Collections of packaging materials have been growing in popularity over the past decades. Their popularity is likely linked to their increasing rarity due to their ephemeral nature which, after using the product inside, the packaging was then discarded. The museum has extensive packaging collections starting with its DuPont gunpowder containers through to more modern products.
One significant example is the Gerald A. and Arlene L. Fingerman Fabric Care Memorabilia Collection. This vast collection, which is open for research and potential museum loans, consists of a multitude of objects related to the business of getting clean! Portions of this collection have been transferred to library including trade cards that represent many of the products in the museum collection.
Included are product packaging relating to laundry soap/detergent, bluing, naphtha soap, bath soap, cleaning fluid, spot removers, starch, borax, dish washing soap and a whole lot more!
These products which primarily date to the 19th and 20th centuries were made in at least twenty-eight states including New York, California, Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska, Montana, Michigan and more. Seventeen countries are represented include Canada, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, England, Australia, Guatemala, Ireland and Malaysia giving it global representation.
The diversity in the collection is really wonderful ranging from familiar brands that still exist today such as ALL, Downy and Tide to those that are long gone but now not forgotten including one of my favorites – Hippo Washing Powder from Burlington, Iowa. Great name for laundry soap! Another personal favorite of mine is New York Washing Gas which was made in Cincinnati, Ohio. How did they ever come up with that name?
In addition to the soap boxes, the Fingerman collection contains many other items related to laundry including home dry cleaning machines, patent models, clothes pounders and more. If you are interested in learning more about the collection, please contact Hagley’s Museum Registrar Keith Minsinger at kminsinger@hagley.org.
Debra Hughes is the Museum Curator of Collections and Exhibits at Hagley.