Era Perfume

After you’ve bought your dress, your hat and your shoes, what’s next to improve your period fashion performance? Using the proper perfume. Remember when buying a bottle, that so many fragrances sold today post date the Model A Era.

In the August 2022 issue of Harper’s Bazaar, there was an article titled “In Defense of ’Old   Lady Perfumes.” which said that “if someone,  after embracing you and catching a whiff of your scent, says, “Wow, you smell like Old Lady,” that’s probably not a compliment.” But, I’m hoping for authenticity more than trendy odors.

In looking up Helena Rubenstein’s offerings on Parfumo.com, all of the ones with dates debuted after 1934. A possible reason for this is that in 1928, she sold the cosmetics business to Lehman Brothers for $7.3 million. In a 1928 advertisement for a drugstore selling Helena Rubenstein beauty products, it lists “Bath Perfume (assorted odors)” and both “Lilac” and “Violet Toilet Water.”  However, there is no indication that these were Helena Rubenstein.  Every product identified as Helena Rubenstein in the Model A era is a soap or a cream. After the onset of the Great Depression, Rubenstein bought back the by then nearly worthless stock for less than $1 million and in order to revive the business, established salons and outlets in almost a dozen US cities. I believe she also branched out at this time to include her own brand of perfumes to stock in these outlets.

New fragrances in the 1920s include Coco Chanel’s Chanel No. 5 which was available for $13.50 in 1928, D’Orsay's La Dandy was $8.50, and Guerlain’s Shalimar sold for $25 at the time. Yardley’s English Lavender debuted way back in 1873, but sold for just $1 in 1928 and is still around today, so would work.

As for out of business, but popular, Darnée was a drug store cosmetics brand out of San Francisco, founded in 1924 by the Owl Drugstore chain—dozens of California outlets, later taken over by Rexalls. Oceanside’s Modern Pharmacy owned by Carleton B. Sturdivant which later became Mission Drug Store owned by Dr. Von Sternberg was a longtime Owl drugstore outlet at Second and Hill.  In 1928 Darnée hired silent star,       Colleen Moore, to promote a perfume brand, which folded in 1930, a green bottle of that would be very time specific item you could carry in an era fashion show.. If you could find one.