Parfumerie Monte Christo, Beaume Mamma Dura

It appears Parfumerie Monte Christo is actually a line of toilet articles associated with L Shaw’s Hair Emporium and later with the Monte Christo Cosmetic Co., both located in New York City.

In an 1899 interview, published in the October 25 Issue of Printers Ink, the L Shaw business manager, Albert Edelstein, stated that the business had been started 37 years prior by Madame Shaw. This would put the start of the business around 1862, but the first listing I can find was in the 1871/72 NYC Directory: “Louise (sometimes Louisa in later directories) Shaw, real and imitation hair, 352 Bowery.”

Around 1873, the business address moved to Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village and then in about 1876, they relocated to 54 West 14th Street which served as their retail location through the early 1900’s.

The business was the predecessor of what we would call today the beauty parlor or spa. In his 1899 interview, Edelstein described the range of services provided at this location.

These four stories and the basement are devoted to all the details pertaining to the hair, hairdressing, dyeing, shampooing, scalp treatment, manicuring, facial steaming and care of the complexion. As advertised it is the largest hair store in the world.

In the interview he stated that they were also the leading wholesaler.

…while in another part of town we occupy another entire building for our wholesale trade, being also the leading wholesaler. We import our hair direct, and in fact are the only house doing so, and probably supply more hair goods to retailers than all other wholesalers together.

The firm’s clientele and primary target of their advertising was the wealthy woman. Edelstein stated that they began to advertise about 15 years prior (1884) and primarily used daily papers and the theatre programs. At the time there were eight New York newspapers and he preferred the morning papers to the afternoon ones. His reasoning leaves no doubt about who his target audience was.

We believe that people have more time to read them, and read them more closely. And especially is this the case with ladies, whom we catch at just the right time, we think for good results. It is seldom that a lady reads an evening paper closely, even on those evenings where she may stay at home. But in the morning, after breakfast, she generally has an hour or two of lounging, even before going out shopping – a time when seeing our ad makes a substantial impression on her.”

In fact, the second floor of the West 14th Street parlor was restricted to women only – “No man is permitted entry.”

The business marketed a wide range of hair and cosmetics items including several under the name Parfumerie Monte Christo. Sounding French it was probably named this way for appeal to the wealthy woman and her preference at the time for French toiletries and perfumes.

It’s not clear when they started using the Monte Christo name but items with this tag were being mentioned in advertisements as early as the mid-1880’s when the business started advertising. One from 1886, advertised “a complete assortment of beautifying cosmetics by the Perfumerie Monte Christo.

Another in the July 1891 issue of Harper’s New Monthly Magazine mentioned “all toilet preparations of the celebrated Parfumerie Monte Christo.”

The business changed hands around the turn of the century. The 1901 Copartnership and Corporation Directory lists the business for the first time as the Firm of L Shaw, with Gerson Hyman and Manuel Oppemheim listed as the principals. Around 1905 the business moved from their longtime 14th Street location to 506 Fifth Avenue. Hyman and Oppenheim remained listed as principals through 1909. The directories also listed Albert Edelstein, the business manager, at the L Shaw business location through 1909.

In 1910, ownership changed again and it appears that the Parfumerie Monte Christo piece of the business was split off. In the 1910 Copartnership and Corporation Directory the principals in the firm of L Shaw are listed as  Leo B. and Felix A. Simonson. In the same directory, listed for the first time is a firm called the Monte Christo Cosmetic Co., located at 13 East 30th Street with Albert Edelstein as the only listed principal.

The Monte Christo Cosmetic Company continued to be listed through at least the 1925 NYC Directory. After that, I lose track, but Edelstein still lists himself as a proprietor in the cosmetics industry in the 1930 census records. The firm of L Shaw vanished from the directories around 1920.

