Perfume a Prohibition-Era Myster
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A PROHIBITION- ERA MYSTERY 308 MINNESOTA HISTORY Thomas J. Braun resale. Pickers use their deep knowl- olfaction proved so intriguing edge of historical artifacts to identify that I could not put my investiga- treasures that others may not recog- tions aside. I came to feel less n 1983 the Minnesota Historical nize. According to one of the dealers, apologetic about this seemingly Society acquired a glass container the picker had a friend working on insignificant topic of research as Iof amber- colored Lucky Lindy a demolition crew at the campus of I realized how influential smells perfume from a local antique dealer. Ancker Hospital, and when a ware- can be in our behavior and how Our primary interest in the bottle was house was being razed, 70 gallons of our ancestors put enormous store its connection to Charles Lindbergh. Nipola perfume came to light.1 in products of fragrance, going to It has been displayed at Lindbergh’s While these jugs did not have any length to procure them. They childhood home in Little Falls, along much monetary value, I felt that they ransacked nature in search of with numerous other products named must have an interesting history and beautiful and different aromas de- after the famous aviator. Thirty years a story to tell. As the senior objects spite wars, revolutions, plagues, later, in 2013, MNHS acquired two conservator at the MNHS, my charge and pestilence.2 more glass containers of perfume is to preserve the institution’s collec- from a different local dealer. One of tions and help others interpret them. I might add that I prefer to avoid these, another bottle of Lucky Lindy, I decided to try to find out what ex- nearly all scents and perfumes, which was nearly identical to the one al- actly was in those bottles in order to often seem excessive and can give ready in the collections. The other, better understand their origins and me (like many others) a headache labeled Swee- Tone, held a dark- green learn their story. or make me feel ill. I am, however, fluid. Both were manufactured by the Nipola Company of St. Paul. While a committee considered acquiring the latest bottles, several staff members WHY WOULD ANYONE BUY conducted preliminary research PERFUME IN GALLON JUGS? into the company and discovered an intriguing connection to the Prohibi- tion era: Nipola was one of numerous I began by conducting research fascinated by the organic chemistry parties indicted by a federal grand into perfume to learn how it differs behind them, as well as their history. jury in 1930, after a large, multistate from liquor. The first paragraphs The word perfume comes from the investigation into illegal uses of of Edwin T. Morris’s 1984 book, Fra- Latin words per (through) and fumum alcohol. grance, almost perfectly summarized (smoke), indicating that it probably A number of questions had im- my feelings for this topic. originated from the use of incense. mediately arisen when these two France and the United States have bottles were offered to us. Foremost, When I first became interested in been and continue to be, by far, the perhaps, was their size. Like the one the history of perfumes . I felt major manufacturers and consumers acquired in 1983, these glass con- embarrassed, as if I were research- of fragrance in the world. Modern tainers hold one gallon of fluid. Why ing trivia or had become the ar- perfume is commonly a mixture of would anyone buy perfume in gallon chivist of idleness. For most of ethyl alcohol (the solvent or extender) jugs? Adding to our curiosity was the us, scents are not necessities; they and one or more essential oils. The report that all three bottles had been fit into the category of “frills.” . proportions usually cited are about 80 discovered in the 1960s behind a false But despite [my] reservations . percent alcohol and 20 percent essen- wall at St. Paul’s Ancker Hospital. It the subject of the aromatic plants, tial oils, though the oil content can be appears that both antique dealers had their uses and applications, higher. Eau de toilette (toilet water), acquired the bottles from another and the wizardry of the sense of typically a much thinner dilution local man, a picker— someone who seeks inexpensive antiques and other curiosities and profits from their THOMAS J. BRAUN is the senior objects conservator at the Minnesota Historical Society, where he has worked since 2000. He also serves on the board of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC), and is a regular grant reviewer for several federal agencies that support faCiNg: Clerk at a Minneapolis perfume the preservation of the arts and humanities. counter helping a customer, about 1935. WINTER 2015–16 309 than perfume, is about 95 percent alcohol. Eau de Cologne, intended