Dark and toxic soot covered the sky of Chicago in the late-nineteenth century as well as other American cities reshaped by an industrial revolution. Even as factories released smoke with burnt match smells, their owners had set about mass producing perfumed soap. Workers at soap factories suffered from skin burn, injuries, and death due to constant exposure to caustic chemicals. Cunningly dealing with complaints about offensive smells they released into public space, companies made a fortune by selling the prospect of pleasant smells in private space, tying purchase of their products to individual hygiene and beauty. By the early twentieth century, American soap reached Japan and changed the smellscape internationally.