Pears soap
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pears transparent soap is an old brand of soap, first produced commercially in 1789 by Andrew Pears at a factory just off Oxford Street in London, England. Andrew Pears was born in Cornwall around 1770 and came to London in about 1787, where he trained as a barber.
Requiring a gentle soap (which at that time was hard to obtain), he developed a soap based on glycerin, made with only natural products. The novelty of the soap's transparency also gave it a marketing advantage.
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.
Francis' son-in-law Thomas J Barratt, sometimes referred to as the father of modern advertising, eventually took over the firm.
In 1862, production of the soap moved to Isleworth, and three years later Francis' son, Andrew, joined A&W Pears Ltd. as joint proprietor and ran the factory, whilst Thomas ran the head office in London.
In the mid 1910s, A&W Pears Ltd. became part of Lever Brothers and moved production to Port Sunlight in north west England.
Pears soap is now produced in India, and is available in 75g and 125g sizes.