In 1912, the Monte Christo Cosmetic Co. was convicted of violating the food and drug act with a product called Monte Christo Rum and Quinin for the Hair. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association:

The Monte Christo Cosmetic Company of New York City, which is a trade style used by one Albert Edelstein, shipped in interstate commerce a product labeled “Monte Christo Rum and Quinin for the Hair.” The claims for the product were: “Cools and Invigorates the Scalp. Prevents the hair from falling out. Removes and prevents dandruff, imparting to the hair a delightful perfume.”

A sample of the product was analyzed by the Bureau of Chemistry and the chemists reported the following results: ethyl alcohol 18.5%; wood alcohol 42.0% and quinin 38 grams per 100cc.

The preparation was declared adulterated in that its purity and strength were inferior to the professional standard under which it was sold, in that wood alcohol had been substituted for part of the rum. It was declared misbranded because the label was false and misleading and likely to deceive the purchaser into the belief that the product was composed of rum and quinin, when as a matter of fact it was composed of rum, quinin and wood alcohol.

Interestingly, there was no mention of the product’s false and unsubstantiated claims but only its mis-labeled contents. Containing mostly alcohol, were you supposed to drink it or massage it on your scalp?

The current building at 54 West 14th Street does not date back to the late 1800’s and therefore is not the building that housed the Shaw retail operation. It’s not clear where the wholesale operation mentioned in the 1899 interview was located.

The bottle I found is six sided, mouth blown and about four ounces. Embossed on two adjacent sides at on one end is “Parfumerie Monte Christo” and on the other end is “Beaume Mamma Dura.” Mamma Dura was mentioned in a written advertisement I found in an 1888 issue of Lippenott’s:

It may be understood at once that so far as hair, switches, curls, bangs, or wigs go, any aids to the skin and hair, hands and eyes, in washes or unguents, America offers none of such value as those prepared by L. Shaw, the world-renowned alchemist and coiffeur, at 54 west Fourteenth Street, New York. Nor in fact, is there in Europe just such as house as this from which all our beautiful women procure toilet articles. Lovely actresses, as well as rulers in the social world, preserve their charms with cocoa-milk, mama dura, and the superfine Monte Christo rouge.

Maybe it was some sort of facial lotion?

I’ve seen bottles embossed “Monte Christo Parfumerie” on the internet with L Shaw printed on a paper label that’s wrapped around the neck. The bottle I found includes the slightly elongated neck required for this label.

 

 

Empire Hair Regenerator Co., New York

empire

empire-1

Piecing together information from the NYC General Directories, the Trow Copartnership and Corporation Directories and the ERA Druggist Directories, this business was active from 1905 well into the 1930’s. Prior to 1911, I’ve seen the business referred to as both the Empire Hair Regenerator Co (as embossed on the bottle) and simply the Empire Regenerator Co. In 1911 and later, the company was referred to exclusively as the Empire Regenerator Co. The Directories typically associated the business with hair dyes and hair goods. The ERA Directories listed them as manufacturers of toilet preparations.

George Gyllstrom was the company president through 1911 and William Munson was the president from 1912 to at least 1920. During this period, Klas Gyllstrom was listed as a Director so it appears the Gyllstrom family remained active in the business. After 1920, the company leadership is unknown.

The company’s long time address from 1905 through 1928 was 242 6th Avenue. Located near the intersection of Houston Street and 6th Avenue, I assume they had to move in the early 1930’s when their building was acquired and demolished to accommodate the widening of Houston Street. By 1932 they were listed at 566 6th Avenue and in 1935 they  moved again to 605 6th Avenue.

This “Empire Hair Regenerator” advertisement was included in a much larger advertisement for a  department store called the “14th Street Store” printed in the May 15, 1907 edition of the “Evening World.” It included the same “eagle” trademark that is embossed on the bottle I found.

One application and your hair is immediately a natural shade. Clean, odorless and gives to the hair the healthy, natural appearance of youth.

A 1935 advertisement in the August 22 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle exhibited the shortened company name and the 605 6th Avenue address.

