"Do You Remember Grandma's Lye Soap?"

Thanks to Dick Eastman over at Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter for both educating me and rekindling a wonderful memory --

YES!  I remember grandma's lye soap!  My grandmother Thelma Gibson (1903-1991) actually made the stuff and my mom kept some of it around principally for fighting the spread of poison oak and poison ivy.  She would also reach for it as a "last straw" when commercial soaps or cleansers were not up to the job she was performing.  Actually, truth be told, my mom kept lots of bars of it around, more than she would ever need.  The bars were huge, and she kept many.   I wonder if she took that much to appease my grandmother?

No, I am not old enough to remember the song, a big hit apparently selling over two million copies back in 1952.  But what seems strange to me is people from 1952 asking "do you remember" grandma's lye soap, when we were still using my grandma's lye soap into the '60s and '70s?

However, I do remember my mom jokingly singing the song around the house!  What a fun memory.  You can hear the tune and read the lyrics by clicking here.  You can see YouTube videos of the song being performed by clicking on the link above to Dick Eastman's website.

Do you remember grandma's lye soap?  "Yes, I do."

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker