Atomizers and Atomizer Sets

CP Products

CPC Gift Box No. 5 - 1897
Gift Box No. 5
~1897-1898
 Set contains: one one ounce bottle of perfume and an atomizer put up in a handsomely decorated box.
OSP -- depending on odors -- (in 1897): ..... $1.50

The Perfume Atomizers and Atomizer Sets:

The California Perfume Company atomizers, and those atomizer sets containing three bottles of perfume and an atomizer, enjoyed huge public success from 1892 through 1922. Then, for approximately five years, the company apparently dropped the atomizers from their sales inventory. With the introduction of the Avon line in 1928 however, the company once again handled the perfume atomizers, reintroduced as the Avon Gift Atomizer (see below, bottom of the page) in 1928 and only put up (filled) with Vernafleur perfume. Later years saw the expansion of the atomizers and their accompanying perfumes.

It is worth noting the genesis of the Atomizer Sets! A historical account provided by D. H. McConnell, Sr. in the mid-1930s explains that in, "1892...we were selling sets of books to stores for advertising purposes, and we had a number of lady Travellers that were not as successful appointing agents as they might be; yet they were good business women, so I wanted to get hold of something that they could handle to the trade, and I lighted on a box of Perfumery, three bottles and an atomizer, calling it the Little Dot Box, put up by Mr. H. H. Sawyer. [sic]

Therefore, from McConnell's account, The Little Dot Box (or Set) became an integral part of the California Perfume Company's initial sales inventory. As McConnell set up his perfume manufacturing apparatus, The Little Dot Box was replaced/succeeded by McConnell's Flower Sets seen immediately below.

Hand-drawn Illustration of the CPC Flowers Set - 1897 CPC Flowers Set Lid - 1900
Flowers Atomizer Set
~Pre-1895-1906
Set contains: three one ounce bottles of perfume and an atomizer put up in a sturdy cardboard box
Note: the above pictures are 1) a hand-drawn illustration of the Flowers Set from the 1897 CPC catalog (left), and 2) an early lid - possibly 1900 - from the Flowers Set (right). The set was available of an order form from 1895 (or before) (See Miscellaneous paper Items section.)
OSP -- filled with 40¢ goods -- (in 1897): $1.35

One other VALUABLE collector's tid-bit was found in the October 1905 Outlook article entitled, "ATOMIZER BOXES." In the article, the company stated that, "[i]n our Atomizer Box we have been putting one atomizer bottle, which the atomizer fits, and two smaller bottles. Beginning with October 1st all atomizer boxes will contain three regular atomizer bottles, so the atomizer will fit all three bottles."

Please note that the two depictions of the Flowers sets (immediately above and below this text) show only one of the bottles in the three-bottle set is large enough to handle the included atomizer; therefore, these are pre-October 1905 examples of the Atomizer Sets.

CPC Flowers Set - 1903
Flowers Atomizer Set
~Pre-1895-1906
Note: Picture found in the 1902 through 1906 CPC catalogs.

CPC Flowers Set - 1906
Flowers Atomizer Set
~Pre-1895-1906
Note: This variation was probably from 1905 to 1906 based
on the included bottle.

CPC Flowers Set - 1902
Flowers Atomizer Set
~Pre-1895-1906

CPC Combination Atomizer Bottle - 1899
Combination Atomizer Bottle
~1899
Ornate bottle able to hold two ounces of perfume. Remove the atomizer and replace with a sprinkle top.
OSP -- depending on odors -- (in 1899): ..... $1.25
Note: This bottle contains no markings identifying it with the California Perfume Company

CPC Atomizer Box Set - 1908
Atomizer Box Set
~1906-1908
 Set contains: three one ounce bottles of perfume and an atomizer
put up in a sturdy cardboard box.
Note: This Atomizer Set was first announced in the October, 1906 edition of the CP Outlook.
OSP -- depending on odors -- (in 1908): ..... $1.50

 CPC Atomizer Box Set - 1909
Atomizer Box Set
~1908-1909
 Set contains: three one ounce bottles of perfume
and an atomizer put up in a sturdy cardboard box.
OSP (depending on odors) (in 1909): ..... $1.50

CPC Atomizer Box Set - 1915     CPC Perfume Bottle with Atomizer - 1916
Atomizer Set
~1910-1922
 Set contains: three one ounce bottles of perfume and an atomize
put up in a sturdy cardboard box.
OSP -- depending on odors -- (in 1918): ..... $2.70

CPC Perfume Atomizer - 1918     CPC Natoma Perfume and Atomizer - 1918
Perfume and Atomizer Set
~1918-1922
 Set contains: a one ounce bottle of perfume and an atomizer put up in a sturdy cardboard box.
OSP -- depending on odor -- (in 1922): ..... $1.75
 

CPC/Avon Avon Gift Atomizer - 1928
Avon Gift Atomizer
~1928-1930
(Two ounce bottle)
Note: Sold with Vernafleur perfume only. Also, there is no marking or label on this bottle to identify it as a CPC or Avon product.
OSP (in 1929): ..... $2.75

CPC/Avon Atomizer Set No. 6 - 1932
Atomizer Set No. 6
~1931-1933
 Set contains: a one ounce bottle of either Ariel (Set 6a--shown above) or
Vernafleur (Set 6b) and an Avon atomizer put up in a sturdy cardboard box.
OSP for Set 6a (in 1931): ..... $2.75

Additional Atomizer Pictures:

The Display and Sales Room and the CPC Headquaters, 5th Avenue New York - mid-1920s
Display and Sales Room at Avon Headquarters, 114 Fifth Avenue, New York
~Mid- to Late-1920s
Note: Two atomizers at the middle of the picture. See close up immediately below.

Zoom in on atomizers bottles in the Dispaly and Sales Room at CPC Headquarters - mid-1920s
Display and Close up on Atomizers from Display and Sales Room
~Mid- to Late-1920s

CPC/Avon Product Display - early- to mid-1930s
Avon Product Display at Unknown Location
~Probably 1930-1931
Note: Three atomizers at the middle of the picture

Footnotes:   OSP: Original Selling Price

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