THE LONG HISTORY OF FRAGRANCES

ANCIENT EBYPTIAN STONE BOTTLE

Of all the after shaves and men's cologne on the market, I still use the classic American brand – Old Spice. The only other brand of cologne I used and liked was English Leather, which seems to be harder to find these days. Not to be confused with the English Leather Company founded by Henry Ridgway who was born in 1871 who primarily made upholstery leather for English Austin and Morris cars. During World War I, the company expanded to make bicycle saddles – the largest producer of its time. When the bicycle trade declined, English Leather Company started making belts and other leather goods.

I bought a bottle of British Sterling (introduced by Dana in 1965) once, but when it ran out, I went back to Old Spice which made me the third generation of the Lehman family to use it. At the time, Old Spice also produced shaving mugs and shaving soap. You can still find Old Spice shaving soap bars for mugs, but will not find an Old Spice shaving mug like mine except in resale stores and antique shops, at least made in ceramic. An Old Spice shaving kit is available at Amazon. For awhile I used Old Spice after shave lotion and for a cologne, English Leather.

ANCIENT ROMAN BOTTLE

While fragrances are thousands of years old and spans several cultures, evidence shows that ancient Egyptians used perfume in their culture followed by the ancient Chinese, Hindus, Israelites, Carthaginians, Arabs, Greeks, and Romans. However, archaeologists found the oldest perfume in Cyprus dating back 4,000 years. A 3,000-year-old cuneiform tablet from Mesopotamia identifies a woman named Tapputi as the first recorded perfume maker. Perfumes existed in India at about the same time. Egyptian use of perfume bottles dates back to 1000 BC, after the Egyptians invented glass and glass bottles were used to contain the fragrances. The so-called Dark Ages in medieval history and the rise of Christianity, there was a decline in the use of perfume much to the woe of many nostrils because medieval people generally believed that bathing too much would cause illness. Only the Muslims during this period kept fragrances and perfumes alive and aided in reviving its used via international trade routes by the way of the Silk Road.

In the 16^th century, popularity of perfume began to be take place in France, especially the upper class and nobles who could afford it. In the court of Louis XV, everything was perfumed – furniture, gloves, and clothing. In the 18^th century when eau de Cologne was invented, the perfume industry grew even more and French perfume was favored everywhere in the Old and New worlds.

The oldest perfume or fragrance was from the burning of incense and aromatic herbs, primarily for religious purposes. Aromatic gums, frankincense, myrrh gathered from trees was most commonly used. Indeed, these fragrances were often used on corpses being prepared for burial. But later in history, perfume and fragrances were used romantically, especially in the 18^th century and after.

[Bellis, Mary.“The History of Perfume”, ThoughtCo, Feb. 16, 2021.]

The original Eau de Cologne was a citrus and spirit perfume invented and processed in the French town of Cologne (thus obviously the name) in 1709 by Giovanni Maria Farina (1685-1766), an Italian.

In 1708, Farina wrote to his brother Jean Baptiste: "I have found a fragrance that reminds me of an Italian spring morning, of mountain daffodils and orange blossoms after the rain". [Wikipedia]

Today, Eau de Cologne or cologne has become a generic term. It can be applied to fragrances for men or women, but in America it has been traditionally marketed to men.

OLD SPICE SHAVING MUG

Old Spice products were originally manufactured by the Shulton Company founded by William Lightfoot Schultz in 1934. In the 1930s, colonial American style furniture was becoming popular, so Schultz thought that a fragrance packaged in early American theme would also sell well. He was correct. Inspired by his mother's homemade potpourri, the Old Spice product emerged in 1937 as a woman's scent. In 1938, Old Spice was produced for men that included shaving soap and aftershave lotion. Sailing ships were used in the Old Spice packaging. The original ships presented were the Grand Turk (Privateer during Revolutionary War) and the Friendship of Salem (merchant ship). Other ships followed including John Wesley (merchant), Maria Teresa, Star of the West (steamship 1852), Constitution (American warship), Java (41-gun frigate), and Hamilton.

In the 1970s, Old Spice expanded from being a shaving brand to a fragrance brand like Old Spice Burley.

In 1990, Procter & Gamble purchased the fragrances of Old Spice as well as skincare, antiperspirants, and deodorants. They then introduced deodorant, body wash, and body sprays in 2000 and beyond. Except for the classic Old Spice aftershave and cologne was no longer made of ceramic, but instead plastic and changed the gray stoppers to red. The buoy-shaped cologne and aftershave bottles remained in its original scent, but also offers other scents especially in the deodorant line.