Austen’s Forest Flower Cologne Trade Card

Girl in Hat tc1Girl in Hat tc2

Someone had evidently cropped and saved this trade card just for the charming girl in the straw hat drawing. At the time of posting this entry, the whole card comes up for sale on eBay, and that one shows that above the drawing are the words “Perfumed With Austens” and below the drawing “Forest Flower Cologne.” The address on the back of the card shows up under a list of druggists on a website regarding old bottles (cool site.) The address is for W. F. Phillips & Company, wholesale druggist….And what an intriguing name for a perfume, “Austen’s Forest Flower Cologne.” This cologne was manufactured by W. J. Austen & Company, of Oswego, New York, and as evidenced above, was advertised as “The Most Fashionable Perfume of the Day.” (Some cards show “The Most Fashionable and Lasting Perfume of the Day.”) The word and symbol for “Forest Flower” was registered by W. J. Austen in September of 1878, according to an entry in “New Remedies, An Illustrated Monthly Trade Journal,” a publication of the day for American druggists.

Sources:  http://www.bottlebooks.com/Wholesale%20Druggists/WD%20P.html

http://books.google.com. New Remedies, An Illustrated Monthly Trade Journal of Materia Medica, Pharmacy and Therapeutics. Vol. 7, page 370. Fred’k A. Castle, M.D., Editor and Charles Rice, Associate Editor. William Wood & Company, Publishers, New York 1878.

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