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5 unusual facts about Joseph Fels


Fels

Joseph Fels (1853–1914), American soap manufacturer, millionaire, and philanthropist

Fels-Naptha

The original Fels-Naptha, developed by Philadelphia manufacturer Joseph Fels around 1893, was used as a home remedy in the treatment of contact dermatitis caused by exposure to poison ivy, poison oak, and other oil-based organic skin-irritants.

Joseph Fels

In 1894 he developed the Fels-Naptha soap brand, historically used as a home remedy in the treatment of contact dermatitis caused by exposure to poison ivy, poison oak, and other oil-transmitted organic skin-irritants.

Born of German Jewish immigrants in Halifax County, Virginia, Fels moved with his family to Baltimore in 1866; by 1876 he'd assumed control of a soap manufacturing company based in Philadelphia, and brought two of his brothers in as partners shortly after.

Marion Coates Hansen

Born into the well-to-do Coates family, she was drawn to socialism through her association with Joseph Fels, the American industrialist and social reformer for whom she worked as a nanny in Philadelphia in the early 1890s.



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