In 1936, you could purchase 6 bars of Hershey’s Cocoa Butter Soap for only .26 cents. [1] Not too bad considering that at the same time a 1 1/2 oz chocolate bar cost .5 cents. [2] Why did the famous chocolate mogul decide to go into the soap business? The answer is Cocoa butter.
Every year, the plants that produced the famous Hershey’s chocolate bar would have a million pounds of excess cocoa butter waste. [1] It only made sense to turn the byproduct into something useful, aka soap.
In the early 1900s, if you lived anywhere between New York City and Washington, DC, you could purchase one of Hershey’s 7 soap varieties from your local pharmacist. They included: Cocoa butter, Toilet Soap, Rose Garden Toilet Soap, Mechanics Economy Soap, Keystone Soap (with pumice), Soap Granules, Tar Soap, and Shaving Soap. [3]
If you were going to swear and get soap in the mouth for it, this would be your best bet.
[1] Hershey Community Archives – “Waste Not, Want Not…“
[2] Food Timeline – Historic Food Prices
[3] Hershey Community Archives – “Hershey’s Cocoa Butter Soap“