重庆第一款牙刷叫“新民牌”

◇ 文 |本刊记者 图 |

在南滨路五船路口（今周家湾63号），有一栋中西合璧的砖石木混合结构建筑，两楼一底，坐北朝南，依山临江。

时值初秋，青藤爬满窗棂、墙体，以及正面高大的西班牙式的拱廊，整栋楼包裹在绿色藤蔓之中，犹如一栋幽冥古堡孤单地伫立在路旁。

走近细看，门楣上“1915”的刻字依旧清晰，显示这座老宅已历百年。这就是当年卜内门洋行的旧址，是英商卜内门公司在重庆的总经销地。

1891年重庆开埠，开启了中国西南地区的对外通商口岸。自此，先后有50余家外国洋行陆续在重庆设立分部，通商贸易。这些洋行见证了重庆的开放发展，也深刻影响着重庆人的日常生活，卜内门洋行就是当年众多洋行之一。

20世纪初，卜内门公司几乎独占了中国的纯碱市场，也是重庆最大的洋碱生产公司，它所生产的白洋碱、洋火、白洋矾等物资，更是改变了重庆人的生活方式。

At the Wuchuan Intersection of Nanbin Road(now it is called No. 63 of Zhoujiawan), there is a mixed structure building of brick, masonry and wood with a combination of Chinese and Western architecture. The building has three floors, faces south and is near the mountain and the river.

In the early autumn, the windows, walls and the grande Spanish-style arcades were covered by sinomenium acutum. The whole building was wrapped in green sinomenium acutum, like a lonely castle standing alone on the roadside.

If you get a closer look, you will notice that the“1915” carved on the head of the door is still clear,showing that the house has been in existence more than a hundred tears. This is the former site of Bruner& Mond Co. Ltd. as well as the distribution place of the company in Chongqing.

In 1891, the commercial port in Chongqing was established, which opens the ports to the world of the Southwest China. Since then, more than 50 foreign companies have successively set up branches in Chongqing. All of them witnessed the openness and development of Chongqing, and the daily life of residents in Chongqing were greatly changed, Bruner& Mond Co. Ltd. is a good example.

As the largest company producing alkali in Chongqing,Bruner & Mond Co. Ltd. monopolized the alkali market of China at the early 20th century. The materials such as white alkali, match and alum made by foreign companies even changed the lives of Chongqing people.

白洋碱，老重庆人用来洗衣服

The Natives of Chongqing Used White Alkali to Wash Clothes

张川耀老人是土生土长的南岸人，就出生在下浩上葡萄院街，和卜内门比邻。张川耀祖母年轻时就曾在卜内门当过包装工，祖母曾向张川耀讲述过她在卜内门的工作经历。

张川耀说，当时卜内门所生产的碱实际上是一种白碱，因为是洋人在重庆开厂所造，所以又叫白洋碱。白洋碱由烧碱和其他化学产品混合而成，主要是用来洗衣服。

张川耀回忆道：“祖母说白洋碱不是纯白色，是带一点灰色的。根据功能来分，卜内门生产的洋碱有两种形状，一种是原柱型，但是它却不是标准的圆柱形，下面底部的直径约3公分，上面直径大概5公分，高5公分的样子，摆在一起有点像一块块的糕点，还有一种是四方形，长10～12公分，宽6～7公分，厚2～3公分。”

在这之前，人们都是用皂角或者油皂角来洗衣服，油皂角是一种栗色的果实，葡萄大小，将它的皮掐破后，流出来的汁浆和皂角的功能是一样的。还有一种就是草木灰，草木灰水中含有碱，滤水洗衣服也有去污作用。

因为白洋碱的去污效果比皂角好，特别是能去除油渍和汗渍。一时间，白洋碱开始在重庆流行起来。

不过白洋碱去污效果固然好，腐蚀性也很强，对衣服的损害比较大。“当时重庆人都是穿青蓝二色布料做的衣服，用白洋碱洗，衣服容易脱色。”张川耀说，“白洋碱与现在的肥皂类似，但是白洋碱的质地要比肥皂干硬很多，每次洗衣服时，都需要用开水来溶解。”

在20 世纪20至40年代，重庆人普遍都在用白洋碱，一直到50年代，肥皂才开始逐渐盛行，取代白洋碱。

Zhang Chuanyao was born and grew up in Shangputaoyuan Street of Xiahao, Nan’an, and here is adjacent to Bruner & Mond. The grandma of Zhang Chuanyao worked as a packer at Bruner & Mond when she was young. She told Zhang Chuanyao about her work experience at Bruner & Mond.

