Showing posts with label scent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scent. Show all posts

Monday, 13 July 2020

a beautiful invention




Soap was invented around 2800 BC in Babylonia. Made from fat boiled with ashes, it was originally used in cleaning wool and cotton for textile manufacture.

Soap is such a beautiful invention. According to The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2012, hand-washing with soap could save the lives of over 600,000 children every year.

So here is my personal odyssey in soap...


My first memories of soap as a child were of old-fashioned brands, in particular the legendary, 'Imperial Leather'. Created in 1938 by UK manufacturer Cussons, it was named after a perfume invented by a Russian aristocrat.

It wasn't, however, the  illustrious history of Imperial Leather that made it such a firm favourite in our household. My mother bought it purely on the basis of durability. A bar of the wretched stuff could last for months until it was reduced to vestigial remains attached to the indestructible label on the front. Even that was recycled, the label removed and the soapy residue squished into the next bar so nothing was wasted.

Back in my childhood the concept of a daily bath was an impossible luxury. It was a weekly dip in the tub (shared water) supplemented by a chilling morning scrub at the basin. During winter frosted-glass in the bathroom meant just that - rime-patterned windows iced on the inside.


My teenage years bring back the fondest memories of all. With newly-launched hormones coursing through my system I met my first girlfriend.

In all probability she was using the same sort of soap as me, but she smelt different - she smelt feminine.  The importance of olfactory input in the process of bonding has been well documented and despite my increasing age I can still close my eyes and bring back those fond memories.


Time marched on. My girlfriend became my wife and then mother to our three lovely children. This brought many new smells into the household - some pleasant, some not.

The best of all, of course, was the smell of freshly bathed babies.


One by one, the children have flown the nest and now we are back to being a couple again. We can enjoy the indulgence of luxury soaps, many of which are scented with lavender.  They bring back memories of our old holiday home, deep in the heart of Norfolk.


Whilst we hope our ultimate demise may be years away there is no denying the inexorable fate that awaits us all. No perfume, no colour, no earthly existence. It is meet and right to reflect on the cycle of life. Ashes to ashes - a key ingredient of the humble but beautiful invention that is soap.

Saturday, 30 November 2013

The scent bottle of life

Dear Sheddists,

I was reflecting this week on the fact that whilst we express our lives for the most part in two primary senses, sight and sound, the remaining three are for many of us so much more evocative.


I spent just five minutes the other day bringing to mind some of the smells I associate with my early life at school …


  • fresh-cut grass on school playing-fields;
  • the anaglypta wall-paper we used to cover our school exercise-books;
  • crumbs at the bottom of the 'half-penny' biscuit barrel during break-time at kindegarten;
  • that strange plimsoll-whitening solution which stuck to everything but the plimsoll itself;
  • boiled cabbage;
  • the sweet dust smell on opening an old desk at the start of a new term; and
  • the rubber and gas of a lit bunsen-burner.
Just pause for a second to bring one of these to mind. Close your eyes and open the scent bottle of life - you might discover more than you would imagine!

And perhaps you might even leave a comment with a personal favourite of your own ….

best regards,

electrofried(mr)