“Soapman” lived in Philadelphia and was buried there around 1800. The body was discovered in 1875 during the digging of a train depot foundation.
This unusual preservation occurred because water seeped into the casket and brought alkaline soil with it, turning the fats in his body to soap through a type of hydrolysis known as saponification.
Soapman is not currently available for public viewing. I’ve apparently seen Fight Club too many times, because the first thing I thought of when I heard about Soapman was Tyler Durdin. I’m also guessing that Lush won’t be making a person scented soap anytime soon.
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