According to Zhang Chuanyao, what Bruner & Mond actually produced is a kind of white alkali. Because the factory was built by foreigners in Chongqing, it was called white alkali made by foreign companies. The white alkali is a mixture of caustic soda and other chemical products, mainly used to wash clothes.

“My grandma said that white alkali is not pure white but a little gray, recalled by Zhang Chuanyao. According to the shapes, the alkali produced by Bruner & Mond can be divided into two types, one is the cylinder-shaped with a bottom diameter of about 3 cm, the upper diameter of about 5 cm and the height of 5 cm, and they are like several pieces of cake; the other is the square-shaped with the length of 10～12 cm,the width of 6～7 cm wide and the thickness of 2～3 cm. ”

Prior to this, people used to wash the clothes with saponins or oil saponins. The oil saponin is a kind of maroon fruit with the size of the grape, after breaking its skin, the juice in it shall be used to wash clothes just like saponins. People also used to wash clothes with potash, and the alkali contained in the potash also has the effect of cleaning.

The cleaning effect of white alkali is better than saponin, especially for the cleaning of oil stain and sweat stain. Thus, the white alkali was becoming popular in Chongqing.

However, the white alkali has both the better cleaning effect and high corrosivity, which has the great damage to clothes. “At that time, people in Chongqing wore clothes made of blue green and blue fabrics, and the clothes were easily discolored when washing with white alkali.” Said Zhang Chuanyao. “White alkali is similar to soap, but the texture of white alkali is much harder than soap, and it needs to be resolved by using boiling water when washing clothes. ”

From 1920s to 1940s, people in Chongqing generally used white alkali. Until the 1950s, soap began to prevail and replaced white alkali.

“新民牌”猪鬃牙刷，原是重庆第一支牙刷

Bristle Tooth-brush of “Xinmin Brand”, the First Tooth-brush in Chognqing

卜内门洋行系抗战之前重庆最大的洋碱经销商，也是重庆最大最早的日用化工制造企业，比如它当时生产的一种白洋矾，就是现在的明矾，解决了重庆人用水的水质问题。

二十世纪初期，重庆普遍没有自来水，市民饮用水靠的全是两江水，尤其到每年汛期，江水浑浊。有了白洋矾后，装在有孔的竹筒内，在水里一搅，顿时泥沙沉底浊水变清。一时间，白洋矾在重庆广受欢迎。

此外，卜内门洋人见当时中国人几乎都没刷牙的习惯，很多人年纪轻轻牙就坏掉了，就是很讲究的上层人士、上得厅堂的太太、知书达理的公子小姐，也只不过早上起来用帕子蘸上食盐在口中磨擦几下，权当洗牙。

卜内门的洋买办由此发现大好商机，于是立马筹措组织竹制猪鬃牙刷和牙粉的生产。

张川耀说当时的牙刷样子和现在的类似，只是更为粗糙：“由楠竹制成一块直柄的竹片，在竹片的一头打孔，扎入猪鬃就成了牙刷。”这种牙刷取名叫“新民牌”，是重庆乃至内陆的第一枚牙刷。

“至于‘新民牌’牙粉嘛，很简单，用一个铁盒装着，胭脂粉的盒。”张川耀边说边用手比划着铁盒的大小，“里面白色的粉末有香味，又能去污垢，去口臭，受到了大家的欢迎。”

很快，卜内门生产的“新民牌”牙刷、牙粉就畅销云贵川和湘鄂等省。卜内门当时工人并不多，包括包装工、生产工、锅炉工等在内，也只有二三十个人。在供不应求的鼎盛时期，卜内门决定只负责机器加工牙刷竹柄和打孔，把手工操作的猪鬃穿扎工序交给毗邻住户，因此下浩周家湾一带，几乎家家户户都会扎牙刷。

Bruner & Mond Co. Ltd. was the largest dealer of alkali as well as the largest daily chemical manufacturer in Chongqing before the World WarⅡ.For example, the white alum produced at that time was the alum today, which solved the water quality problem of Chongqing.

In the early 20th century, there was no tap water in Chongqing. The drinking water of the citizens were from Liangjiang rivers, and the water was muddy especially in the flood season. Put white alum in a thick bamboo tube with holes, stir it in the water, and the sands shall sink to the bottom and the muddy water shall be clear. The white alum was becoming popular in Chongqing.

In addition, the foreigners of Bruner & Mond found that the Chinese, even the exquisite people in upper class, the sociable madams and the cultured children of the wealthy had almost no habit of brushing their teeth. The teeth of many people were broken at their young age.

