In Western Europe, the first perfume factories appeared around the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. In our region at that time, face white, blush, and various fragrances—the precursors to modern cosmetics—could be purchased at so-called “green shops.”
Peter I’s decree of November 22, 1701, establishing the first eight “independent” pharmacies, served as a powerful impetus for the development of pharmacology and perfumery. People could now buy not only medicines but also various cosmetics, including perfumes, at these pharmacies. A number of successful entrepreneurs in the perfume industry began their careers as pharmacists. The outstanding pharmacist Vladimir Karlovich Ferrein (1834–1918) is famous not only for the medicines he created in his Moscow pharmacy—Ferrein’s method of preparing medicines was truly unmatched by others. But he also became famous as a remarkable perfume manufacturer. By 1913, his company was producing more than 200 varieties of perfumes and colognes.
Pharmacies in Kharkiv in the mid-19th to early 20th centuries were more modest, but it was still possible to purchase various kinds of perfumes and cosmetics there. Exotic names and catchy slogans were bound to ensure the products’ success.
And in the wonderful Pharmacy Museum, located in our city at 19 Voskresenskaya Street, you can still see perfume bottles displayed in a separate cabinet to this day.
In the first half of the 20th century, there were more than 200 glass factories operating in the Russian Empire. Fifteen of them produced exclusively perfume containers. Before the revolution, bottles were not manufactured individually for each company; instead, perfume manufacturers could view the product range in factory catalogs, which, incidentally, could feature bottles of exactly the same design. For this reason, the situation sometimes reached the point of absurdity.
However, there were exceptions. For example, the only Russian-French joint-stock company in the empire, “Modern” was renowned not only for its refined fragrances but also for its elegant bottles, which were produced at the famous glassworks of the Gribkov brothers and at Ivan Riting’s factories. Women in our city were also able to enjoy their exquisite products in the early 20th century, as the “Modern” brand store was located at 7 Lopatinsky Lane.
In 1860, in St. Petersburg, French pharmacist and merchant Fyodor Ivanovich Kal founded a small perfume company that produced lipstick, cologne, perfumed waters, scented vinegar, and other cosmetic products. In 1872, a French citizen named Georges Friedrichovich Dutfoix became the owner of the company.
By the beginning of the 20th century, the company had already been awarded three gold, two silver, and one bronze medal at Russian and international exhibitions. For example, in 1878 at the Paris World’s Fair, the company received the highest award as the best perfume manufacturer in the Russian Empire. The perfumes “Red Carnation” and “Forest Lily of the Valley,” as well as the cologne “Triple,” were very popular and in high demand among the public. Although the company itself was not named as poetically as its products—it was called the “St. Petersburg Chemical Laboratory.”
These products were also available in Kharkiv, as the company had a store on Moskovskaya Street.
German Helferich was the representative in our city for the extremely popular Warsaw perfume factory “Friedrich Puls.” The Kharkiv agency itself was located at 28 Rybnaya Street.
In addition to advertising its perfumes, the joint-stock company “Friedrich Puls” authoritatively claimed that its over-fatted hygienic soap was “Indispensable for the softness of the facial skin. Approved and recommended by medical authorities. It is available at all perfume shops, pharmacies, and drugstores.” This miraculous and indispensable soap had a very beautiful yet obscure name—“Triolan.”
Perfume shops such as Rastorguev, Laushkin, and Ushanov in the Passage; Bogdanov at Netchenskaya Street, 59; Reno at Ekaterinoslavskaya Street, 1; and many others were all vying to advertise and sell perfumes from various manufacturers. Connoisseurs of exquisite fragrances could purchase perfumes from one of the Empire’s largest firms, “Brocar & Co.” Founded by the Frenchman and “master” perfumer Heinrich Brokar, by 1914 this company was producing 4,300,000 bottles of perfume per year.
And in 1913, “Brocard & Co.” was awarded the title of “Supplier to the Court of His Imperial Majesty.” To celebrate the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov, Brokar released the fragrance “The Empress’s Favorite Bouquet,” which won top prizes at the largest international exhibitions. Many people are familiar with and still love this extraordinary fragrance to this day—after all, during the Soviet era it was called “Red Moscow.” Although personally, I prefer the name of another perfume from this company—“End of the Century.”
One of the famous creators of “fine perfumery” at that time was a Frenchman who settled in Moscow in 1853—Alphonse Siou. The firm “Siou & Co.,” in addition to other perfumery products, produced a wide range of high-end perfumes, and since this type of product outnumbered cheap colognes, their catalogs consistently stated: “perfumes of the highest quality.” The names of the numerous perfume fragrances were simply extraordinary and original: “Fragrant Pea,” “Jockey Club,” “Spanish Leather,” “Love Me,” “I Love You,” “My Heart,” “Don’t Forget Me,” “First Kiss,” and even… “Fresh Hay.”
