thumb|alt=An old-timey man with a long moustache is wearing a suit and tophat and standing on top of a soapbox. Behind him, there is a caravan with adverts describing his snake oil.|An actor portrays a [[snake oil salesman standing on a soapbox at a theme park]]
A soapbox is a raised platform on which one stands to make an impromptu speech, often about a political subject. The term originates from the days when speakers would elevate themselves by standing on a wooden crate originally used for shipment of soap, or other dry goods, from a manufacturer to a retail store.
The term is also used metaphorically to describe a person engaging in often flamboyant, impromptu, or unofficial public speaking. Hyde Park in London is known for its Sunday soapbox orators, who have assembled at its Speakers' Corner since 1872 to discuss religion, politics, and other topics. In the context of the World Wide Web, blogs can be used as soapboxes and are often used for promotional purposes.
History
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.