cation perfume market, as it was the period when perfume products tur - PDF document

ISSN 0007-6805; 2044-768X (Web). cation perfume market, as it was the period when perfume products turned According to historian Alain Corbin, sen-more routine part of daily life in the second half of the century, due Perfume products, especially per- gured among the powerful purifying agents in this In the context of my research, which deals exclusively with the olfactory aspect of cos- eld of my investigations. Alain Corbin, (Paris, 1982); Jean-Pierre Goubert, (Paris, 1986); Georges Vigarello, Eugénie Briot / 274 cient to account for the widespread consumption of scented products. rm ity of their products and to make them attractive.” Manufacturers’ strong rms.” Traditionally an expen- Patents registered in the Institut na- c and technical aspects, Geoffrey Jones, (Oxford, Eugénie Briot, “La chimie des élégances: La parfumerie parisienne au XIXe siècle, nais- French Perfume in the Nineteenth Century / 275amples from the women’s press, the catalogs’ listings give an account of the products offered to consumers that complements the perfume ve manuals of manners published between 1804 between 1842 and 1896. I also drew from a Alfred Picard’s report on the Universal Exhibition of 1900 gures for the production of perfumery items: 12 mil-In 1789, the perfume trade was dealt a heavy blow by the outbreak of At the same time, the population of Paris, the rst consumers of these products, grew Alfred Picard, Exposition universelle internationale de 1900 à Paris: Le bilan d’un siècle (Paris, 1906), Eugénie Briot / 276by new laws that gave free rein to the manufacture and trade of recorded 139 perfume houses that were engaged in fabrication and boutique trade. recorded 151 perfume From 1855 cult to establish, because some of oc- When it came to the capital’s establishments, the and the give only complementary Perfume retailers did not always appear t and clothing (1797 Picard, Chambre de commerce de Paris, (Paris, 1851), 829; 102 perfume manufacturers were regis- (Paris, 1864); 197 perfume manufacturers were registered. Préfecture (Paris, (Paris, 1887), 70; 210 perfume manufacturers and 392 comb, brush, and Résultats statistiques du dénombrement de 1891 pour la ville de Paris et le département de la Seine, et renseignements relatifs aux dénombrements antérieurs (Paris, 1894), 280; (Paris, French Perfume in the Nineteenth Century / 277 ower farms were developed in the eighteenth century, tence of hundreds of retailers, traders, and manufacturers operating in nineteenth-century Paris. Historians have identi ed about twenty gures for whom suf ciently documented sources are avail- gures represented rst years of the nineteenth century, for instance, Louis See the excellent work of Rosine Lheureux-Icard, “Les parfumeurs entre 1860 et 1910 Honoré de Balzac, “Histoire de la grandeur et de la décadence de César Birotteau” [The Eugénie Briot / 278 In fty-year-old son, who had been the rm’s di- fty-four times the company’s record in 1810. In the 1890s, Rigaud rm, Rigaud, Clermont et Cie. Similarly, Félix Antonin Raynaud, born the son of a butcher in 1827 in gures, and the uential yearbook. Beyond their inclusion in a Jacqueline Robert-André, “A la Reine des eurs,” Julien Turgan, “Parfumerie L. T. Piver,” F. Rigaud, conseiller général du canton de Neuilly, candidat républicain, Election légis- Convention pour la constitution de la Sté Rigaud, Clermont et Cie, ancienne maison Lheureux-Icard, “Les parfumeurs entre 1860 et 1910,” 11. Ibid., 17. French Perfume in the Nineteenth Century / 279 cer in 1878. His son, Lucien Toussaint Piver, was None of these men belonged to the found- cer once he succeeded the François Rigaud was distinguished as the Some perfumers also became elected uence that their fame conferred on In February 1896, he was rst, and best, ways ted during Neuilly-sur-Seine, beginning in 1851, owned a 4-horsepower (HP) steam In the nal twenty years of the century, power quickly increased: in 