Two unusual English soaps... Vinolia and..... W.....

[EclipseRedRing]

Gentlemen, for your interest I present some unusual English soaps, here is the first:

Vinolia Economy Shaving Cake.

This is boxed and seemingly unused with a faint smell of roses. It is marked as made by 'VINOLIA Co. Ltd. LONDON' and cost 3d.

Here it is with my previously acquired Vinolia shaving stick. I read that Vinolia began to move soap production from London to Rotterdam in 1934/5 but these do not look that old to me, and certainly not to the time of the Titanic when this brand of soap was supplied to some passengers, they seem more 1950s to me. Does anyone know the date of these for certain?

Here is the second:

Williams Mug Shaving Soap.

This is a bit dirty but is boxed and seemingly unused; the puck is embossed with a star logo as well as the number 540304.

"Wait just a minute! You said English soaps, this is a vintage Williams puck made by J.B.Williams in the USA!".

My friends, I kept the best until last, take a look at the top of the box......

I give you, an unused, boxed, vintage Williams puck made, not by J.B.Williams in USA, but by "THE JAMES B.WILLIAMS CO. (England) LTD. LONDON".

Here it is with my previously acquired unused shave stick and aftershave made by the same London branch of Williams.

Does any one know the date of any of these, do you have any items made by James B. Williams of London? Let's see them!

 

[Lane101]

Gentlemen, for your interest I present some unusual English soaps, here is the first:

Vinolia Economy Shaving Cake.

This is boxed and seemingly unused with a faint smell of roses. It is marked as made by 'VINOLIA Co. Ltd. LONDON' and cost 3d.

View attachment 1832002

View attachment 1832003

Here it is with my previously acquired Vinolia shaving stick. I read that Vinolia began to move soap production from London to Rotterdam in 1934/5 but these do not look that old to me, and certainly not to the time of the Titanic when this brand of soap was supplied to some passengers, they seem more 1950s to me. Does anyone know the date of these for certain?

View attachment 1832004

Here is the second:

Williams Mug Shaving Soap.

This is a bit dirty but is boxed and seemingly unused; the puck is embossed with a star logo as well as the number 540304.

View attachment 1832005
View attachment 1832006

"Wait just a minute! You said English soaps, this is a vintage Williams puck made by J.B.Williams in the USA!".

My friends, I kept the best until last, take a look at the top of the box......

View attachment 1832007

I give you, an unused, boxed, vintage Williams puck made, not by J.B.Williams in USA, but by "THE JAMES B.WILLIAMS CO. (England) LTD. LONDON".

Here it is with my previously acquired unused shave stick and aftershave made by the same London branch of Williams.

View attachment 1832008

Does any one know the date of any of these, do you have any items made by James B. Williams of London? Let's see them!

Great find! The University of Connecticut has a archive of J.B. Williams company records from around 1850 - 1930 including the company's London records per the link below. Looks like this was a U.K. subsidiary of the U.S. J.B. Williams.

The London records span 1885 to 1929.

Series VI: London Records, 1885-1929 | UConn Archives & Special Collections ArchivesSpace

archivessearch.lib.uconn.edu

 

[BigJ]

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!!

 

[abies]

I love Vinolia soap. Do/did the shaving products have the same scent?

 

[Alum Ladd]

@EclipseRedRing Hi Richard.

Vinolia Otto toilet soap was indeed provided for Titanic first class passengers, but not often mentioned, so was Vinolia shaving soap and sticks for the male passengers.

Vinolia's signature scent was described as being of 'rose'.

I believe that the Vinolia brand, originally made by Blondeau of Paris, with an early franchise in London and New York was acquired by Lever Bros in 1906.

Vinolia made shaving sticks, soaps and fascinatingly, a tubed shaving cream from the early 1890's. See this Illustrated London News advertisement from December 1891.

Advertisement, Vinolia - https://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/U266630/Advertisement-Vinolia?t=2&q=Vinolia+Shaving+Soap

I suspect, from the styling of the printing and illustrations, the products you show are from the early 1900's, and not later than the 1920's.

For any Titanic references, I would suggest the excellent and perhaps premier Encyclopedia Titanica - https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/ forum and website of which I am a lapsed member.

