Vogue 1945: A Grasse "Nose" on Women and Animalic Scents

"One of the few men in the world who has to stop work the moment he contracts the slightest head cold is Sirenus Hermlin. Monsieur Hermlin is the chief smeller at one of the largest manufactories of perfumeries of the perfume centre of Grasse, France...

Aside from his talent as an odour authority and mix-master, M. Hermlin, as factory manager, knows intimately every stage of perfume manufacturing. Walking through his laboratories and refineries, he will tell you that one pound of this attar of roses is derived from the processing of 5000 pounds of rose blossoms. Or that it costs 90,000 francs to manufacture one pound of jasmine oil, a popular perfume base.

FLORA — AND FAUNA

The secrets of the perfume industry are among the most closely guarded in the world. The exclusive formulae developed by the factory in a century of operations are kept in a big cast-iron safe. It is impossible to determine the contents of a perfume formula by chemical analysis*, although a top flight perfumer, working by nose, might be able to approximate the recipe. M. Hermlin, who likes to call himself 'The Nose Man,' says that the best perfumes contain an animal scent as well as the fragrance of flowers. Products used to impart an animal tang include ambergris from whales and extracts from the glands of beavers, musk deer, civet cats, and — hold tight — skunks. Commenting on this, the technician waxes philosophical:

'A woman may buy a perfume made purely of flowers once,' M. Hermlin says, "but she will never come back for another bottle. There is something in a woman, perhaps she is not conscious of it, but there is something in her that wants an animal odor.** It is just another part of that mystery that is a woman."

— from November Vogue, 1945, "They Call Him 'The Nose" written by Sgt. George Dorsey, A.E.F.

* The invention of gas chromatography in the mid '50s, about ten years after this interview with M. Hermlin was published, made it possible for perfumers to analyze scents and break them down into their component parts. Gas chromatography, says olfactory psychologist and author Avery Gilbert in What the Nose Knows, "revolutionized the science of smell."

** For the record, although there is something in this woman that wants an animal odor (check out my review of a fragrance that gives us a whiff of the human animal through the Costus root note), I doubt M. Hermlin's claim holds water for all women throughout eternity. In fact, since most animalics are out of fashion, and clean and fruity scents are popular in the mainstream, time proves that the "something" that wanted an animal odor in the '40s woman was her desire for what she was familiar and which was pervasive in the '40s: animalic scents! 

Image: René Gruau's 1949 ad for Christian Dior's Miss Dior. Courtesy: renegruau.com

Comments

[Discounted Designer Women's Perfume]

Pleasant informative post. Keep posting. This does give us a lot of information. Cheerful posting.

[all women stalk]

Wow, I imagines what it's like in the 1940's, I meant the scent back then. Maybe the scent back then were a bit more bolder but quite lighter compared to fragrances these days. But still, the classic scent, I guess is still the most attractive scent, for me. And as for Jasmine, a popular perfume base, does it really costs 90,000 francs to manufacture one pound of jasmine oil? Wow! Unbelievable!

[Discount Perfumes]

Perfumes are substances, generally made by blending plant oils, selected animal emission, and synthetic chemicals, to produce a pleasant. Such substances were highly valued and sought after throughout human history, especially before regular bathing and the widespread use of deodorants altered the significance of human body odors.

[breathe31]

Is this why I always loved the smell of skunk spray as a child?

[Perfumaniac]

Short answer? Yes!

[הדברות]

Exclusive formula developed by the activities of the century, the factory is considered a great iron safe.

[Perfumaniac]

הדברות: Say what?

[brigitte]

Oh, Barbara, I am reading this at 3 am in the morning and your response to the last commenter has me laughing hysterically! My sentiments exactly!

[Perfumaniac]

Glad I made you laugh, brigitte, but whatcha doin up at 3?! I'm sure that's spam, as a lot of the spam sounds like surreal word salads. I usually unpublish that stuff, but it was too tempting to leave that nonsense up. :-)