www.californiaperfumecompany.net     Issue 3 - June 2004

• The Dating Dilemma - Part 1
• Upcoming Events
• Web Site News

No, no, no...not that kind of dating. This article sets out to help the CPC and early Avon collectors understand the dilemmas of attributing a particular date or date-range to various items in their collection. Hopefully, some key indicators and insights with be presented in this and subsequent articles that will help all collectors in the field of dating. So, with that "little" clarification, here goes...

I guess if you really pinned me down, I would have to say that Paper Items from the California Perfume Company are of the most interest to me. Though I have expanded my acquisitions to include many of the CPC and early Avon products, there is still a special anxious, joyful feeling I get when I am around the paper items. That said, I have collected many of the older catalogs over the years. And there is no better place to begin discussing the dating dilemma than with the CPC catalogs themselves.

One fact must be understood from the start: Not all of the CPC catalogs are dated! Therein, lies the beginnings of "many a dilemma."

The first catalog produced by the California Perfume Company was a 30 page, text-only version that was issued on November 2nd, 1896. The words "California Perfume Company" adorned the front of the small catalog along with the company's address - 126 Chambers Street, New York City. A picture of the 1896 catalog can be found in either Bud Hastin's 17th edition Avon Collector's Encyclopedia on page 238 or in the Avon 8 Collector's Encyclopedia on page 8. This first catalog presents no problem for dating since the cover and the interior contents are distinctive as opposed to every catalog produced thereafter. I have not ascertained (as yet) whether a copyright registry with a date is located within the 1896 catalog, however, the presence of the registry would only serve to confirm an already easily established fact.

1897 CPC Catalog "For Beauty's Toilet"   Hand-Drawn Illustration of an Atomizer Set found in the 1897 CPC Catalog Registry Information found inside the 1897 CPC Catalog

The second catalog was produced in 1897 and contained hand-drawn illustrations such as the one shown on the immediate right. The catalog contains 62 pages and boasts a myriad of perfumes, toilet waters, soaps, household cleaning products, flavoring extracts, vegetable food colorings, and more. The CPC even sold "Cure-a-Cough", explaining that the smaller 25 cent bottle would cure a cough nine out of ten times, however a long term cough would surely require the larger 75 cent bottle."

Even though the 1897 catalog contained hand-drawn illustrations, most products were not depicted. Thirty-three items or item types (perfumes were classified as one item type rather than each scent being counted individually) were described in the 1897 catalog while only 18 somewhat fair to poor illustrations accompanied those descriptions. Considering the total lack of illustrations in the 1896 catalog and the sparse illustrations within the 1897 catalog, verifying an exact date for products from this time period becomes virtually impossible.

Two catalogs were apparently produced in 1898. These catalogs can be see on page 238 of Bud's 17th edition Avon Collector's Encyclopedia or on page 8 of the Avon 8 Collector's Encyclopedia. The smaller of the two (4" x 5 1/8") has a beautiful full color illustration of a Victorian woman on the cover. The title, "For Beauty's Toilet," is found on the lower portion of the cover page. This version of the 1898 catalog is very similar to the 1897 catalog in that it is 62 pages of mostly text with the use of some, but not a lot, of hand-drawn illustrations. A registry mark inside the catalog clearly identifies the year as 1898 and the company address is identified as 126 Chambers Street, New York.

The larger of the two 1898 catalogs (5" x 7") is clearly more fancy -- the cover as well as the interior. The same illustration of the Victorian woman graces the cover of this larger catalog, however the edging of the illustration itself is now very ornate, classical, and befitting a perfume company catalog. Co-located with the registry information and date of 1898 is the sentence: "Designed by John C. Knight Company." This sentence is not found in the smaller of the two 1898 catalogs. And, oddly enough, there are fewer product illustrations in this catalog. Eight illustrations were found in its 64 pages of text -- a marked decrease from the 1897 and smaller 1898 catalogs. Lastly, and quite importantly, the address line now indicates 126 Chambers Street, New York and in smaller print: Dallas, Texas and San Francisco, Cal. And the Eureka Trade mark is found on the larger 1898 catalog back cover.

As you can see, if it is your intent to determine the dates of the California Perfume Company's first catalogs, there is no problem! If, however, you are trying to find a visual representation of the earliest CPC products and associated dates or date ranges, there is a serious problem! And then it gets even more dicey...

Three Early CPC Catalogs: (Left) 1905  (Center) 1897  (Right) 1906
Address on Front Cover of 1905 Catalog	Address on Front Cover of 1906 Catalog
Perfume Price List from 1905 Catalog	Perfume Price List from 1906 Catalog

Two further catalogs are illustrated above: one from approximately 1905 and the other from approximately 1906.

