Maine Memory Network

Historic Hallowell - In the Beginning - Raw Materials - Quarrying

"… processed into potash was for export to Britain's soap-making industry. Quarrying granite soon followed."

Presque Isle: The Star City - The History of Laundry, Aroostook County Style - Page 1 of 2

"Sadie bought big blocks of soap and sliced them with a knife. She then took the soap and dropped it in the tub to let it dissolve and make suds."

Historic Hallowell - Wood Ashes or Gold Dust?

"The soap making recipe uses fat or oils and an essential ingredient scarce in nearly treeless Europe - wood ashes."

John Martin: Expert Observer - Intro: pages 139-194

"… and his move to Bangor to work for Rufus Prince, Soap & Tallow Chandler. In Bangor, he met his future wife, Clara Cary, and many young men with…"

John Martin: Expert Observer - Rufus Prince's factory and store, Bangor, 1864

"Prince was a soap and tallow chandler in Bangor. The store also included dry goods. When he was about 21, John Martin (1823-1904) began working for…"

Mount Desert Island: Shaped by Nature - Beginnings

"… they could eat, they traded it for flour, sugar, soap, molasses, and oil. They eventually shipped fish to markets in Boston and New York and to…"

Western Maine Foothills Region - Continental Paper Bag Company

"… that they printed labels of all types, from soap wrappers to whiskey labels, and sheets of Christmas wrap."

John Martin: Expert Observer - "Representing every particular:" John Martin's Reflections, Illustrations, and Commentary - Page 2 of 2

"… bookkeeping and accounting from Rufus Prince, a soap maker and merchant, for whom he worked from 1844 to about 1854."