Bay West Wash-Up Kit, circa 1925
Add to SetSummary
Traveling doesn't mean that you shouldn't be clean. This 1920s "wash-up kit" provided tourists, campers, hikers, picnickers, and motorists a quick and easy way to get clean. The kit includes soap in the form a paper sheet and paper towels. No need to carry a bar of soap and bath towels when you have this novel product in your automobile.
Traveling doesn't mean that you shouldn't be clean. This 1920s "wash-up kit" provided tourists, campers, hikers, picnickers, and motorists a quick and easy way to get clean. The kit includes soap in the form a paper sheet and paper towels. No need to carry a bar of soap and bath towels when you have this novel product in your automobile.
Artifact
Kit (Set)
Date Made
circa 1925
Creators
Place of Creation
United States, New York, New York
United States, Wisconsin, Green Bay
Creator Notes
Made by Bay West Company in Green Bay, Wisconsin; distributed by H.M. Becker of New York City, New York.
On Exhibit
at Henry Ford Museum in Driving America
Object ID
89.412.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Frank Jewell.
Material
Paper (Fiber product)
Cardboard
Soap (Organic material)
Color
Tan (Color)
Black (Color)
Green
Dimensions
Height: 12.25 in
Width: 5.625 in
Length: 0.625 in
Inscriptions
Printed on front cover: BAY / WEST / WASH-UP KIT / PURE / PAPER / SOAP / AND / PURE / PAPER / TOWELS / FOR TOURISTS, CAMPERS, / PICNICKERS, HIKERS ETC / ENOUGH FOR 12 / WASH-UPS Printed, in part, on verso: THE WASH-UP KIT CONTAINS / SOAP AND TOWELS [...] / DIRECTIONS FOR USE / [...] / NO WET SOAP TO CARRY NO CLOTH TOWELS TO WASH Printed on inner flap, in green: EVERY MOTORIST / NEEDS IT / EVERY EMERGENCY WASH-UP / DEMANDS IT! / [...] / WASH-UP KITS DISTRIBUTED BY H.M. BECKER, WHOLESALE CAMPING EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES. 312 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, N.Y. Printed on dispenser flap: SOAP AND TOWELS / PURE SULPHATE FIBRE / PURE COCOANUT OIL SOAP / 12 / BAY WEST / FOLDED / DUBLTOWLS / (DOUBLE TOWELS) / 24 SHEETS 10" X 103/4" / 12 / BAY / WEST / FOLDED / SOAP PAPERS / SIZE 4" X 51/2"