for either men or women, is similar to eau de toilette but may contain some added glycerin. After shave, meant for use by men, often has the stron- gest scent— it is about 60 percent al- cohol and 40 percent essential oil.3 The word eau (water) in the two French terms above apparently goes back to the earliest observations of distilled alcohol by thirteenth- and fourteenth- century Europeans. They were confused by the similar- ities and differences of alcohol and water, referring to alcohol as water of wine, oil of wine, or burning water. St. Paul’s Ancker Hospital campus, 1925 Alcohol crossed boundaries of the assumed order of the natural world; have recovered many glass perfume At that time, it was located southeast some thought it was a fifth essence bottles from ancient Egypt and the of downtown St. Paul, near the cur- that complemented the four other Fertile Crescent.6 rent site of the St. Paul Public Schools essences: water, air, earth, and fire.4 Historically, leather goods were Administration Building (360 Col- Since humans can detect some es- perfumed, which is not surprising; bourne Street). In 1965 the buildings sential oils at infinitesimally low con- producing leather is a smelly task, on this site were abandoned when centrations, only tiny amounts need and animal skins (and fur) readily Ancker moved to the intersection of be used in perfumes. Most people can absorb and retain scents— as do Jackson Street and University Avenue detect musk and vanilla at a parts- human skin and hair. Victorian tex- and was renamed St. Paul-Ramsey per- million or even parts- per- billion tile manufacturers quickly learned Hospital. (In 1997 it became Regions level, which is quite remarkable for that paisley cloth that did not smell of Hospital.)8 By the late 1960s the old a species not particularly known for Indian patchouli would not sell well. buildings had been torn down; during its sense of smell. Typically, water is Today, we expect to find perfume in demolition in 1967, the false ware- also added to perfumes, often simply soaps, powders, and other cosmetics. house wall was discovered hiding the to reduce the cost but also to extend Indeed, it is almost ubiquitous in 70- or- so large glass jugs of Nipola the persistence of the perfume on the many products, including detergents, perfume. skin. The amount of water is limited, cleaners, paint, rubber, plastic, paper Not much is known about the however; if it approaches 50 percent, and paper goods, diapers, and even company— except that numerous the essential oils start to fall out of cars. Scents may be added to mask an newspapers, both locally and around solution and turn the perfume milky unpleasant odor or spur a sale— and the country, reported that it was in- white— proof of the old adage that oil in those cases, manufacturers usually volved in a grand jury indictment and water do not mix.5 take great pains to keep buyers un- following a bust of a large, illegal Perfumes are almost always stored aware of the addition.7 liquor ring in February 1930, three and sold in sealed glass containers years before the end of Prohibition. to prevent the alcohol from quickly The newspapers probably shared the evaporating and the essential oils etting back to the story same source (apparently, the Chicago from degrading through exposure to behind the jugs of Nipola Herald and Examiner), as their stories excessive oxygen. In addition, some Gperfume brings us to the agree on specific names and num- essential oils can react and degrade history of the old Ancker Hospital, bers. The Minneapolis Tribune referred other materials, particularly some established in 1872. By 1923 it had to the bust as “the largest liquor types of plastic. Storing perfume in grown significantly, added a school of conspiracy since the enactment of na- glass goes all the way back to the an- nursing, and been named after its late tional prohibition.” Based in Chicago, cient Egyptians, and archaeologists superintendent, Dr. Arthur B. Ancker. the conspiracy spread its tentacles 310 MINNESOTA HISTORY nationwide, having operations in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, THE MINNEAPOLIS TRIBUNE Detroit, Cleveland, Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Louis, and both Newark and REFERRED TO THE BUST AS “THE North Bergen, New Jersey— many of LARGEST LIQUOR CONSPIRACY which are known historic centers of organized crime. More than 150 indi- SINCE THE ENACTMENT OF viduals and over 30 corporations were NATIONAL PROHIBITION.” alleged to have been involved with the scheme. The allegations specified that about one million gallons of industrial alcohol, which was legal That day’s Tribune also reported listing for Nipola that I found was in during Prohibition for certain pur- the “overt act” that caused Nipola to 1934, and it shows only A.