Origins of the term Throughout the 19th century and into the 20th, prior to the invention of
corrugated fiberboard, manufacturers used wooden crates for the shipment of wholesale merchandise to retail establishments. Discarded containers of every size, well-constructed and sturdy, were readily available in most towns. These "soapboxes" made free and easily portable temporary platforms for street corner speakers attempting to be seen and heard at improvised "outdoor meetings", to which passersby would gather to hear often provocative speeches on religious or political themes. The decades immediately preceding
World War I have been called the "Golden Age of Soapbox Oratory". Working people had little money to spend and public speakers pushing their social or political agendas provided a form of mass entertainment. A skilled and effective "soapboxer" had to be clever, having the ability to express political opinions with clarity, to have ready answers for common objections, to be able to deflect hostility with humor or satire, and to be able to face difficulty or danger with fortitude. Soapboxing proved to be what one historian has called "a hard, but nevertheless necessary, process in the development of revolutionary leaders".
Marvel Comics writer
Stan Lee included blurbs titled "Stan's Soapbox" in some of his comic books to share his opinions on various topics with readers. ==References==