1906 Daily Mirror cartoon
 

https://www.dailycartoonist.com/wp-c...ogle-Books.png


Back then Soap was still to have an Extra Tax


https://unrememberedhistory.com/wp-c.../3snapshot.jpg

How a Bar of soap looked later on.



[Beginning in 1712 and continuing for nearly 150 years,
the British monarchy used soap to raise revenue,
specifically by taxing the luxury item
. The tax itself was on the production of soap,
not the participation.
But due to the high levy’s imposed, the soap makers
left the country hoping to find more acceptance
and less taxes in the new American colonies.

Cleanliness was not the issue,
although it never really was.
Soap itself had been around for ages and used
for a variety of reasons not necessarily associated
with good hygiene.
The Gauls, for example, dating back to the
5th Century B.C., made a variation of soap
from goat’s tallow and beech ashes.
They used it to shiny up their hair,
like a pomade.]


https://unrememberedhistory.com/tag/soap-tax/