MANCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Manchester, Center of Historic Architecture

Historic Places
Susan Barlow

Bon Ami – “Hasn’t Scratched Yet”

Compiled by Jim Hall from various sources noted below Excerpted from: “The History of Manchester, Connecticut” by Mathias Spiess and Percy Bidwell, 1924 The Orford Soap Company. The most widely known of Manchester’s products, with the exception of the Cheney silks, is Bon Ami (“Good Friend”), the cleanser manufactured by

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Research
Susan Barlow

Town directories & house info

For MAPS, click here. Town directories, about one per decade. For more, visit the History Center. 1888 “Hanks’ Manchester Directory” 140-page reference book, listing businesses and residents and containing advertisements. Takes a moment to download. Note that abbreviations are listed on page 33 of the directory, which you can directly

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Painting of Mary Cheney's garden.
Historic People
Susan Barlow

Miss Mary Cheney

Originally published in the January 25, 1967 Manchester Evening Herald. Webmaster’s notes: In the early days of the Manchester Historical Society, members wrote articles about the town’s past, which were published in The Manchester Evening Herald. This article, author unknown, was found and copied by Dick Jenkins and transcribed by

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