Mercifulness : Hudson's Extract of Soap is merciful to the clothes; it only removes the dirt, grease, and stains, leaving the linen behind- spotlessly white, wholesome and pure : Hudson's Soap.

Diecut trade card possibly from the early 1890s in the shape of a black boy's head with a white bib around his neck bearing the text advertising Hudson's Extract of Soap detergent. Robert Spear Hudson (d.1884) invented the first dry soap powder, "Hudson's Dry Soap" in 1837 in his small pharmacy in West Bromwich, England, moving to Liverpool in the 1880s. He advertised extensively, first locally and then nationally, as his business and use of his products grew. The firm was taken over by Lever Brothers Ltd. (now part of Unilever) in 1908. The soap's use for cleaning the nursery floor (leaving the room "sweetened and purified"), baths, feeding bottles and on linen is boasted about in small boxes on the reverse - which shows the back of the boy's head and bib.