I would especially recommend the superb articles section, written by some of the world's premier Titanica experts and authors, including the wonderful Belfast author and historian Sean Maloney, a great Gent in my chats with him.

Just excellent reads. Oh, and for any questions about Vinolia, just use the search engine.

 

[abies]

FWIW, the Vinolia I've used was more of a rose geranium (Pelargonium) scent. I actually think it was a rose geranium oil probably with a bit of citronella or something? It seems like the chemical compositions of those three things are very similar though so it's hard to tell.

 

[malocchio]

Gentlemen, for your interest I present some unusual English soaps, here is the first:

Vinolia Economy Shaving Cake.

This is boxed and seemingly unused with a faint smell of roses. It is marked as made by 'VINOLIA Co. Ltd. LONDON' and cost 3d.

View attachment 1832002

View attachment 1832003

Here it is with my previously acquired Vinolia shaving stick. I read that Vinolia began to move soap production from London to Rotterdam in 1934/5 but these do not look that old to me, and certainly not to the time of the Titanic when this brand of soap was supplied to some passengers, they seem more 1950s to me. Does anyone know the date of these for certain?

View attachment 1832004

Here is the second:

Williams Mug Shaving Soap.

This is a bit dirty but is boxed and seemingly unused; the puck is embossed with a star logo as well as the number 540304.

View attachment 1832005
View attachment 1832006

"Wait just a minute! You said English soaps, this is a vintage Williams puck made by J.B.Williams in the USA!".

My friends, I kept the best until last, take a look at the top of the box......

View attachment 1832007

I give you, an unused, boxed, vintage Williams puck made, not by J.B.Williams in USA, but by "THE JAMES B.WILLIAMS CO. (England) LTD. LONDON".

Here it is with my previously acquired unused shave stick and aftershave made by the same London branch of Williams.

View attachment 1832008

Does any one know the date of any of these, do you have any items made by James B. Williams of London? Let's see them!

Gentlemen, for your interest I present some unusual English soaps, here is the first:

Vinolia Economy Shaving Cake.

This is boxed and seemingly unused with a faint smell of roses. It is marked as made by 'VINOLIA Co. Ltd. LONDON' and cost 3d.

View attachment 1832002

View attachment 1832003

Here it is with my previously acquired Vinolia shaving stick. I read that Vinolia began to move soap production from London to Rotterdam in 1934/5 but these do not look that old to me, and certainly not to the time of the Titanic when this brand of soap was supplied to some passengers, they seem more 1950s to me. Does anyone know the date of these for certain?

View attachment 1832004

Here is the second:

Williams Mug Shaving Soap.

This is a bit dirty but is boxed and seemingly unused; the puck is embossed with a star logo as well as the number 540304.

View attachment 1832005
View attachment 1832006

"Wait just a minute! You said English soaps, this is a vintage Williams puck made by J.B.Williams in the USA!".

My friends, I kept the best until last, take a look at the top of the box......

View attachment 1832007

I give you, an unused, boxed, vintage Williams puck made, not by J.B.Williams in USA, but by "THE JAMES B.WILLIAMS CO. (England) LTD. LONDON".

Here it is with my previously acquired unused shave stick and aftershave made by the same London branch of Williams.

View attachment 1832008

Does any one know the date of any of these, do you have any items made by James B. Williams of London? Let's see them!

Fantastic find!..... I have a Vinolia stick , but your stick and puck are far older . The fact that the rose scent has held up illustrates the fine quality of the natural rose oil they used .

 

[Pinto90]

For any Titanic references, I would suggest the excellent and perhaps premier Encyclopedia Titanica - https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/ forum and website of which I am a lapsed member.

Good day, are you a fan of the Titanic story?

 

[malocchio]

A few shots of my old Vinolia .... not sure , but perhaps the last run ??

 

[Grundi]

Vinolia is (was) a great shave soap, hard, produced top shelf lather, and the scent lasted long after the shave. I was in on the same PIF as @malocchio when @Jonxster shared his amazing find with some of us. I still have a short nub of the Vinolia remaining, using it sparingly.

 

[ajkel64]

Thanks for sharing your finds. I look for antique/old shaving soaps out here in Australia when we go Antiquing but I only seem to find empty packaging which is outrageous in pricing.