1880, Roger & Gallet’s Alphonse Honoré Piver, LH 2174/43, Archives Nationales, Paris (hereafter AN). Lucien Toussaint Piver, LH 2174/44; Aimé Guerlain, LH 1222/26; Paul Prot, LH Antonin Raynaud, LH 2275/24; Victor Klotz, LH 1404/31; both AN. François Rigaud, LH 2329/38, AN. F. Rigaud, conseiller général du canton de Neuilly, candidat républicain, NSS. “Etablissements dangereux, insalubres et incommodes,” n5: “Savonneries—Fabriques Eugénie Briot / 280 In the same year, De Laire, in Issy-les-Moulineaux, deployed three Roser generators to produce steam, Thus, it was on the basis of cation boilers, a whole range of devices speci c to toilet Département de la Seine, n du XIXe siècle, Levallois-Perret Ibid. Julien Turgan, “Etablissements de la parfumerie Ed. Pinaud, Meyer et Cie sucesseurs,” Alfred Picard, French Perfume in the Nineteenth Century / 281 Similarly, the “rational saturator,” invented by the same manufacturer, allowed the eurage (a process of exposing grease or oil to fresh owers that con-vey their perfume to these substances) of 800 kilos of hot grease to occur eurage of cold grease to take ve days. Beginning in 1883, the extraction of aromatic raw materials by volatile solvents partly owers, such as jas- eurages.” cial olfactory compounds in large quantities by cally rst listed in perfumers’ It appeared in the 1878 Guerlain catalog Turgan, “Etablissements de la parfumerie Ed. Pinaud, Meyer et Cie,” 134. Paul Poiré, “La savonnerie et la parfumerie,” (Paris, 1897, 2nd Société des parfums naturels de Cannes, It was indeed entirely new in perfumery. “In the eld of perfume production, an even cial product brings a new olfactory note that Guerlain, Eugénie Briot / 282 ected the adoption of heliotrope in fashion, inspiring Twelve or fteen years later, ctional char-brandy; now that she perfumes herself with heliotrope she doesn’t Between 1879 and 1899, the tability, before a drop in its price resulted in larger-scale social dif-and social factors thus interacted to explain and generate the fad of cial compounds Natural musk, which cost from 1,200 to 2,000 francs per kilo- Ini- Through the savings they pro- cial olfactory compounds played a major role in Emile Zola, Alfred Jarry, (Paris, 1900; 1st. ed. 1896), 86; Luis d’Herdy, Lucien Toussaint Piver, que au pays des frivoli- Eugène Rimmel, Coupin, que French Perfume in the Nineteenth Century / 283 nitesimal prices. The use of eau de Cologne, aromatic vinegars, eau de toilette, handkerchief extracts, is wide- cial products that, for a modest price, offer perfumers (1884), whose soap was perfumed with the balsamic (1873), whose hair pomade was scented Piesse, Edmond de Goncourt, (Paris, 1884), 83–84. The action in this chapter of the Eugénie Briot / 284 xed prices and cash payment. Perfume departments, how-quar tiers never allotted more than one page to perfume products in their catalogs, nor did perfumes account for a cant portion rst perfume bazaar, rst opened in the stores. The bazaar was located on boule- ourished: Galeries Saint-Martin ted from its own perfumery bazaar. Not only had ets that mainly displayed price lists. Lubin toilet water, The products xed prices and cash Lheureux-Icard, “Les parfumeurs entre 1860 et 1910,” 88. Honoré de Balzac, “L’Illustre Gaudissart” [1833], in French Perfume in the Nineteenth Century / 285 ted from wider margins, depending on the ability of consum- rst, representing an affordable maintaining a constant selling price, regardless of the drop in production the manufacturers to promote their products, and the decision to sell the customers with the symbolic value and desirability of perfumes, in order Promotional engraving for the Mignot boutique in the 1860s. (Source: Parfumerie, Album “Imagerie de parfumerie,” Actualités, série 120, Archives of the Bibliothèque historique de la ville de Paris.) Eugénie Briot / 286logne is retailed at 12 francs per litre but costs only 2.90 francs per The margin on this product thus rose to will provide him, makes it clear that tability of