Bubbles (painting) but was transferred to the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight in 2006. A reproduction of this painting hangs in a bomb shelter during the London blitz in the novel "Life After Life" by Kate Atkinson. Bubbles (painting) Bubbles, originally titled A Child's World, is a painting by Sir John Everett Millais that became famous when it was used over many generations in advertisements for Pears soap. During Millais's lifetime it led to widespread debate about the relationship between art and advertising. The painting was one of many child pictures for which Millais had become well known in his
Thomas J. Barratt as Barratt had acquired the copyright. Barratt followed this with a series of advertisements inspired by Millais' painting, portraying cute children in idealized middle-class homes, associating Pears with social aspiration and domestic comfort. Barratt also made effective use of testimonials, recruiting both scientists and glamorous high-society figures. He also established "Pears Annual" in 1891, in which he promoted contemporary illustration and colour printing. In 1897, he added "Pears Cyclopedia", a single volume encyclopedia. Barratt's methods led to much comment and parody, most famously a Harry Furniss Punch cartoon in which a tramp says "I used your soap two years ago,