Oberne Hosick and Co. Hard-Water Soap, Chicago, Ill. – Vintage Wall Art
(Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
A window into the past: Oberne Hosick and Co. Hard-Water Soap, Chicago, Ill., preserved in this historic image. It is part of the Snapshots of the Past archive, gathered over 25 years of research.
Framed, it is ready for the wall; unframed, it is ready for the frame you choose. Perfect for a home, office, library or classroom wall, and a gift with a story behind it. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past, founded in 2001, has served tens of thousands of customers worldwide.
Oberne Hosick and Co. Hard-Water Soap, Chicago, Ill.
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Chicago's name in the title ties this soap to a city that had become one of the country's busiest manufacturing centers by the late 1800s. The phrase "hard-water" refers to the mineral-rich tap water many households dealt with, which made ordinary soap curdle instead of lathering well. Makers of such soaps promised a cleaner wash from the same faucet, and they often advertised with colorful lithographed cards, which is why images like this one survive. Little is recorded here about the firm itself, so it is best read as a sign of the era's boom in branded household goods.
| Original scan | 6,954 × 8,807 px · prints to 23 × 29 in at 300 dpi |
|---|---|
| Reference | tif09482_OberneHosickandCohardwatersoap |
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Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.
