Roadside advertisements: Soap

Marolles (France);
12.VI.2000

Savon Le Chat
or
The Cat Soap

Le Chat saw light in 1853 as a cube of soap made by a company in Marseille: C. Ferrier &Cie - La Grande Savonnerie.

Davezieux (N82, France);
VII.1999; pict. T. Dubois

Le Chat was bought by Henkel in 1986. The Cat — still present on the package — has been shrunk into a small icon.

(www.henkel.fr; www.lechat.fr)

Lede (Belgium);
XI.1998

Zeeppoeder
VIGOR
Voor de zware wasch
or
Soap powder VIGOR
For the heavy laundering

The Dutch version of the advertisement.

Ukkel (Belgium); VII.1998;
pict.: A. Guët

Savon en poudre
VIGOR

The French version of the ad.

The 'fuel section' features other suggestive names like Energic, Spido, Energol, ...

Arlon (Belgium); III.2000;
pict.: Beke & Bousard

Savon en poudre
VIGOR
Pour la grosse lessive
or
Soap powder VIGOR
For the heavy laundry

Turnhout (Belgium); September 1999;
spotted by B. Baeten

LUX - Voor alle fijne wasch
or
LUX - for all fine laundering.

LUX and VIGOR target opposite ends of the washing-scale.
Both murals for LUX and VIGOR are also very old. The Dutch word wasch spells was since 1946 !

Nivelles (Belgium);
March 1999

LUX - Pour lavages ???
or
LUX - for ??? laundering.

To me Lux was Unilever-movie-star toilet-soap. And now this: Lux for laundry.

Andenne (Belgium); 08.IX.2002;
pict. J. Muller

LUX - Pour lavages délicats
or
LUX - for the delicate laundering.

Hemiksem (Belgium);
12.IX.1999

SUNLIGHT zeep (=soap)

Until 1884 soap was just soap.
But then William Lever (founder of Unilever) wrapped his Sunlight in vivid colours. This innovative approach resulted in a number one position in many countries.
Vigor is also a Unilever brand.

Gent (Belgium);
II.1998

SUNLIGHT zeep
or: Sunlight soap
The background shows a palm tree with PALMEX

Vorst (Brussels, Belgium);
June 1998; pict. A. Guët

Sunlight savon (=soap)

Several layers of the same and other brands.

The lower part of this wall is in the Lubricants section.

Brussels (Belgium); IX.1998;
pict. A. Guët.

Sunlight

St. Denijs (Belgium); VIII.1999;
pict. M. Tailly.

SUNLIGHT zeep

Sunlight on this exposed wall on a railway station diverts notably from the usual scheme.

Gent (Belgium);
VI.2000

The typical Sunlight Zeep wall.

Interesting though because of the Camus-announcement.

CAMUS
la grande marque
COGNAC

We have more Camus on the site.

Sri Lanka; III.2002;
pict. H. De Meyer

Sunlight - Pure Soap

Notice the lower case type. The Belgian walls are in uppercase.
It's also remarkable that we haven't any other Sunlight murals except for Belgium. Lux and Vigor finds also come only from Belgium.

Liège (Belgium), X.2002;
pict. J. Muller

Sunlight - Savon

The French version

Lessen (Belgium);
VI.2004

Sunlight - Savon

Strassbourg (France), I.2005;
pict. M. Jullien

Sunlicht - Seife
Leichte Arbeit - Völler Erfolg
or
Sunlicht - Soap
No Sweat - Great Results

In 1899, W. Lever started production of his Sunlight Soap in Germany. It was a great succes and in 1903 the German version of the brand was created : Sunlicht.

Alsace was German territory before 1918. This wall could well date from then, the early days of the brand.

San Sebastian (Spain), VII.2010;
pict. A. Guët

Escamas BAQUESÍL
para lavar prendas delicadas
or
soapflakes Baquesíl
for delicate garments

In the 1960s and '70s Spanish newspapers regularly ran classifieds for sales representatives. The company disappeared in the 1980s.

We have more advertisements with tiles: e.g. Philips light bulbs or Studebaker cars.

The detail on the tiles is amazing:

Apriete aqui y tire

Este jabón es NEUTRO
No contiene acidos rasinas ni alcalis libras y su contenido es de un 80% de grasa (ac.gr.)

VENTA AL PUBLICO (Inc. UyC)
Peso salida mag 120 grs
Contenido neto 100 grs.

S^t Pierre les Nemours (N7, France);
1997; pict. T. Dubois

SAPONITE - marque déposée

Excellent wall featuring Mr. Bonaparte who is clearly impressed by the qualities of the product.

The Emperor supports a Cognac too.

Charenton le Pont (France);
November 1999; pict. A. Guët

SAPONITE - la bonne lessive
or Saponite the right washing powder.

Almost lost and showing the same drawing as the 1997 find but enhanced with a short recommendation. Below the tub remains of marque déposée can be seen.

Saponite is a synonym for the mineral Montmorillonite also known as Mountain soap.

Asnières (92 France);
springtime 1996; pict. T. Dubois

Saponite advert over an older KUB.

Find a modern KUB artwork.

Liège (Belgium); VIII.2002;
pict. J. Muller

WAVI le savon complet pour toutes Lessives a base d'Elium
or
WAVI the complete soap for all laundry, based on Elium.

I wonder what Elium might be.

The left wing shows the package with a bilingual (French - Dutch) text stating New - contains Elium in the red blot and in the yellow rubans repeating that it is a complete product.

The right wing says Glycérine parfumé and gives the NET weigth of the box.

Thies (Senegal); XII.2003;
pict. H. De Meyer

so Klin
nouveau parfum - plus protecteur de couleurs - Lessive concentrée - extra puissante - 30% plus economique
or
so Klin
new scent - protects colours better - concentrated - extra strong - 30% better value

(Madagascar); 22.X.2012; pict. H. De Meyer

SABA Power

SABA is a brand of Pacific Interlink, incorporated in 1988 in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). Saba is presumable one of the most trusted brands in many Sub-Saharan countries.

SABA Power
Detergent Powder ● Extra Power Concentrate ● Protects Colour ● Removes Stubborn Stains ● Safe on Hands

More cleaning:	Cleaning and maintenance part 1
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Cleaning and maintenance - Soap