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Most children of the fifties and sixties have a Lava soap story. You remember Lava soap. It’s the bar of soap with a consistency that seems to be the cross between a rasp and a cat’s tongue. Many a young boy of days gone by can clearly recall coming in after a long, hot summer day of playing outside in the grass and mud, only to be met at the door by a mama with a bar of Lava. After a scrubbing that would seem to remove a layer or two of skin, the boy would be declared clean. What memories!

One of my favorite Lava soap tales was told recently by Sue Campbell Fowler of Spartanburg. It involved her late brother, Bill Campbell, who resided in Inman. The Campbells had kinfolk in California, so Bill decided he, along with his wife Doris, sister Jean, and son Mike, would make the long trek from Spartanburg County to the other side of the country to visit their family. At the time, Bill was driving a 1957 Ford. So, they struck out for California. What a trip, Bill thought. What a great way to see the country. And all went well until they came to Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

The car was running hot. A leaky radiator, Bill surmised. After finding a motel room for the ladies, Bill and Mike started looking for a mechanic. They weren’t having much luck until they finally happened upon a service station attendant who offered an amazing solution to their dilemma. He suggested they go to the restroom and grab a bar of Lava soap. Then, he directed them to plug the hole in the radiator with the soap and fill it up with water. 

Bill took the man’s advice, and it worked! Not only did they make it to California, but they made it all the way back home to Inman without a hitch. Lava soap and all! Sometime after returning home, Bill sold his beloved Ford to a man in Inman who also drove it for a while with the Lava soap-plugged radiator.

Eventually, the ’57 Ford came to the end of its long and useful life. The gentleman who purchased the automobile from Bill parked the old car under some peach trees off Highway 292, and there it sat for a long time. Bill claimed if you crawled up under the old car and examined the radiator, you would still find the remnants of that Lava soap that had been retrieved from a restroom in Albuquerque, New Mexico! 

Sue has no reason to doubt her beloved brother, so she sticks to her story. Just another example of truth being stranger than fiction!