Both of these catalogs are virtually identical and contain 64 pages of excellent material for the CPC enthusiast. A short introduction to the company, black and white illustrations of the Suffern manufacturing plant - both inside and out, and beautiful black and white illustrations of the products that borderline picture quality fill these catalogs. From a collector's standpoint, you couldn't ask for much more. Except... Except for the fact that there is no date! No registry information! There are some interesting clues though.

 Within the short introduction of the California Perfume Company found on the first couple of pages of both catalogs, a statement reads, "When the business was started ten years ago...." Another statement a little further down in that paragraph says, "...the laboratory at Suffern, N. Y., was erected. This was built five years ago." Well, here is a big dating dilemma! The CPC claim is that the company started in 1886. Also, in David McConnell's "A History of the California Perfume Company", he states that the Suffern plant was built in 1895. If these two dates were to be used for dating even one of the catalogs, you would either come up with 1896 or 1900.

The real hope for accomplishing any kind of dating for these two catalogs rests in the Perfume Price Lists as seen above. The CPC sold different fragrances over its many, many years with some of those fragrances having short production runs while others enjoyed decades of customer appreciation. The fragrance list by year (depicted on the CPC web site) can prove invaluable when attempting to date various items. From the lists shown above, three particular scents will be the focus: California Bouquet, Treffle, and  Roses. California Bouquet and Treffle were additions to the CPC line in 1905. Interestingly, these two scents are located at the bottom of the first section of the Floral Odors portion of the 1905 Price List. The original catalog clearly depicts these two as last minute additions because the text is bolder and not correctly aligned with the other print on the page. A further point is that Roses was a fragrance added to the CPC line in 1906. Roses is not on the 1905 price list.

Note, however, the 1906 price list. Roses is added to the top of the list (correctly printed) while California Bouquet and Treffle are also correctly incorporated into the list as well. Could this be a 1907 catalog? The answer is that I have never see a 1907 catalog and, yes, it could be. I do own a 1908 catalog and the style of that document is totally different from any preceding and will be covered next time...

You may have noticed that certain years were skipped - that is simply because no information is currently available for catalogs from 1899-1904 (though George did say that he believed he has a copy of the 1902 catalog). So, until next time...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Remember!  It's Really Close Now!!!!!

1. I am very, very happy to report that on 28 May, I (and many, many others) received and e-mail from Rhonda Schriver explaining that the Avon Collector's Lost and Found web site had indeed changed hands and is now run by Rose Bloom along with the great news that the site was now up and running again! The address for the site changed slightly to www.icollectavon.NET. The front (or opening) page of the site is new and fresh. And all of the functionality and site features of Rhonda's original web site can still be found! Rose wrote to me explaining that "90% of the site is exactly the same." That is definitely a plus for previous patrons. I am sure that Rose will bring a beautiful, welcome touch to this excellent web site.

It was truly a pleasure and a joy to see the web site up and running again!

2. A second positive note is that Dwight and Vera Young's Avon Times web site is up and running once again. I was extremely glad to see that as well!

Some of you may wonder why I seem so "ecstatic" (or goofy if you wish) concerning the news about these two web sites. Allow me to mount my soap box for just a minute... Any person can easily look around and see that the number of Avon and CPC collectors has diminished since the Avon Collecting "heydays" of the 1970s and 1980s. One thing that I am dumb-founded over is the Avon representatives I talk to that don't even have a clue about the California Perfume Company - and I am not talking deep stuff here. Facts concerning the Avon corporation's roots and the collectability of Avon items (new and old) are simply not promoted. Most of the normal, everyday folk have never even heard of the California Perfume Company -- most believe Avon started in the 1950s or 1960s. The world wide web offers a great opportunity to promote collecting, present material, and to definitely spur on interest and growth. I do not feel that we, as CPC and Avon collectors, leverage the web to our advantage. Therefore, seeing sites like the Avon Collector's Lost and Found and the Avon Times web site continue on the world wide web is a great boost! One thing though -- please understand that I do not believe the world wide web is the "End All" for helping the growth of CPC and Avon collecting. The web is a vast, beneficial tool that must be used along with other means, whatever those means might be. I want to see CPC and Avon collecting grow! I think it can - that is if others want to see it grow as well. Thanks for listening...

3. There is new "stuff" added to the CPC web site all the time. Please come by and check it out often!

www.californiaperfumecompany.net.

If you know of any worth while web site related in some way to CPC and Avon collecting, please let me know and I will include the site in an upcoming CPC Newsletter issue.

Previous CPC Newsletter issues are always available upon request.

Thank you and have an awesome day!

Rusty

I appreciate and welcome any and all feedback!!!!!

Always Looking To Hatch New CPC Stories