Even today, people still remember the “Siu & Co.” company. After all, in addition to perfumes, the Sius were also outstanding confectioners. The trademark for the “Yubileiny” cookies, so beloved by many, first appeared in 1913, when the “A. Siu & Co.” confectionery factory released “Yubileiny” in honor of the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov.
These two companies did not have any stores in Kharkiv. But our beloved city had something even better. One of the oldest and largest factories in the empire was that of Alphonse Rallet (also of French origin), founded in 1843. In 1857, Alphonse Rallet left for France, and the factory was managed by a board of directors headed by another Frenchman, Édouard Bo.
At the 1878 Paris World’s Fair, the company’s products were recognized as “beyond any award.” In the 1880s, the company began producing fashionable floral colognes, which brought the firm enormous profits.
In December 1896, the company was reorganized into the “A. Rallet & Co. Fine Perfumery Partnership” with a capital of 1 million rubles. Thanks to the high quality of its products, “Rallet & Co.” served as the official supplier to the Court of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of All Russia, the Shah of Persia, and His Highness the Prince of Montenegro.
The company was awarded the State Emblem of the Russian Empire four times (no other company has ever received this award that many times)—which, for that era, was the greatest achievement. At the Paris Exposition in 1900, the company received the highest award—the “Grand Prix.” The perfume, produced in Russia, was sold in France, Germany, Turkey, and the Balkans. One could go on listing all the awards and achievements indefinitely, for the “A. Rallet & Co. Society of Fine Perfumery” was truly a record-breaker both in terms of the volume of its production and the number of awards it received. By the end of the 19th century, Rallet had its own warehouses and brand-name stores in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Odessa, and Kharkiv.
In our city, they were located in the Karpyshev House (Rybnaya Street, 15) and in the Cathedral House on Moskovskaya Street. This allowed the company not only to delight the lovely women of Kharkiv but also to actively sell its products at the Epiphany, Trinity, Assumption, and Intercession fairs.
At the end of the 19th century, Ernest Bo (1881–1961), the second son of company president Édouard Bo, began working for the company. From 1898 to 1900, he worked as a laboratory assistant at a soap factory, then served in the French army for two years. In 1902, he returned to Moscow and began training as a perfumer at the Rallet factory. In 1907, thanks to his remarkable talents, Ernest Bo became the lead perfumer at the Rallet factory in Moscow at the age of 25. Together with his brother, he also joined the board of directors. His new position gave him greater creative freedom. His perfume “Tsar’s Heather” was a huge success, and “Rose Fairy” was considered the finest recreation of the scent of roses. This was followed by “Nile Lily,” “Russian Violet,” “Silver Lily of the Valley,” “Fountain of Love,” and dozens more romantic names. However, Bo’s first real success came in 1912 with the creation of the cologne “Bouquet de Napoleon,” released to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino and which caused quite a stir.
A year later, the women’s perfume “Bouquet de Catherine” was launched, named in honor of Catherine the Great and timed to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. When selecting ingredients for his perfumes, Bo always tried to avoid using what others were using. He is also credited with being the first to use more expensive natural essences in his extracts. For this reason, all fragrance connoisseurs were able to experience the full richness, subtlety, and splendor of his creations.
In late 1919, Édouard Bo emigrated to the French town of La Bosca and worked for the perfume company Chiris, for which he developed the formula for the perfume “Rallet No. 1.”
In 1920, through the mediation of Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, Bo met Coco Chanel in neighboring Cannes. From the “Rallet No. 1” series presented by Bo, she chose No. 5. Released in 1921, the first 100 sample bottles of “Chanel No. 5” were all sent by the great Coco as Christmas gifts to socialites and fashion icons. The success was simply staggering. Although there are several stories about the origins of the legendary “Chanel No. 5” fragrance, Ernest Beaux is credited as its creator in each of them in one way or another.
In his short story “The Fragrant Symphony of Life,” Valentin Pikul writes: “Perfume, like music, belongs to one of the oldest art forms, and a perfumer is most like a composer who lets his imagination run wild, combining various scents as if arranging music note by note.”
Well, we can only imagine what symphonies echoed through the streets of our city 100 or more years ago. However, judging by the composers, they must have been beautiful.
- About the military pilot school and the airfield in Kharkiv… - 04.11.2020
- Kharkiv Artisans and the 1887 Exhibition - 17.08.2020
- Nikanor Savich—A Political Career by Mistake - 13.07.2020