Sapolio

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A 1907 advertisement for Sapolio soap
Enoch Morgan's Sons Company, 439 West Street, in 1893

Sapolio was a brand of soap noted for its advertising, led by Artemas Ward from 1883–1908. Bret Harte wrote jingles for the brand, and the sales force also included King Camp Gillette, who went on to create the Gillette safety razor and the razor and blades business model. Time magazine described Sapolio as "probably the world's best-advertised product" in its heyday.

Sapolio was manufactured by Enoch Morgan's Sons Co. from 1869, and named by the family doctor.

James Kenneth Fraser,[1][2][3][4] a copywriter and Cornell University engineering student, wrote in 1900 about the effectiveness of the soap in The Doctor's Lament:[5]

This lean M.D. is Dr. Brown
Who fares but ill in Spotless Town.
The town is so confounded clean,
It is no wonder he is lean,
He's lost all patients now, you know, Because they use Sapolio.

Decline and disappearance[]

After decades of maintaining some of the best known advertising in the U.S., Sapolio's owners decided that their position was sufficiently insurmountable as to let them discontinue most advertising. Despite the brand's overwhelming market position, it was overtaken by competitors within a few years and disappeared from the market before World War II.

Revival[]

In 1997, Sapolio was bought by the Peruvian company . Intradevco is owner of the Sapolio brand in more than 80 countries. The Sapolio brand name is now used to market several cleaning products in Peru and Chile.

Logos[]

1868-1890[]

It consisted in the fact that the word SAPOLIO was made with polygons on its sides and with a hole that bore the name SAPOLIO, and with the typography of the time.

1890-1900[]

The letters S, A, P, O, L, I, O appeared in circles, and this was a bug.

1900-1960[]

It was the word SAPOLIO, which this time was made with the typography of the time. It consisted of a normal uppercase typeface. This logo was used for a period of sixty years.

1960-1992; 1970-2005 (used until the arrival of Sapolio in Chile)[]

It was that the letters "apolio" were now lowercase, and the "p" and "l" were longer.

1975-2000 (used only in Chile)[]

Similar to the 1960 logo, but this time it lost the long line on the "p" and "l", and the dot on the "i" was a red circle.

1980-1997[]

Similar to the following. The word sapolio was all lowercase and colored blue.

1997-2002[]

The red lines were removed, and the text was red with a red and white border.

2002-2005[]

The logo was slanted, and the border was black.

2005-2009; 2005-2013 (used in commercials and sapolio products)[]

Now the border was blue.

2009-present; 2013-present (used in commercials and sapolio products)[]

Now the logo was that the letters of "sa" were large, those of "po" medium, and those of "lio" small and with a blue border.

References in popular culture[]

  • In the children's book, The Hundred Dresses, the main character wonders if Wanda uses Sapolio to get her forehead to shine.
  • Confidence man Soapy Smith was often called Sapolio Smith by the Rocky Mountain News.
  • In the Ed Smalle, Jerry Macy version of Singing in the Bathtub (1930) Sapolio is used as a pun "I Sapolio you think you're smart."[6]
  • In Robert Heinlein's To Sail Beyond the Sunset, Brian Smith (circa 1906) asks his wife "Mo, the papers say that food prices are up even though the farmers are squawking. And I'm certain that this bigger house is costing you more to run, if only in electricity, gas and Sapolio. How much more each month do you need?"
  • In the book, 60 years with Men and Machines,[7] by Colvin, Fred H., (pages 122 - 123) references are made to use of Sapolio as an abrasive use in the manufacture of automobile engines, when required fine lapping was performed by hand labor.
  • In the 1905 novel, The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton, (Book I - Chapter IX) a reference is made to "the mingled odour of sapolio and furniture-polish".[8]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "The History of "Spotless Town"". Printers' Ink. 38: 8–10. January 1, 1902. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  2. ^ Fraser, J. K. (1936). Copy Don'ts in: Master's of Advertising Copy (PDF). pp. 181–185. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  3. ^ "Spotless Town" (PDF). No. 171. Cornell Alumni News. March 19, 1902. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  4. ^ "Sapolio- "Spotless Town"". Great Print Advertising. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  5. ^ Boorstin, Daniel (1989). Hidden History (First Vintage Books ed.). New York: Vintage Books. p. 128.
  6. ^ "Listen Here". Retrieved Aug 26, 2020.
  7. ^ Colvin, Fred H. (Aug 26, 1947). "60 years with men and machines". New York. hdl:2027/mdp.39015068112948. Retrieved Aug 26, 2020.
  8. ^ Wharton, Edith. The House of Mirth.

External links[]


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