Forthmann family photographs

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 6087

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of photographs from the Forthmann family, one of the first prominent families in Los Angeles at the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century. The photographs in this collection include various members of the Forthmann family, but generally center around Madelaine Forthmann Boyer, John Albert Forthmann's granddaughter. There are also a few documents that provide information about the family.

Dates

Creation: 1912-1949, undated

Conditions Governing Access

Advance notice required for access.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Historical note

The Forthmann family's fortunes were made by German-born patriarch John A. Forthmann, who arrived in Los Angeles in 1860, at the age of 17. Forthmann bought a small soap business at 2nd and Spring Streets, and established the Los Angeles Soap Company. By 1874 he had moved the business to a location closer to the Los Angeles and San Pedro Railway, which allowed him to begin shipping his product across the western United States. Forthmann's fortune rested on his duplication of Proctor and Gamble's Ivory soap, and the creation of the nation's first granulated laundry detergent, White King D, which was introduced after World War I.

[Source: Cecilia Rasmussen, "Cleaning up L.A.--Till the Bubble Burst", Los Angeles Times, July 27, 1997]

Extent

0.84 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This collection consists of photographs of members of the Forthmann family, one of the first prominent families in Los Angeles at the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century. John Albert Forthmann I was a German immigrant who arrived in Los Angeles as a teenager in the 1860s and bought a small soap business that he turned into the Los Angeles Soap Co. The photographs in this collection include various members of the Forthmann family, but generally center around Madelaine Forthmann Boyer, John Albert Forthmann's granddaughter. There are also a few documents that provide information about the family.