Imagine New York City and the island of Manhattan in the 1840’s. The city was rapidly expanding with an influx of immigrants from all over the world. Industry was expanding with the rise of the Industrial Revolution. The northern part of the island, was still providing the city with dairy products and meat. Sewage disposal was non-existent and garbage was tossed into the street or river. Horses provided all the transportation, and there were over 15,000 horse carcasses to dispose of per year. And then there were the remains from the slaughterhouses.
What in the world, you ask, does this have to do with soap? The answer is … tallow.
Also residing and working mostly on the north end of the island were the soap boilers. Those people who took the animal remains and rendered them into fats and oils to make soap. Not a pretty job, but necessary and important to the city.
Then, in 1849, it started to change.
