Céline Regnard

 

     For years, soap making has been not only Marseille's key industry but also the oldest processing industry in the town's trading and industrial port. Its presence was recorded in the 14th century. Soap, which was then used to clean textiles, was made according to very secret craftsmen's methods.

In the 17th century the industry developed considerably, supported by Colbertian policies and helped by the geographic situation of the town. The port was an outlet for many primary materials, in particular fats, essential for soap making. The ingredients for soap are olive oil, starch, limestone (soft) water and a detergent made of sodium hydroxide solution. The olive oil which gives excellent results in soap-making, was imported from everywhere in the Mediterranean (Levant, North Africa, Southern Italy and Spain), Provencal oil being kept for preparing food. In 1686 an edict codified both the production of soap and the profession, guaranteeing the excellence of the first and the superiority of the second. Production increased in the soap factories, at that time near the arsenal on the south bank of the port. For the whole of the 18th century, soap from Marseille (Savon de Marseille), of a quality and a price which kept it clear of all competition, was the flower of local industry. Among other things it was used for treating textiles, and sales to this sector kept soap production going. The master soap-makers played a crucial role: often former workers they were specialists who had accumulated a great deal of knowledge, transmitted from generation to generation in a profession that remained closed to outsiders.

The use of sesame seed and peanut oils in making soap gave a new lease of life to a business that was slowing down because of the high price of olive oil. By mixing oils, which did not alter the quality of the soap, both production and trade surged dramatically during the 1830's. Soap factories, which by now were using steam, multiplied during the following decade, so by the early 20th century, when the Marius Fabre factory was created, the sector was at its height. Supplies of oil seed had progressed and diversified since the appearance of palm oil. At that time there were about forty factories employing 2,000 people. In 1913 production reached a record 180,000 tons, or 50% of the total French production. The soap was used mainly in France, but some went to North Africa and Italy. However the family-run businesses, fragile at best, were now collapsing, the development of oils for food was pushing up the price of production and foreign competition, especially from England, was threatening. The new Solvay process for making sodium meant costs could be lowered and that kept the soap-making business solvent for a few more decades.

In 1900, Marius Fabre created his soap factory at Salon-de-Provence, using oils from the port of Marseille and sodium from Salin-de-Giraud made at the Solvay factory. The arrival of the railway in 1873 linked the small town with various Provencal industrial sites and meant his soap factory could get regular supplies. In 1927 the family business set up in Marseille. Like every soap factory in Marseille his company had a hard time mainly because of the introduction of detergent in flakes and the ever broadening range of soap and cosmetic products. Competition from foreign soap-makers and then the spread of supermarkets added to their woes. However from generation to generation this family enterprise, today employing 23 people, has been able to keep going. Returning to their base in Salon, they adapted to the change in tastes by making smaller cakes of perfumed soap. The Marius Fabre factory went through a difficult period but then, ten years or so ago, Savon de Marseille started to come back into favour and even fashion, and the company is moving gradually back into profit. 

 

Bibliography

N. Bardiot, Du sale au propre. Marseille et la soude au Siècle des Lumières, Paris, ADHE, 2001.

P. Boulanger, Le Savon de Marseille, Marseille, Equinoxe, 1999.

X. Daumalin, N. Girard, O. Raveux (dir.) Du savon à la puce. L’industrie marseillaise du XVIIe siècle à nos jours, Jeanne Laffitte, 2003

D. Roche, Histoire des choses banales. Naissance de la consommation dans les sociétés traditionnelles (XVII^e-XIX^e), Paris, Fayard, 1997.

http://www.marius-fabre.fr/site/index.htm