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Perfume Bottles

Kyle Husfloen, Penny Dolnick - Antique Trader Perfume Bottles Price Guide

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4INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTIONAlthough the human sense of smell isn’t nearly as acute as that of many other mammals,we have long been affected by the odors in the world around us. Pleasant fragrances make usfeel good; bad smells usually signal danger or something repulsive.This new Antique Trader<strong>Perfume</strong> <strong>Bottles</strong> Price Guide will concentrate only on the “good” aromas.No one knows for certain when humans first rubbed themselves with some plant or herbto improve their appeal to other humans, usually of the opposite sex. However, it is clear thatthe use of unguents and scented materials was widely practiced as far back as Ancient Egypt.Some of the first objects made of glass, in fact, were small cast vials used for storing suchmixtures. By the age of the Roman Empire, scented waters and other mixtures were evenmore important and were widely available in small glass flasks or bottles. Since that timeglass has been the material of choice for storing scented concoctions, and during the past 200years some of the most exquisite glass objects produced were designed for that purpose.As you will learn as you read through this book, it wasn’t until around the middle of the 19thcentury that specialized bottles and vials were produced to hold commercially manufacturedscents. Some such aromatic mixtures were worn on special occasions, while many others weresplashed on to help mask body odor. For centuries it had been common practice for“sophisticated” people to carry on their person a scented pouch or similar accoutrement, sincedaily bathing was unheard of and laundering methods were pretty primitive.I have learned a great deal about the world of perfume and perfume bottles while editing thisvolume. It’s fascinating to realize that commercially produced and brand name perfumes andcolognes have really only been common since the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Frenchstarted the ball rolling during the first half of the 19th century when D’Orsay and Guerlainbegan producing special scents. The first American entrepreneur to step into this field wasRichard Hudnut, whose firm was established in 1880. During the second half of the 19th centurymost scents carried simple labels and sold in simple, fairly generic glass bottles. Only in theearly 20th century did parfumeurs introduce specially designed labels and bottles to hold theirmost popular perfumes. Coty, founded in 1904, was one of the first to do this, and they turned toRene Lalique for a special bottle design around 1908. Other French firms, such as Bourjois(1903), Caron (1903) and D’Orsay (1904) were soon following this trend.Our contributing editor, Penny Dolnick, has done a masterful job of bringing the vast historyof perfume and perfume bottles together in this guide. In addition to her historical study, she alsowas responsible for obtaining a large majority of our nearly 1,200 price listings highlighted byover 950 color photographs. The full range of perfume and “scent” containers is covered here,including a few ancient examples as well as the fine “art glass” containers of the late 19th andearly 20th century right through to more modern dime store bottles.There are hundreds andhundreds of collectors of perfume bottles all over the world, and our Antique Trader <strong>Perfume</strong><strong>Bottles</strong> Price Guide provides something of interest to all of them. Even those who are notserious collectors will enjoy reading about how the world of perfumes has grown and changedover the years.We may even stir pleasant memories of a scent worn by someone’s mother orgrandmother. Science has shown that scents or smells can directly affect our mood or behavior.Reading through the following pages will certainly help everyone understand how this “secretscience” has evolved over the millennia to become the big business that it is today.Here’s hoping the Antique Trader <strong>Perfume</strong> <strong>Bottles</strong> Price Guide will stimulate ALL yoursenses.Kyle Husfloen, Editor

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