Corday, Possession, 90 ml. or 3 oz. Flacon, Eau de Toilette, Baccarat, 1937, Paris, France ..

Corday perfumery was established by Blanche Arvoy, nee Reneaux, a perfumer and cosmetician, at 15 rue de la Paix, Paris in 1924, one year after she opened the Jovoy perfumery which was located at 127 rue de Longchamp, Paris.

Blance Antoinette Rose Reneaux was born on December 21st, 1892, at Montreuil Sur Mer, near Calis. She married an Englishman, Bertie Istvan Arvoy, and thus became Blanche Arvoy. In addition to Corday, she also established Jovoy, a fragrance house that sold a number of fine perfumes. Corday was launched in 1924.

Corday began its U.S. operations in the 1940's. In the United States, T.C. Wheaton of Millville, New Jersey, was the major supplier of bottles. Wheaton had the capability of manufacturing both bottles and stoppers. Corday discontinued its U.S. operations in the 1960's.

Corday was among the early 20th century perfumers that attracted new customers by launching sample collections. Sample tubes or miniature bottles were distributed, sometimes with matching souveniers such as bookmarks or illustrated cards. Others using this strategy included Guerlain, Bourjois, Colgate, Roger & Gallet, L.T. Piver, and Coty.

Corday's most impressive use of this technique was in their "Rue de la Paix" collection of 1952. The design was a Parisien lamp post with miniature bottles of Corday perfume inside each of the three "lamps". Included in the presentation were Fame, Jet and Tzigane. The name, "Rue de la Paix," was taken from Corday's address at 15 Rue de la Pais, Paris.

Blanche Arvoy created early perfume concepts and high quality presentations and was awarded the silver medal in 1925 for her creations. She later sold to Max Factor in 1960.

Launched in 1937, Possession by Corday is a complex Floral Aldehyde fragrance for women. "Possession is a rich floral containing Jasmine and Ylang Ylang, but with a spicy heart of Carnation, and a warm, enveloping base of Sandalwood, Oak Moss, Ambergris, and Vanilla. It has an intriguing elusive note, reminiscent of the scent rising from a sugar syrup glaze on a pastry just emerging from the oven. This is a quite subtle perfume for all its richness and depth and is very much of its time. In the dry down it has the lightest impression of Lanvin's Mon Peche."

Top notes are Aldehydes, Galbanum, Bergamot, Cloves, Sage, and Cacao
Heart notes are Violet, Carnation, Iris, Heliotrope, Magnolia, Rose, Ylang Ylang, Lily, and Jasmine
Base notes are Elemi, Vetiver, Vanilla, Benzoin, Oak Moss, Ambergris, Sandalwood, Orris, Cedar, Patchouli, Tonka Bean, and Gentiana

The deluxe crystal parfum flacons were initially equipped with a silver metal label hanging around the neck of the bottle, much like a liquor tag found on decanters, and these bottles were made by Baccarat. Other bottles, exactly similar, were made up of molded glass and have a silver or white paper label on a shield shaped raised part, and these bottles were produced by Wheaton Glass in New Jersey, USA. They have beautiful fan-shaped stoppers, and elaborate layers of string to tie them.

Offered here is a 3 ounce flacon of this lovely Eau de Toilette. It is still sealed though there has been a little evaporation. Very feminine and enveloping! Stunning flacon!