I spotted these Christmas-themed soaps at Beautyhabit and just had to get some for the Museum (plus they were on sale!) I loved the retro Scandinavian illustrations. According to the company's website, these are original designs from the 1930s! In case you're wondering, "God Jul" means "Merry Christmas" in Swedish.
I particularly loved the copy on the back of this elf soap:
Additionally, while I haven't tried them, they are supposedly "filled with mandarin, cinnamon, almond, vanilla, orange and cloves – all the scents that we associate with the Swedish Christmas."
Victoria Scandinavian Soaps has a long and quite interesting history. The company was founded in 1905 in the Swedish port city of Helsingborg and primarily focused on making candles. In 1914 Victoria began producing soap, and by 1924 it was the official soap company of the Royal Swedish Court (and still is today). The website even has a little museum that not only tells the company's history but also includes some really great vintage ads and packaging.
This "Iwana" soap was a special edition in the 1920s and named after one of the company's employees.
I thought this soap from the '50s was neat – the sphinx apparently has Cleopatra's face.
This 1940s ad is for Cremosin, which was first introduced in 1924 and is still sold today:
(images from victoriasoap.com)
Which one is your favorite? And have you ever been to Scandinavia? I'm dying to visit precisely because of cool design like this.