The Conner House
This is the exact place where I fell in love with soap. The Conner House, located on the Conner Prairie Farm, in Fishers, Indiana.
I was 7 years old, on a grade school field trip. I was mesmerized by the house, the farm, the outbuildings where hand dipped candles and other items were made, including the smokehouse and blacksmith shop. I especially loved the large hearths in the house that held big black kettles. And, the imperfect glass panes in the house windows were beautiful! Before my group left the farm (and it was sad for me to walk away), we visited the farm store, where my souvinier money was carefully spent on a primitive hand formed ball of soap. The soap balls were displayed in a metal wash tub. The type of tub people would take a bath in, or perhaps people would hand wash their laundry in. From that moment forward, I started collecting soap.
A collection of soap as a child? Yes! Moving forward in time, visions of me at 16 years old, still buying bars of soap here and there. It might have been Avon soap, tar soap, cucumber soap, oatmeal soap, it did not matter. It was soap, and each bar was unique!
Conner Prairie, based on the pictorial I just looked at, is quite the tourist stop now. It is not as quaint as it was when I was in the 2nd grade! I remember a garden, a house, and a few outbuildings. From what I can see, their amenities now include a modern museum, and even a Facebook page. I will ignore all of that and stick with my memories! 44 years later, Conner Prairie is embedded in my being.
I am glad I stuck with soap, and that something so beautiful inspired me. I have always wanted to step back into the pioneer days. I am not sure I want to live there permanently, but the fascination is definitely a part of who I am. I suppose that is also why I am so dead set on making soap the old fashioned way, with lye, and with having to wait 4-6 weeks before the bars are cured. And I am so dead set on testing the bars myself to make sure they are soothing to the skin, enjoyable. My soap either passes my expectations, or it doesn’t get sold. It means a lot to me to provide quality products! And those products come from a very long love for soap (and visions of the past), and I am still very much inspired!
Annies Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps 
Nice post!
Amy
I’m glad you stuck with soap too!
and I’ll stay tuned hoping you add shampoo and lotion to your product lines.
Wow! 44 years to get where you are now. I love how you followed your dream.
ahhhhh… Conner Prairie. Fabulous place. I used to take my oldest daughter there every year, just cause. I loved it too, even as a school kid. They’ve really made “improvement” over the years, as my first adventure there was just as yours: very few buildings, a quaint little gift shop. Now, all things are modern except in the village. I also loved Conner’s home, the beehive oven, the fireplaces you could walk into. I even went down there one December to take the candlelight tour, which was different… and had considered going to eat a Christmas meal in the Conner home, but that never came to be. I could live in a log cabin (not log house, or log mansion, but a hand-hewn, dovetailed, beautiful work of wooden art), but I’m with you in that I wouldn’t want to live the lifestyle for very long… I’d have to take a few modern conveniences along. 🙂
Yes! A huge mandatory plea to keep the memories!
My first conscious memory of a similar kind came from a gift shop off Cape Cod. I bought glass menagerie animals and candles and soap too. It was positively magical and I remember it to this day.
I can’t remember what I had for breakfast, but I can remember that.
I remember buying hand formed balls of soap somewhere in Williamsburg, Virginia. I kept them for a long time.
How blessed you are to have a lifelong passion for soap blossom into keeping quirky and wonderful goats to milk, and then produce a product you love from the animals you love….
Thank you, Amy.
Joanna, heavens, I am glad I stuck with it too! I already have goat milk lotions available. I am in the process of updating the types of lotions/creams etc… that I will be offering.
Lynnanne, I have always wanted to live in an older log cabin. I suppose that thought also started at Conner Prairie. Bob and I got to visit a number of log cabins when we owned our service company. We installed heating and air. The log homes fascinated me!
Becky, yes, 44 years! The memories have always been so fresh in my mind. A few days ago I thought, “I wonder if there are pictures on the internet of Conner Prairie?” Oh boy…I found more than pictures! The memories are what serve me though. They are etched!
Alix and Kathy, I am hanging on. I do not think I can wipe my desires and beginnings out. There is definitely a connection between my rustic soap style and where it all started. I love it!
What a wonderful story Mary. I love how you followed your passion for soap and ended up making it for yourself.
I received a mention from Conner Prairie after I posted this article. I was so excited! After 44 years, I wrote about this, found a photo, and then there was Twitter (not prompted by myself), with a mention of anniesgoathill and this article. I felt as if things had come full circle in a very positive way. Our lives are filled with many blessings and opportunities. It is wonderful! My dreams and memories continue, because that IS where it all started! 🙂
We just got back from our son’s wedding and stayed at a hotel just blocks from Conner’s Prairie, so we went one day and absolutely loved it! We had such a good time. I was planning on posting about it soon as well. Our new daughter in law says she went all the time for school field trips and loved when they were shearing the sheep. I always loved Williamsburg too.
Hello Tracie, I bet you had a great time! I have never been to Williamsburg. Something tells me I would love time spent there too. Glad you had a good time!!
I love it! Thanks for sharing..you made me think about my school trips to Monticello and coming home with..little balls of home made soaps and those heavily perfumed rose nuts. What warm memories.
Your comments are special to me. You are right there with me. Warm memories, absolutely precious.
What a wonderful memory that began your calling.
The calling and talents of children are special, in my book. I am working on bringing that forward, to help others (and children) recognize their passions and God-given talents in life.
[…] my passion for handmade soap to so many people, and I’ll tell it again — it began (here) 49 years ago, and it carried on fiercely into adulthood, right up to this […]