How soap seller became the ‘Don’ of Victorian advertising

He was the Don Draper of Victorian London — a pioneer of advertising whose creative flare earned him a fortune.

Thomas J Barratt was a prominent society figure, known like the Mad Men character for throwing lavish parties.

Having married into the Pears soap family, Barratt boosted the brand with the pioneering use of slogans such as “Good Morning, have you used Pears soap?”

He bought the copyright to Millais’s 1886 painting Bubbles, of a golden-haired boy, and turned it into an advert by placing a bar of soap in the foreground. Researchers from genesreunited.co.uk traced his rise in a series of newspaper articles.

Rhoda Breakell, from the family history website, said: “Barratt was perhaps the first true advertising executive, every bit as talented and successful as Donald Draper.”

The new series of Mad Men starts on Wednesday on Sky Atlantic.