ROMANCE OF SOAP.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 60, 5 April 1909, Page 4

ROMANCE OF SOAP.

THE LATE MK. A. PEARS. London newspapers of Mill February announce tin- death, ol' Mr. Andrew i'l-ars, senior partner and managing director oi tlie Islewortli works of the. great firm of Pears' Snip. In his demise there pusses away one of the great captains 01 British industry.

An honest, sturdy man was Andrew Pears—an ardent 'Radical strenuously preaching the solid doctrine of Freetrade; a kindly, Mull' soul, busiiicsslik.' to the finger-tips, fair and generous to his big army of workmen, and honored by all', as such a. man should be. lie carried, with colors Hying high, the traditions of the notable family he represented, and under his sway the romance of something wherein one would not look for romance—the romance of soap —went on as romantically as ever. Andrew Pears was the great grandson of the founder of the firm oi l'cars. The first Andrew: was a Cornishman of Muvaoisscv. He began life as a lmrber's apprentice, travelled about the country as a journeyman barlier with keen, ready scissors and ardent shaving-brush, and liuallv went lo London, where he set up in business »« a general perfumer in Creek-street, Soho—almost the BomlHtreet of those days. IIEdIXN'IMJ OF THE BUSINESS.

Of necessity to his trade, he wa,s an experimental' chemist, and a specialist in the making of dyes. He turned his active brain to the invention of a."pm'<'. sweet soap," and in 17S1I he found wlni he nought, 'and the first stone was laid in the foundation of the great business which soon became known the world over. 11l a buck room of his shop he sel up his little apparatus, and he quickly became known as' "an honest tradesman who made good soap." He was quick to realise—and he was one of the first—that great are the uses oi advertisement: and as soon as the demand began to arise for his soap he inaugurated that wonderful system of continuous advertisement which to-day has grown to so cunning and so profitable an art. Ju the reign of Ceorge 111. "Pears' Soap" appeared in the columns of The Times and the Morning Chronicle, and it, has continued without a break ever since.

In those early days there were no trade-mark laws; the wise and energetic Andrew invented his own, and on each wrapper enclosing his soap he wrote clearly, his own name with his own quill pen. t'p to ,183(1 he carried on the business alone; and then his grandson, Francis, was taken into the firm as partner. They were the original A. and P. Tears. In 1803, Mr. Andrew Pears, who died recently, and Mr. Thomas Harratt joined the (inn, and some twelve years later it was converted into its present form, as a limited liability company.

Mr. Pears' advice to business men was sound and sure: "Advertise, advertise, advertise! Put advertisement is no good unless you advertise a good article. If von have a good article, don't hide vour light under a, bushel!" -MONEY L\ ADVKIITISINd. Tn an interview a little time ago he remarked that while advertisement was tt very expensive amusement, it was the only: tiling. "This velar," he said, "our bill for that item alone readies £lOll.11(111, not one penny of which is, I (-outsider, thrown awav. For instance, we paid Millais .CiJOli'down for his famous picture 'Hubbies.' It is not true Hint We paid 'Our Beauties' for their .signatures over their opinions of our soap. Mine. Patli whs the lirst to write to us. and through a friend -she gave us leave to puolifih her note. I can a-„ure you it was not long before, we were Hooded with similar notes from other ladies. One for us—mid two for thcmsidvcs! 1 am not ashamed 1 to confess 1 that we get- t;7IUIIM a vear out of the business. Why. bless mi'! the annual increase to our business it, a fortune!"

The suit-ess of Pears' soap is (ersely Kumnifd up by Mr. 'Hurratt in his contribution to Mr. Simonis's excellent book, "Success in Advertising": "Increased advertising produces increased sales. The more yell make, the cheaper you can make it. The cheaper you can make it the cheaper you can sell it. Reasoning obvious to all!" ■Many good stories are told of the late Mr. Pears—ninny of them apocryphal. This is true, lie was showing a lady Visitor over hi* farm at Weworlh, when suddenly a litter of very young while pigs scampered liv. "Oh, -the little dears!" cried the 'lady. "How in the world do you keep tlicin so clean and white*" "My dear madanie," was the reply, "we wash 'v-m every morning with Pears' soap!''