Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap ... Box: a new film

Heard on NPRs weekend edition: Robert Smith interviewing Sara Lamm about her new film, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox which opens in theatres in July. The documentary is about the man who invented the formula for the ubiquitous liquid soap, and whose main goal was to unite all of humankind by distributing the Moral ABC's printed in tiny letters on the soap labels.

Though the style of Emmanuel Bronner's message is a bit on the wacky side, it's always made for entertaining reading ... and when you really think about the essence of his message: that all religions are one and all people are one, it's hard to deny the truth of that -- and how appropriate that is for our world right now.

The film, Magic Soapbox follows Ralph Bronner, Emmanuel Bronner's 68 year old son, as he talks about the legacy his father left behind, and about growing up with a creative genius who was so obsessed with uniting all people on Earth, that he neglected his own family.

"My father was an eccentric -- he did not have a religion - he collected the best of all religions and philosophies put them on a soap label so people could see how much we have in common, and see each other as brothers and sisters, and you don't kill your brother and sister it would have put an end to war - it's as simple as that to put an end to war."

I've used Dr. Bronner's soap since 1972. My tastes in soap "flavors" have changed over the years, as new scents were introduced. It used to come in just peppermint. Now we can get lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint and tea tree soap. Since I buy it in bulk, I can mix the different scents. We use Dr. Bronner's for laundry, shampoo, body soap, hand soap and to dog-soap for Sam.

I love this description of the way the peppermint soap makes you tingle, written in a fan letter to Dr. Bronner's company:

"Dear Dr. Bronner, I want you to know how much I enjoy your peppermint soap. After I shower and dress it feels like someone put a york peppermint patty in my underwear."

I wonder if Sam ever feels like he has a peppermint patty stuck in his fur after we give him a bath in Dr. B's???