11/4/2023 0 Comments Little bo peep died![]() An 1894 Report of the Illinois Department of Factory Inspection reports John Puhl, then manager of Puhl & Webb baking powder factory at 157 East Kinzie Street, was charged with illegally employing 4 children without affidavits (12). Some ads featured a photograph of Puhl surrounded on either side by cartoon Bo Beep and Boy Blue, labeled “Daddy Puhl and his kiddies.” This takes on a somewhat sinister tone considering Puhl’s own record. This advertising strategy sometimes even pulled John Puhl himself into the fairy tale. Advertising pamphlet featuring a Fuzzie Wuzzie Fairy Story and “Daddy Puhl and his kiddies” Image Source According to Zipes, allusions to well known fairy tales were supposed to remind readers of magic, happy endings, and wish fulfillment (11). The use of fairy tales as a motif in advertising was particularly common at the beginning of the 20 th century (11). These “fairy stories” described Fuzzie and Wuzzie doing things like playing store, gardening, and cleaning, and they always featured Little Boy Blue Bluing and Little Bo Peep Ammonia products prominently. One series of advertisements featured short stories about cartoon bears named Fuzzie and Wuzzie, illustrated by Chicago artist Milo Winter. These names were likely meant to evoke the fleecy whiteness of sheep-both Bo Peep and Boy Blue were caretakers of sheep. The products were often advertised together and contained cheerful imagery of the fairy tale characters for which they were named. Advertising pamphlet featuring a Fuzzie Wuzzie Fairy Story and “Daddy Puhl and his kiddies” Image SourceĪdvertisements for these products ran in newspapers in Midwestern and Central States from the 1910’s to the 1940’s (10). In 1924, historical records show trademarks for Little Boy Bluing and Little Bo Peep Ammonia given to the John Puhl Products Company (9). John Puhl, president of Condensed Bluing, applied for trademarks for Little Boy Blue laundry bluing in 1914 (6,7) and Little Bo Beep Ammonia in 1922 (8). These products can be traced back to a Chicago company called the Condensed Bluing Company. Research into the product history of Little Boy Blue Bluing and Little Bo Peep Ammonia took a bit more digging. Liquid bluing is often made with Prussian blue, a synthetic pigment made from the suspension of ferric ferrocyanide (colloidal iron) in organic acid (5). Today most bluing is sold in liquid form (2). For this reason, it was sometimes called ball bluing (4). Ultramarine was mixed with baking soda and rolled into balls. ![]() Another type of solid bluing used ultramarine, a pigment derived either synthetically or from ground lapis lazuli (3). Blocks of indigo, a plant dye, were placed inside muslin bags and shaken into the laundry water during rinsing (3). ![]() Historically, various substances have been used for bluing. Trace amounts of dye also leave a bluish cast that our eyes perceive as brilliant white (2). Since blue is opposite yellow on the color wheel, small amounts of blue dye help neutralize yellowness. Whereas bleach whitens fabrics by removing color, bluing creates an optical illusion that makes fabrics look whiter. Bluing is a product that can be added to laundry to make whites look whiter and brighter. When added to laundry ammonia can help whiten whites, soften fabrics, and remove an impressive array of stains due to grease, food, ink, grass, rust, and even blood, urine, and sweat (1). Ammonia has various uses as a household cleaner. The question of purpose is easy to answer. Little Bo Peep Ammonia Bottle from the Brody/Emmons Complex. Christine Frederick may have been able to tell us immediately the purpose of two whimsically labeled bottles recovered during excavations at Brody/Emmons Amphitheater: a small, round, clear glass bottled embossed with “Little Boy Blue Bluing” and a large, oval, clear glass bottle embossed with “Little Bo Peep Ammonia.” Since none of us here at Campus Archaeology are laundry experts, we needed to do a little research to figure out the purpose and product history of these objects. Christine Frederick’s Household Engineering book, published in 1920, contains a 55-page chapter on laundry alone. Housekeeping books often contained lengthy descriptions of the best way to do laundry. Before the advent of automatic washing machines and newfangled detergents with optical brighteners, laundry was more of an art form involving many complicated steps. Little Boy Blue Bluing bottle from the Brody/Emmons Complexįor many of us today, laundry is a pretty simple affair: separate the lights from the darks, add detergent, and let the washing machine do its work.
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