthetic colours and (apparently) free of synthetic odorants, whose place was occupied by natural herbal fragrances. However, one unknown in the original formula is the "Pears fragrance essence": because of it, the customer cannot be certain whether the "new" fragrant compounds are indeed all new—or simply formerly unlisted items.
During production at Port Sunlight the glycerol (glycerine) content was a result of not removing that formed during the manufacturing process.
| Old-stock soaps | Hindustan Unilever Ltd., Cert Brands-distributed bars | New soaps | |||
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| 1789–2009 | 2003–2009 | October 2009 – now (March 2010?) | |||
| Group I: Traditional ingredients | |||||
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| Group II: Trivial introductions | |||||
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| Group III: Detergent Detergent A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with "cleaning properties in dilute solutions." In common usage, "detergent" refers to alkylbenzenesulfonates, a family of compounds that are similar to soap but are less affected by hard water... s, stabiliser Stabilizer (chemistry) In chemistry a stabilizer is a chemical which tends to inhibit the reaction between two or more other chemicals. It can be thought of as the antonym to a catalyst... s/preservative Preservative A preservative is a naturally occurring or synthetically produced substance that is added to products such as foods, pharmaceuticals, paints, biological samples, wood, etc. to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or by undesirable chemical changes.... s, emulsifiers | |||||
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| Group IV: Colouring agents | |||||
| Group V: New fragrance agents | ||||
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