Elizabeth Arden, Wood Violet Essence, 7 ml. or 0.24 oz. Flacon, Parfum Extrait, 1940, Paris, France ..

Florence Nightingale Graham lived from December 31, 1878 to October 18, 1966, and she latterly went by her business name Elizabeth Arden. She was a Canadian-born American businesswoman who founded what is now Elizabeth Arden, Inc., and built a cosmetics empire in the United States. By 1929 she owned 150 upscale salons across the United States and Europe. Her 1000 products were found in the luxury market in 22 countries. She was the sole owner, and at the peak of her career, she was one of the wealthiest women in the world.

Florence Nightingale Graham was born in Canada in 1878, but was always known as Elizabeth Arden. She herself created this commercial name by merging the titles of her two favorite books.

The place chosen by Elizabeth Arden to open her first beauty salon was Fifth Avenue in New York. This place was distinguished by the red entrance door, the decoration in pink tones and, above all, the exoticism of its products and the professionalism in the service. Some characteristic details that would never abandon the Arden brand. In 1915, the red door of the New York salon became the symbol of the business, and the chain of aesthetic centers called Red Door Salons or Salons of the Red Door was created.

A demanding and intuitive businesswoman, Arden created revolutionary aesthetic products, such as false eyelashes. One of the most important bets, however, was the perfume.

From the 20s, the first essences were born, original and presented in an attractive way. The fragrances stood out for their originality, as shown by the attractive and daring presentations that Elizabeth designed especially for Christmas and other parties.

In 1940, the Wood Violet Essence was presented in an oval acetate box simulating a picture frame. The little glass bottle was decorated with painted sea shells or colored pieces of velvet to simulate violet blossoms complete with molded composition leaves, the ad above does mention "sea shell violets", tiny sea shells were a popular perfume bottle adornment at the time. The fragile blown glass bottle measures just 2" tall and the stopper has a long dauber.

The fragrance notes would be Violet Flowers, Violet Leafs, and Orris

Offered here is a tiny fragile flacon of the exquisite Wood Violet Essence, incredibly rare and impossible to find. There is the most beautiful violet scent coming from the neck of the flacon. Beyond collectible!!