Soap?

[W. Gray]

Here is an "Old Days" question that someone may be able to answer. I first recall this "process" when the Ben Franklin dime store was going in on Wabash street in Howard about 1952 or 53.

Today, some store owners lock their doors and have their windows one-hundred percent covered on the inside with white paper. The paper covering usually means that someone is working on the inside to remodel an existing store or working to open a new store and for whatever reason the owner does not want someone looking in to see what is going on. But, it could also mean that the building is just plain closed.

Back then, when the Ben Franklin store was preparing for opening it had a white substance applied on the inside of the windows. I never saw it applied and I don't know what it was. But, in the years afterward I noticed it was in widespread use when a store was remodeling. Somewhere I picked up that it was soap, but soap would not seem to dry leaving a coating that could not be seen through. It was applied on the inside of the windows and looked like the application was in a circular motion using what might have been an ocean sponge or a rag.

The process would skip a few very small places here and there and we kids would try to look in and see what was going on. At some point in time, white paper became the preferred method of use.

Anyone know what this stuff was?

[Wilma]

There used to be a window cleaner called "Bon Ami" that came in a powder.  You mixed it with water to the consistency you preferred, smeared it all over the glass.  It dried white and see-proof.  It was removed with a dry cloth, thus, also removing the dirt.  It would stay on until it was removed.  I used it quite a bit until more easily used products became available.

[W. Gray]

So if someone left it on the windows for three months while fixing up a store for opening, it would wipe right off after that time?

I don't recall using the window cleaner at any time, but we have a can of the Bon Ami cleanser in the laundry room that I use for cleaning hands and then use something harsher if that does not work.

Through the years, I have never given the brand name much thought.

I did not realize that Bon Ami meant "Good Friend" in French and also did not realize that the company has been headquartered in Kansas City since the brand was introduced in the 1880s.

[Wilma]

Their motto used to be, "Hasn't scratched yet," and was shown with a picture of a newly hatched chick.