Colorado State Penitentiary Soap

I found an interesting and completely irrelevant website while perusing for wooden soap displays. I found it fascinating, though. I just love seeing and hearing about soap history. The stories...There is a man and his wife in their 80's who come into my shop about once a month. The man told us a story about his grandfather making lye soap with ashes and how that soap would take the hide off of a horse. He smiles and looks up at me and says, Oh, I like your soap much better. They purchase one bar of soap and one Creme Fresh and will be back next month.

Anyway, Roy Best was the warden of the Colorado State Prison from 1932 to 1954. On this website, I found a number of photos, but the two that I found that were relevant to soap were part of their Industry Row and showed the soap plant and the soap display at the Penitentiary.

Soap plant at the Colorado State Penitentiary in Cañon City, Colorado

Black and white negative shows two levels of the soap plant; lower level has various machines, bins, metal barrels and wood flats; upper level has a row of metal barrels along railing with six men standing behind the barrels.

Man with soap products from soap plant

Black and white negative of a man standing next to a display of products made by the soap plant at the Colorado State Penitentiary in Cañon City, Colorado; sign on top of the display lists all of the products made at the soap plant.

Do you have family members that made soap from ashes??