The Marketing Department of Bruner & Mond found the great business opportunities, so they immediately organized the production of bristle toothbrush and tooth powder.

Zhang Chuanyao said that the shape of the toothbrush at the time was similar to that of the present one, but it was even rougher: “the toothbrush is made by punching a hole in a bamboo handle and inserting bristles.” This type of toothbrush was named “Xinmin Brand”, and it was the first toothbrush brand in Chongqing even in Mainland China.

“The tooth powder was put in a tin box, a box used for putting rouge powder.” Zhang Chuanyao said and gesticulate the size of the tin box. “The white powder inside is scented, and it can wash away dirt and remove bad breath. It has been welcomed by everyone. ”

Soon, the “Xinmin Brand” toothbrush and tooth powder produced by Bruner & Mond were sold well in Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces. However, Bruner & Mond had only 20-30 workers at the time, including packagers, production workers and boiler workers. In the heyday of supply shortage, Bruner & Mond decided to only produce the bamboo handle and punching of the toothbrush, and handed the hand-operated bristle puncture process to the neighboring households. Therefore, in the area around Zhoujiawan, Xiahao, almost everyone master the technique of making toothbrush.

从火镰到洋火，重庆人变了引火方式

The Kindling Method of Chongqing Changed from Steel to Match

张川耀转述祖母的回忆说：“每逢月中和月末的大比期，洋行除发给我们做工的铜钱，还给我们发工厂生产的日化用品，包括一块白洋碱、一砣洋矾，还有一包洋火等等。”

在很长一段时间，老百姓的取火依靠火镰和火石，但取火效率并不高，也并不是所有人都能顺利用火镰取上火。张川耀说，“我的母亲还有祖母取火就很费力，早上母亲就把哥哥和姐姐们叫出去，拿着纸媒子，去街上的人家把火引回来。”

纸媒子是用很粗糙的纸搓成筷子粗细，装在竹筒里。哪一家有火，就用纸媒子去引，引燃后再吹熄，拿回家重新用火镰就比较容易点燃了，“那时候人们就是这样过来的，早上为了取火做饭，有时要走上半条街才引得到火。”

洋火的出现，很大程度上解决了重庆人取火难题。当时洋火实际上叫“粗磷洋火”，样子与现在的安全火柴类似，只是它的火柴头是黄色的。但是洋火也有弊端，“粗磷火柴的擦皮很粗糙，就像粗砂一样，经常擦不燃。”张川耀说。

“并且粗磷火柴的磷质量较差，很容易自燃。”张川耀回忆，“记得父亲有次抽烟，刚把火柴抽出来，那根火柴就和整个火柴盒一起爆燃了，当时我父亲整只手的皮全部都烫伤了。”

随着时间的推移，洋火开始更新换代，渐渐生产出了安全火柴。

抗战后期，由于原材料紧缺，卜内门洋行不得不关闭业务离开重庆。如今，洋矾、洋碱早也已退出我们的生活。只有一座旧楼伫立，目睹沧桑变化。

The grandma of Zhang Chuanyao said:“Every time in the competition period at the middle and the end of the month, in addition to the copper coins,Bruner & Mond shall also gave us the daily necessities produced by the factory, including a piece of white alkali and white alum, as well as a pack of match. ”

People used to kindle by using steel and flint for a long time, however, the the failure of kindling occurred frequently. Zhang Chuanyao said, “The candling was hard for my mother and grandma. Every morning, my mother called my brother and sister to candle the paper tube from neighbor and take it back home. ”

It is made by twisting the paper into the shape of chopstick, and put it into the thick bamboo tube. If we heard there is a fire at our neighbor, we will first go to there to candle our paper tube, then blow it out and take it to home. “People live in this way at that time.In the morning, we need to ask for many neighbors to find the fire for cooking. ”

The emergence of match has largely solved the problem of fire in Chongqing. It was actually called“coarse-phosphorus match”, which was similar to the current safe match, except that its yellow match head. However, it still has disadvantages, “The skin of coarse-phosphorus match is very rough, and it is difficult to burn.” Said Zhang Chuanyao.

“Furthermore, the phosphorus quality of it is poor and it is easy to spontaneously ignite.” Zhang Chuanyao recalled, “I remember that my father’s entire hand was burnt by the match when he took a stick of match to light up a cigarette.”

As time went by, the match began to be replaced,and a safe match was gradually produced.

In the latter period of the War, due to the shortage of raw materials, Bruner & Mond Co. Ltd. had to close its business and leave Chongqing. Today, alums and alkalis have disappeared in our daily life. There is only one old building standing there and witnessing the changes of the city.