this business was well known in the nineteenth cen- t of thirty sous, and give twenty sous dis- Birotteau gave himself a margin of 1.50 francs on eurs. François Rancé, a real-life wholesale merchant from cess to their products by setting low prices. This was the route taken by department stores, perfume bazaars, and brand-name producers t in retail to increase it wholesale, is an axiom the whole en- Most perfume producers, on the other Henri-François Soulié, “Roger & Gallet, Paris: Chronique d’une doyenne de la Parfum- One sou was equivalent to 0.05 francs. Balzac, “Histoire de la grandeur et de la déca- François Rancé, P. Pradal, French Perfume in the Nineteenth Century / 287 ts that were returned to producers as a result of their With the advent of synthetic compounds in the 1880s, The analyses of Rosine Lheureux-Icard highlight a relative decrease in salaries between Septimus Piesse, vers , GA. Eugénie Briot / 288 ée no. 18 in eighteen different ways.) The price of the bottle itself determined nal price. During the last decades of the century, the mere pre- ected a trend toward more rational ed their displays according to product ed presentation. Product ranges were called “par-fumeries”: “parfumeries à l’héliotrope” or “parfumeries rst range of Perfumers did not hesitate to A la reine des abeilles (Paris), Jacqueline Robert-André, “A la Reine des eurs,” French Perfume in the Nineteenth Century / 289spent more than 100,000 francs on printing, embossing, satin-wrapping, In 1907, François Coty hired Lalique eur perfume, followed by an appointment to fteen more. The Roger & Gallet house soon employed him Although it is hard to evaluate what percentage these expenses rms, the elaborately dec- cient way to build ting from progress in printing nes of the perfume boutique, providing a means for perfume retailers ning of the twentieth century, a new practice developed: customers were xed to an ornate Elisabeth de Feydeau, “De l’hygiène au rêve: L’industrie française du parfum (1830– G. Champtocé, “Les enveloppes, les emballages . . . ,” Ghislaine Sicard-Picchiottino, Association pour la promotion de la culture à Bernay, Roger & Gallet: Parfumeurs et Eugénie Briot / 290 ned Perfume products could be Promoting a brand thus also meant promoting its point of sale, where the cient elements of brand-building. As cant evolution in rst half of These four rst half Dominique Larroque, Michel Margairaz, and Pierre Zembri, “Nombre de voyageurs Archives of the Société Française des Parfumeurs, “Notes concernant l’histoire des par- French Perfume in the Nineteenth Century / 291 con rms the general attractive- The case of the Piver perfume manufacturer, ve other While maintaining his place The Orsay Museum collections Jacqueline André, “A la Reine des eurs,” The restoration of the Houbigant boutique at 19 faubourg Saint-Honoré to its appear- oor, and a decorated ceiling.” Press book on A. Hermant, “Grandes industries de France: Maison de parfumerie de M. A. Piver,” Eugénie Briot / 292 A boutique like the Cherry Blossom, lo- No detail of this spectacular During the second half of the century, the bou- ecting about his labels and the shape of his bottles, working out Hector Guimard, 1.5 m), Musée d’Orsay, GP 2087; Albert Besnard, The Cherry-blossom boutique is the subject of an article in in Société A. Bourjois, Certi cat d’addition du 12 octobre 1893 au brevet d’invention pour acons et autres objets,” brevet no. 230 732, The Veblen effect as described by Harvey Leibenstein in “Bandwagon, Snob, and Ve- French Perfume in the Nineteenth Century / 293 rst. Its presentation, promotion, and distribution were cient, since they enabled By positioning their product as a Balzac, “Histoire de la grandeur et de la décadence de César Birotteau,” 266. Christo e’s catalog, 1862, quoted by Louis Bergeron, Eugénie Briot / 294 uenced by the fact that perfume items avoided cial, on cial products. On the contrary: arti cial products were likely to ne it in nally eclipsed the old perfume Jean-Baptiste Say,