Happy Soap Makers Return to Niagara Antique Power Heritage Display

Bill and Mae Robbins, "The Happy Soap Makers" are returning to Niagara Antique Power Heritage Display on Canada Day Weekend after 10 plus years of absence to make their famous "Granny's Lye Soap." With the help of Chris and Peter Worron and the Robbins family and weather permitting soap will be made on Saturday July 3. The soap will be on sale all three days of the show, so come and get yours while the supply last.

Over the past several years there has been a renewed interest in the art of soap making. This form of art has been around for centuries. Up until mid 1800's, many people use to make their own lye soap from simple household supplies. They used three main ingredients Lye, Lard (pig's fat) and hard labour. Back in these days people had large wooden bins outside their houses, they dumped the ashes left over from their wood stoves into these bins and when the time came to make their soap they would pour water through the ashes and siphon out the liquid, known as lye. Lard (fat) was obtained through an annual hog killing that took place once a year around the time of the first hard frost in autumn. The fat was then saved to make the soap. The third ingredient needed was a good set of hard working hands.

Our ancestors mixed together the lard and Lye then cooked and cooked this concoction outside in a large kettle over an open fire stirred with a long handled paddle for hours until it began to harden, it was then poured into a metal pan and left for anything from a week to a month. Once dry, it was cut and divided out for people to use in cleaning and for laundry purposes. The whole process took a very long time, but was necessary for the cleanliness of the family until the next soap making day, which was usually a whole year away. This soap wasn't just used to keep hands clean...it was used for everything. Housewives used the lye soap to wash their dishes, clothes, floors, windows, and even their babies. The soap surprisingly was not as harsh as some people of today believe. People today still buy the original lye soap. Long ago, soap making was not considered an art form, but a necessity.

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