An interesting find

Tweet

My mother died over ten years ago but I’m still using up her stock of soap! I started off with all the ordinary modern bars and now I am down to the more special, vintage ones. One bar of Yardley lavender soap was evidently the last of what was originally a set of three in this box. There are two coats of arms on the box. One is the familiar arms of our current queen and beneath it says ‘By Appointment to HM Queen Elizabeth II purveyor of soap’ but the other is less familiar and below that it says ‘By Appointment perfumers to The Late Queen Mary’. Queen Elizabeth II succeeded to the throne in 1952. Queen Mary died in 1953. A Royal Warrant can continue to be used for up to two years after the death of the holder, so in this case Yardley could not have used the ‘By Appointment to The Late Queen Mary’ after 1955. So this soap must be between 66 and 68 years old. It still looks like a normal bar of soap and still smells strongly of lavender. I guess that’s a good recommendation for Yardley (or at least for Yardley soap as produced over 60 years ago!) Shall I use it up or sell it as an antique? All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2022.