Category:
Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents

Smell of the Apocalypse

A fragrance recently released by Thomson & Craighead is described as "a complex fragrance based on olfactory materials detailed in The Book of Revelation as it appears in the King James Bible first published in 1611."

Some of those materials:

Thunder, blood, hail and fire, the creatures of the sea that have died, wormwood, a rod of iron, the opened earth, a grievous sore, the blood of a dead man, every living soul [who has] died in the sea, plagues, wine of her fornication, animal horns, filthiness of her fornication, blood of the martyrs of Jesus, flesh burned with fire, [and] a lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.

Posted By: Alex - Mon Mar 18, 2024 - Comments (2)
Category: Armageddon and Apocalypses, Religion, Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents

Kevin aftershave

Perhaps the Minions have ruined the name Kevin for me, but it sounds to me like an odd name for an aftershave.

I'm assuming that the price ($2.700,00) is not in American dollars.



Posted By: Alex - Thu Jun 29, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents

Chloroform Cologne

Advertised in The Queen magazine, 1901. Apparently Queen Victoria was a fan of chloroform vapors.

Posted By: Alex - Fri May 19, 2023 - Comments (3)
Category: Nineteenth Century, Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents

The Perfume Concert of Sadakichi Hartmann

Nov 30, 1902: Sadakichi Hartmann gave the world's first "perfume concert" at the New York Theatre. It was meant to be a journey around the world via scents. Hartmann recited a travel monologue as fans blew scents toward the audience.

Sadakichi started out to be the personal conductor of a tour to Japan. The audience was expected to smell its way. To this end, two contrivances which looked like ovens to an abandoned gasoline stove were brought on the stage. In the ovens were placed pad-like layers saturated with various perfumes. Fans operated by electricity wafted the odors to an audience made up of actor ladies and ladies of other professions, accompanied by "gents" conspicuous for white vests and Tuxedos with "shiny" satin collars.

The problem was that in the early 1900s people freely smoked in theaters. So no one beyond the first few rows could smell anything except cigar smoke. The audience soon left, en masse.

Wikipedia article about Sadakichi Hartmann.

New York Evening World - Dec 1, 1902

Posted By: Alex - Sat Apr 15, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Theater and Stage, 1900s, Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents

Cologne Drunkards

In the late nineteenth century, a brief moral panic emerged about the alleged existence of "cologne drunkards" — society women who inebriated themselves by means of sugar cubes soaked in cologne.

Seems like an expensive way to consume alcohol, but I guess it's plausible that some women really did this.

Good Health magazine - Apr 1885



Philadelphia Times - Feb 7, 1893

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 23, 2023 - Comments (1)
Category: Inebriation and Intoxicants, Nineteenth Century, Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents

Harley-Davidson Perfume

Classic business failure: "Hot Road," an eau de toilette released by Harley-Davidson in the mid-1990s and quietly discontinued a year or two later. It wasn't exactly an "on brand" product.

More info: Milwaukee Magazine



image source: parfumo.net

Posted By: Alex - Sun Sep 18, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Business, Products, Success & Failure, 1990s, Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents

Perfume for Ice Cream

Ice-cream chain Salt & Straw is coming out with "culinary perfume" that's designed to be sprayed on ice cream. It'll come in three varieties: "A Cloud of Cocoa," "A Plume of Blooms," and "A Swoon of Citrus."

I'll stick with chocolate sauce.

More info: instagram

Posted By: Alex - Thu Jul 21, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Junk Food, Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents

Potato Perfume

Created as a gimmick by the Idaho Potato Commission. Already out of stock.

Formulated from essential oils and distilled Idaho Potatoes, this fragrance embodies the irresistible essence of potatoes from Idaho.

More info: Idaho Potato Commission, Instagram, upi.com



Posted By: Alex - Wed Feb 16, 2022 - Comments (5)
Category: Food, Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents

Burberry Hero—man/horse duality

AdWeek named this as the weirdest fragrance ad of 2021. I'd have to agree.

From YouTube:

Burberry introduces Hero, Riccardo Tisci’s first scent for Burberry starring Adam Driver.
A new masculine spirit exploring the house codes of duality and the power of the animal kingdom.
A man in search of transformation and metamorphosis as a new modern heroism.

Posted By: Alex - Tue Dec 28, 2021 - Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Advertising, Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents

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Alex Boese
Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes.

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Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

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