Soap Factory is Stinky Biz
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Portsmouth horse and buggy/SeacoastNH.comStrawbery Banke Presents
HISTORIC PORTSMOUTH #144

Yankees made soap in the fall when butchering animals or in spring combining old cooking grease and fireplace ash. Harry J. Freeman made soap for a living after collecting bones, grease and tallow. A livery owner, he likely disposed of his horses in the foul smelling "rendering" process. His home and factory, seen here in 1888, were on Islington Street at Aldrich Road.

 

 

HISTORIC PHOTOS of the Greater Portsmouth Area appear here weekly

Harry J. Freeman soap factory in Portsmouth, NH / (c) Strawbery Banke Museum

From HISTORIC PORTSMOUTH
Early Photographs from the Collections of Strawbery Banke
by James L. Garvin & Susan Grigg, Peter Randall Publisher
(c) Strawbery Banke Museum . All rights reserved

BONUS CLOSE-UPS

Soap Factory sign detail

Sign closeup (sorry, not much better)