One of the more permanent features of French farmer markets are the stalls with Provencal beauty products. There are olive oil based creams, body washes, shampoos together with lavender infused ironing water and fragrances. Colorful blocks of Marseille soap are stappled in big baskets. A block is 600 grams and the largest hand soap I know.
Many small Soap Producers sell their Products in the weekly Farmers' Markets in France
The art of making soap is old and dates back to the Sumerians to 3’000 BC. Probably discovered by accident by inadvertently mixing olive oil with ash from olive trees. The dense olive wood burns slowly and decays into a fine, white ash. When mixed and heated to 88 degrees celsius, saponification starts. It is a chemical reaction which converts esters into soap by aqueous alkali. As a result, a fatty acid salt is created. When we wash hands, the water breaks the fatty salt and forms long molecules which bind to organic material and dirt. The dirt is then easily washed off. By 2'000 BC, the Egyptian had picked up the technique and made soap from palm oil.
In Egyptian Time, Soap was a Paste rather than a hard Bar. But already used for Cleaning
Soap found its way to Europe when the Roman Empire expanded east towards the Levant and Egypt. The Romans learned how to make soap and began to use it. But for a reason I fail to understand, most Romans thought that soap came from Gaul. Despite the arrival of soap, the Romans kept the old tradition of washing hair and body with olive oil then scrap dirt and old cells from the skin. This tradition is still maintained in Morocco where olive oil or a soapy olive oil paste is used to treat scars and regenerate skin.
Soap is still made in the traditional Way in Nablus with Olive Oil, Baking Soda and Water
Soap was also easily adapted by the Arab culture with its emphasis on cleanliness and washing rituals. During the Islamic Golden Age, soap was made on an industrial scale In the towns of Aleppo and Nablus. To please the customers, fragrance was added to give it a nice smell. Also, Syrian soap was hardened to ease its transport. The Caliphate reached from the Indus to Spain and was the biggest Empire the world had ever seen. Syrian soap was precious and in demand everywhere.
Hammering the Seal on the still soft Soap in Nablus - there are only two factories left today
Through trade and the crusades, soap found its way to Medieval Europe who had long forgotten that soap was known and used by Romans. It was first made in southern Italy and Spain. In 2020 we visited Gallipoli in Puglia, once a big soap maker. By the 14th century, soap making had spread to Venice, the Provence and northern Spain. A century later to England and the Netherlands. In France, there were soap factories in Hyeres, Toulon and Marseille. Soap was made from local olive oil but also from wet soap, a semi-raw product imported from Gallipoli in Puglia.
A Bucket with Savon de Marseille - made following the traditional Rules
With the ascent of France as Europe’s dominant land power, demand for soap increased. Whilst soap was not used for bodily hygiene – nobles preferred to “shower” in perfume from Grasse – soap was used for washing cloth, bed and table linen. The French court was a big customer. By 1660, Marseille's 7 large soap factories made 20’000 tons a year.
Cardinal Colbert, a classical Mercantilist, believe that
France's Industry needed protection to develop
Needless to say that the French Royals could not stop from interfering in the production of soap. In 1688, under the Edit of Colbert, the brand “Savon de Marseille” was protected. Henceforth, soap had to be made in and around Marseille. The use of copper cauldrons mandatory. Animal and plant-based oils were banned. Only olive oil could be used. With the French market exclusively to themselves, the soap makers in Marseille increased production to 76’000 tons by 1786. 48 soap factories employed 600 workers and 1’500 “borrowed” prisoners. Soap making was heavy, smelly work - not everybody’s favorite job.
Cutting the soft Soap into square cubes - there are only 4 Soap Factories left in Marseille
The Edit the Colbert did not survive the French revolution. The following Napoleonic Wars were a boon for Marseille soap though. Napoleon’s continental blockade made Europe a protected market with few competitors. Savon de Marseille gained a quasi-monopoly. More importantly, people discovered the antibacterial effects of soap during the wars and began using it for cleaning hospitals, bandages, surgical instruments and washing the wounded. After more than twenty years of war (1789 – 1815), the soap’s medical qualities were firmly established.
Today's Savon de Marseille are still hand stamped
To keep up with demand, the restriction to exclusively use olive oil were dropped. Soda-ash extracted alkali directly from sea water. New oils like palm, copra and peanut could now be imported to expand the production. By 1913, Marseille had 90 soap factories and produced 180’000 tons. One of the biggest clients were the United States where Marseille soap was appreciated as a luxury product. From this time also dates the formula for ordinary Savon de Marseille which is still in use today
- 63% copra or palm oil
- 9% soda-ash or sea salt
- 28% water
The good times would not last though Demand for soap soared to such levels during the First World War that America got into the business. By the end of the war, soap production in Marseille decreased to 120’000 tons.
American Red Cross Nurses inspect Packages for the Front Line - they included Soap
The following World War II (1939 - 1945) destroyed the industry’s export markets. Synthetic detergents superseded soap during the war years. After 1945, Marseille’s factories began to close one by one. They suffered the same fate as the silk industry in my beloved Ardèche. Silk was supplanted by cheap, mass produced nylon from America. There is no silk industry in the Ardèche anymore - just lots of unused mulberry trees.
The few remaining Soap Makers in Marseille returned back to the Roots
Today, still four soap manufacturers remain in Marseille. They produce about 5’000 tons of soap per year. Old traditions are revived and olive oil is again used. The curative power of olive oil in soaps was rediscovered. Probably the reason why Savon de Marseille is now sold with other beauty products in France’s weekly markets.
France is unrivalled in its variety in soaps offered
There is an excellent video on YouTube "How to produce Millions of Olive Soap Bars in Traditional Soap Factory - Olive Harvest and Processing"
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