"The Essence of Good Perfume"

MEMORY LINGERS ON

YOU'RE like the
Aroma of my perfume
Still haunting me
And lingering in my room.

But mere mention
Or thought of you
Inevitably brings
Memories of your love so true.

I can see a cigarette
And then a light
As you close your eyes
As though it were night.

And as you day-dream
Your cares away
And your ashes carefully
Place on the tray.

Your thoughts are on
What you must do,
Whether easy or difficult,
You must carry through.

So here's to the fond
Memories of playing the game!
May you always win
And your love be the same!

~ The Essence of Good Perfume, A book of Poems by Nellie Victoria Conner



...I found this lovely treasure of a poem in a delicious collection from 1940,
"The Essence of Good Perfume," a book of Poems by Nellie Victoria Conner.
LOVE her photo!!!

I wonder what perfumes were on her boudoir tray... She looks like a
Gardenia lover to me. My money is on Tuvache's 1932 "Jungle Gardenia"
being center stage on that tray!

SOTD: A Gardenia Mod that I've been calling "Gardenia Garden".
Key Notes: White Grapefruit,Coconut Aldehyde,Gardenia,Ginger Lily,
Lychee,Sandalwood,Oakmoss,Incense Labdamum,Blond Tobacco,Haitian Vetiver,Musk



This scent makes me happy!And it seems to have the same effect on other people.Every time I wear this scent out in public, I get compliments, & more often then not, someone chases me down asking where they can get it. My Doctor even had her receptionist follow me back to The Jitterbug Perfume Parlour to get some. Her words were, "I HAVE to have that Perfume!"

Wearing it gives me that lazy,carefree Summertime when you were a kid feeling...

I have been fine tuning this blend for several months, and have had the latest version aging for over 8 weeks(it is a luxury these days for commercial scents to age or "mature" for that long, but it is truly beneficial to do this if at all possible. Especially if the blend contains lots of natural essences & resins!)

TASTY TID-BIT: Fay Wray wore JUNGLE GARDENIA by Tuvache during the filming of the original King Kong movie. "She said she believed King Kong thought she was a new type of flower he'd found. In her mind, she felt that being so tiny to him, he could only identify her from other women by her scent, Jungle Gardenia."
(Excert Per http://www.timelessperfumes.com/Jungle%20Gardenia%20Perfume.htm)

Scent: Top Notes of bitter orange oil, clary oil, heliotrope and sage. Middle Notes of gardenia, jasmine, lily of the valley, tarragon, tuberose, violet leaves and ylang ylang. Base Notes of musk, oakmoss and sandalwood.



Here's more info about Tuvache's Jungle Gardenia:

"There is only one genuine Jungle Gardenia, a U.S. Registered Trademark. Do not be fooled by poor imitations called versions, types, formulas or recipes, etc., Check for the registered trademark symbol next to the name Jungle Gardenia®

Jungle Gardenia was first introduced in 1932 by the original Tuvache' company, which no longer exists. Tuvache' was a New York company who used a French name to try and compete with all the pre-World War II French fragrances who controlled the industry. Madame Tuvache' is a character in the famous French novel, Madame Bovary, by Flaubert. Bernadine Angus, the founder of Tuvache', often used the pen name, added a royal flair to the name. When they mistakenly reported that Tuvache' was a French perfume house, it was not corrected, as French perfumes were the most popular then. In the early days, Bernadine sometimes included a little booklet with her fragrances, written by the fictious Madame Bernadine de Tuvache'.

After Bernadine Angus and her husband, Howard, died, Tuvache' was sold in the late
60's and merged into Swiss perfume house, Germaine Monteil. By the late 70's it became the property of Yardley of London, a division of British American Tobacco Company who had also purchased Germaine Monteil. In 1989 it was sold to the Jovan division of Coty who decided to use the bottles for a different Jovan fragrance and discontinue Jungle Gardenia.

During the 1990's, Coty made a re-formulated version, a totally different scent really, in entirely different bottles and boxes. Coty removed the Tuvache' name from the Jungle Gardenia brand and replaced it with Coty. This totally different scent pleased few people and was quickly discontinued. Since 2004 the original Jungle Gardenia scent is being made again in the USA. It is no longer associated with Coty which is now owned by a German firm, GMBH.

This most exotic fragrance was the signature scent of famous actresses, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford and Joan Bennett. Also favored by Annette Funicello, Natalie Wood, Elizabeth Taylor and even her close friend, Michael Jackson. In an article about him titled, "The Boy Who Would Be King," in the September 2009 issue of Vanity Fair magazine, the author, Lisa Robinson, reports that Michael Jackson loved Jungle Gardenia and wore it onstage.

It's also been written and said by close friends of Frank Sinatra (Joe Fischetti and George Jacobs) that he was known to apply Jungle Gardenia sparingly. He'd had a big hit song in 1946, "The Girl That I Marry" written by Irving Berlin, with lyrics that included "Her nails will be polished and in her hair, She'll wear a gardenia and I'll be there"

The young, beautiful, Fay Wray wore Jungle Gardenia during the filming of the original King Kong movie. She said she believed King Kong thought she was a new type of flower he'd found. In her mind, she felt that being so tiny to him, he could only identify her from other women by her scent, Jungle Gardenia. Kong apparently agreed with the many men who have told women that Jungle Gardenia just drives them wild!

Jungle Gardenia is also the fragrance worn by Auntie Mame, the character in the famous Broadway play and movie of the same name, that starred Rosalind Russell. Some lines in the play gave Jungle Gardenia its rumored reputation of being an aphrodisiac that attracted men. The play was later made into a musical starring Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur and was a huge success. The movie version of the musical starred Lucille Ball.

Jungle Gardenia enjoyed a big revival during the 1960's and 1970's when it was heavily promoted on the TV show, "Truth or Consequences" hosted by the famous TV game show host of over thirty years, Bob Barker. He quipped it was the sexiest fragrance he'd ever smelled. And now, more than 75 years after its introduction, women still love the exotic intriguing scent of this timeless fragrance which is in a class all by itself."

(Per http://www.timelessperfumes.com/Jungle%20Gardenia%20Perfume.htm)