It appears that the company went out of business in the mid-1930’s after the Federal Trade Commission charged them with false and misleading advertising.. According to a news article in the November 9, 1936 edition of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:

The Federal Trade Commission announced yesterday a New York City concern and a Buffalo firm have agreed to discontinue alleged “false and misleading” advertising in connection with sale of their products.

The Commission said the Empire Regenerator Company, Inc., New York City, agreed to cease representing a hair dye designated “the Empire Hair Regenerator” would remove gray hair, restore the original color to hair or prevent hair from turning gray…

The bottle I found is a small mouth-blown rectangular medicine bottle with their trade mark eagle embossed on the front panel. “The Empire Hair Regenerator” is embossed on one side and “New York” on the other side. The fact that it’s mouth blown and includes the word “Hair” in the company name leads me to believe it’s probably pre-1912.

Imperial Chemical Mfg. Co., New York

imperial

The Imperial Chemical Manufacturing Company was in business from the mid-1880’s until the early 1930’s. Located in New York City, they manufactured hair products that were advertised and sold across the country. An advertisement from 1915 provided a menu of several products sold  under the “Imperial” brand name.

Imperial Hair Regenerator – Recognized as the standard hair coloring for gray or bleached hair.

Imperial Vigorosis – Is a marvelous hair grower and tonic. Arrests the falling of and stimulates the hair follicles.

Imperial Shampoo – Unexcelled hair and scalp cleanser, recommended for children’s hair.

Imperial Hair Remover – A marvelous remedy for removing superfluous hair without injury to skin.

The company was first listed in the 1889 NYC Directory but was advertising as early as September of 1887.  They continued to be listed through the early 1930’s. Their first address was 54 W 23rd Street where they were listed between 1887 and 1893. Subsequently, based on directory information and newspaper advertisements over the years, their primary addresses were:

292 Fifth Avenue             Early 1894 to 1899

22 W 23rd Street               1900 to 1901

135 W 23rd Street            1902 to 1918

246 W 14th Street            1920’s

19 W 44th Street             Early 1930’s (1932)

In New York City, along with their manufacturing facility, the company sometimes listed additional addresses. I assume these addresses were associated with what the company called their “application parlors” and “sales rooms.”

They were incorporated in NewYork in 1901 and possibly earlier. W Gordon Kellogg was consistently associated with the company through the early 1930’s, usually as president. By 1933, the Imperial Chemical Mfg Co was no longer listed.

Their signature product was the “Imperial Hair Regenerator,”which they were apparently making right from the start of the business. The earliest newspaper advertisement for it that I can find was in the September 22, 1887 edition of the “Buffalo (NY) Commercial.” It addressed both a male and female audience.

Instantly restores Gray Hair, Bleached Hair, or Gray Beard to natural color: leaves it clean, soft and glossy, and no one dreams that you color it. Absolutely harmless, odorless and lasting.

The advertisement goes on to list seven standard colors: No. 1 – Black; No. 2 – Dark Brown; No. 3 –  Medium Brown; No. 4 – Chestnut; No. 5 – Light Chestnut; No. 6 – Gold Blonde; and No. 7 – Ash Blonde.

An 1895 advertisement from Metropolitan Magazine included the additional claim that:

It positively makes hair grow.

imperial-ad

One of their advertisements appeared in an 1899 Issue of the “Pariasian Illustrated Review” a publication that touted itself as “keeping it’s readers current with the works of the great French writers.” This leads me to believe that Imperial’s following included the entire spectrum of the population from those interested in French literature to clammers and fisherman making a living on the bay.

The “Imperial” trademark dated back to the company’s earliest advertisements and consisted of a what looks like a shield topped with a crown. The shield contained the phrase “Sans Dissimulation.”

As best I can tell, “Sans Dissimulation” is French and can be translated as “without concealment.”

The bottle I found is a large mouth blown medicine that dates to the late 1800’s to early 1900’s.