From the Collection: Keen’s Oxford Blue
by Kylie Berringer (2020 Summer Student)
Keen’s Oxford Blue was once a popular brand of laundry detergent, known for its bright blue colour. Each package would come with individually wrapped squares of bright blue detergent. Blue detergent was commonly used for washing white clothes, as it would keep clothes a nice, bright white.
Keen’s may sound like a familiar brand because it is! Oddly enough, the company who once manufactured Oxford Blue also manufactured Keen’s Mustard. The Keen’s company began selling Oxford Blue after noticing it was useful for washing the uniforms of their workers.
Did you know?
The editor of the local newspaper pushed for Kenora to be named “Tresilva” instead. He thought the word was excellent because it could be written without lifting the pen off the paper. The name Tresilva was tremendously unpopular with the townsfolk and was quickly abandoned.