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"lily" beauty soap, white package
Object/Artifact
A small rectangular bar of toilet/beauty soap in its original printed paper wrapper, unopened. The front is white, lettered "BEAUTY SOAP" and the brand "lily" (with a small stylized flower over the "i"), and "SCHÖNHEITS SEIFE" beneath; to the left is a portrait of a fair-haired woman. The reverse is printed with the maker's stylized cat's-head emblem, the country of origin in English and French, and a fat-content/weight line. The wrapper is worn and toned; the soap is a solid mass within.
2025.1.260
Kept and forgotten in a box in the Arús Caraballo household
Sold in the state free market.
The Cabrera Arús family collection
2025.1
Soap was found in a box stores in a closet in the Arús Caraballo family home
Konsum Seifenwerk Riesa
Riesa
G.D.R.
Central Europe
Europe
lily
Date: Likely circa 1968–1990 (tentative). No production date is printed; the cat logo (introduced 1968) and the GDR's existence to 1990 bracket the wrapper to that span.
Makers Mark
wrapping
lily SCHÖNHEIST SEIFE
German
lily BEAUTY SOAP
Inscription
wrapping (bottom)
Made in German Democratic Republic Produit de la République Démocratique Allemande 80% 100 g
English
3 cm
8 cm
5 cm
1
Materials: Soap (saponified fats/oils; the "80%" likely denotes fatty-acid/soap content); printed paper wrapper. Technique: Milled/pressed and stamped soap bar; offset-printed paper wrapper, folded and sealed.
Fair
Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez
owner
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
Riesa
G.D.R.
Central Europe
Europe
production