Parquet Boxes for Mitsouko, Fol Arome and L'Heure Bleue c1912-1920s
Box is made up of paper covered wood, notice the design on the front is different than the current boxes we normally see. The older box has a wood grain effect to the background, whereas the newer box has a burled wood pattern. The font on the older box is slightly foliate, the newer box is a bit more modern. Also the tree design is more stylized on the newer box. The bird motifs are also slightly different in shape.
Blue Packaging c1914-1949:
photo from basenotes
c1920s-1949.
Special Wartime Packaging 1939-1945.
During 1939-1945, because of wartime restrictions, Guerlain's extraits were packaged in a simple blue and white boxes called presentations de guerre, marked "Conditionnement provisoire du manque d'ecrin-la qualite et la quantite du parfum sont rigoureusement identiques a celles de notre presentation normale."
Coffee Bean packaging c1950-1967.
c1950-1966.
White Box and Dot Packaging c1950-1967:
White Box style, c1950-1967. Used for products that were blended in the USA from essences imported from France. Bottles were also imported from the French manufacturers and then the bottles were filled in the USA.
Zig Zag (Zebra) Packaging c1967-1983.
Starting in 1967 Guerlain packaged their fragrances, cosmetics and skincare products in black and white boxes imprinted with a zig zag like pattern. In the center of these boxes was a raised golden seal with the name of the fragrance or product in the center. This design was used until 1983, when a new design appeared.
used from 1967 til 1983.
Black zig zag usually used for Nahema:
Gold Zig Zag Packaging c1967-2008.
Instead of the black and white boxes, these boxes now were different colors for different fragrances and the zig zags were now either black or gold, depending on the color of the boxes. This design was used up until 2008, when the boxes were then made up of a muted gold color with no zig zags.
used from 1983 til 2008.
Gold "Pastel" Boxes c2008-present.
used from 2008 to present
I have an old paper box, the later burled wood version. There is no perfume in it, but it retains a lovely scent after all these years. Is there a way to know which perfume was in this box?
ReplyDeleteOnly three perfumes were housed in this box, Mitsouko, L'Heure Bleue and Fol Arome. You can look through my site here and look at the fragrance profiles, and see which you think would best fit what notes you can detect.
DeleteI so appreciate your blog! What year did they switch to the new, darker "wood" boxes?
ReplyDeleteThank you Eva, I am not entirely sure. Perhaps it makes a difference on who the manufacturer of the bottle is...whether Pochet or Baccarat.
DeleteHello! I love this site and the encyclopedic information is a treasure! Thank you so much. I see the last submission is for the gold boxes 2008- present but I can’t find a date for this blog entry. I also stumbled upon Guerlain L’heure Bleue boxes that are off White with Gold lettering. I think this is late mid 2000-2020. Then they moved Lhb to the Les Legendaires boxes. Can you confirm those generalized dates?
ReplyDelete-Kimberly
Your blog is fascinating!! I love such stuff. I collected many perfume boxes in my teenage days.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I landed on such an amazing article. I love the history of cosmetics and perfumes. I loved your blog. These Guerlain fragrances were best. I loved Ambre and Nahema
ReplyDelete