Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-10-11
THE PERFUMER AT WORK-By Frederic J. Haskin

" UFFALO, N. Y, Oct. THE perfumes
= modern women use are more delicate
products Of the perfumer's art than
the famous Walls Of scent treasured as price
less by Catherine di Medici and other medley
| al royalties-so we are told by the head
| chemist of perfume laboratory here.
Queen GATHERINGS official perfumer held
| many secrets of a most secret business, but
he could learn things from modern perfum-
ers, if the art was not still secret and mys-
| FERROUS one. Many of the laboratories in
which perfumes are concocted admit no Wis.,
| itors, but a big factory to family" plant
here agreed to show the reporter through it's
perfume section
The head chemist of the department led
the way through rooms fragrant with flower
scents where huge rolling tanks hold the es-
| sences. Pipes run along the ceiling and end
in spigots labeled rose, hyacinth, jasmine,
and so on To mix perfume for bottling, a
tank is rolled up and the desired spigots are
turned on.
But perfume-making is not so easy as this
| might lead you to think. Other processes
first refine the natural essences, and long be-
fore quantities of any perfume can be mixed,
the formula must be painstakingly evolved in
the laboratory by master perfumer. This
| is where the most important secrets of the
| business are guarded. A formula for sue
cessful or promising perfume is as valuable
| as state paper. If other firms should learn
| the ingredients and proportions of the form
uId, Lu0 WOfh OF many laboratory expert
| ments necessary to produce it would be a
| loss.
The master perfumer is an artist, often a
| temperamental one. He sits among his walls,
test tubes, and bits of cotton soaked in mix
lures of scent, always mixing and shifting for
the elusive combination that will be new and
| at the same time appealing in some way
| suggestive Of fresh summer fields, of the SUBJ
tie, languorous Orient, or of the old-fashion-
| ed garden.
When he gets it-and he may work for
| months with some troublesome yet fascinat-
ing problem-he feels that he has given the
world work OF art. Over here the master
| perfumer gets less recognition than he does
! in Europe. In Paris, his productions bear his
| name and he is regarded with the same re-
spect as the creators of beautiful clothes. In
| this country the manufacturing firm takes
| the limelight. The master perfumer may be
no less master, but he remains unknown.
The Raw Materials
In one corner of the perfume department
| of this plant is the steel door of a vault. The
| head chemist swung open the heavy door and
stepped into fairly large room. Here, he
| explained, are stored a quarter of a million
! dollars worth of the imported ingredients
| which go to make fine perfumes. Shelves
and tables are loaded with large glass bot
ties, cans with Chinese labels, foreign-look-
! ing kettles and canisters, and great stone
crooks.
| 1uIuIuS Oh Cu0 1lSuLS, the chemist went
! the rounds of the shelves, showing how the
| different natural essences look when they are
shipped from the foreign manufacturers, be-
fore they are refined, and also allowing the
visitor the interesting if not always delec-
| table privilege of smelling the heavily con-
| centrated doors.
! Violet, for example, when imported from
southern France, is a greenish lardlike
mass The essence has been extracted over
! seas by pouring large quantities of petals into
| a mixture of melted beef suet and purified
lard. This is stirred with a wooden paddle
and allowed to stand several days until the
| fat has absorbed the flowers fragrance.
| Then the mass is strained and cooled until
it cOngeals.
Eagerly you bend over the jar of greenish
| stuff when the top is lifted, expecting to
| catch a heavenly Whit of pure violet, but the
! scent which arises is more like green soap,
and not very healthy soap at that. The es-
sense is so strong that it seems to bear no
relation to the delicate perfume which it
| eventually ecomes.
| Altar of roses, too, is here in the form of
| a liquid essence. This precious oil is ship
ped from Bulgaria in flat round metal can
| teens with big stoppers Surely, you think,
! this will fill the room with sweetness, but
altar of roses at this stage is more sug-