In front of a home in West Wareham, a small honor-system stand was set up to sell not eggs or home-grown vegetables, but hand-crafted bars of soap.

Elizabeth Arone has been making soap by hand for three years. She usually sells her products to businesses like Elizabeth and Company Home Offerings (ECHO) and Makepeace Farms. While those stores are closed, Arone has adapted by selling her soap at a small stand at the front of her house. 

She said that so far, her new business model has been “overwhelmingly successful,” as she sold several hundred bars of soap on April 5 and 6. 

The bars of soap are made with oil, lye, and other natural ingredients like lavender and eucalyptus. She said she’s been selling the $5 bars of soap on an “honor system” as customers are free to visit the soap stand throughout the day and leave cash or pay through venmo, a money transferring app. 

So far, Arone said that “every single person has been honest, every single bar of soap has been accounted for.” 

Sophia Kelly stopped by Arone’s West Wareham home on Monday afternoon, April 6, to buy some of her signature soaps. 

“I love that they’re natural, chemical free, and they’re local,” Kelly said.

Lauren Connell bought soap on Monday morning, and returned with her husband Ean later that day to pick up some more. As an extra sign of support, Ean played his bagpipes in front of Arone’s house before making a purchase. According to the kilt-clad bagpiper, April 6 is Tartan Day, a holiday that celebrates Scottish heritage in North America. 

Another woman drove all the way from Falmouth with her granddaughter for Arone’s soap.

Arone said that while business at the small stand seemed like a “revolving door,” her customers all practiced social distancing to limit the spread of the virus. She said that customers all waited in their cars while others took their turn at the stand, rather than forming a line. 

The entrepreneur also had hand sanitizer at the stand for her customers, and, of course, her product itself is intended to keep everyone clean.

Arone said that Monday was the last day for her homefront soap stand for now, but that she plans on doing it again in the future. While the stand might have been small in scale, she said that it was a way to support herself and her seven-year-old son Pharaoh during a challenging time. 

To learn more about Arone’s business, see her Facebook page: Pumpkintown Farm Soaps.