Yesterday was National Sense of Smell Day

[Guest guest]

Guess it wafted right by us ;-)

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This article was written by le Glaser, the author of the great book

" The Nose: A Profile of Sex, Beauty and Survival "

Great moments in olfactory history

As an organ, the nose is coming into its own. Retailers from the Gap to the

gas station vie for the $6 billion Americans spend trying to please it.

Scientists who discovered how the brain detects odors won the 2004 Nobel

Prize in medicine.

The nose even has a special day. Although it's unlikely to inspire greeting

cards any time soon, today is the 13th annual National Sense of Smell Day.

Sponsored by the Sense of Smell Institute, the day is intended to

underscore the nose's role in our lives.

In tribute, here's a look at America's relationship with smells -- at least

those that come from a bottle. 1800-1930s

Water must be hauled and heated, so most Americans bathe weekly. Bars of

fat mixed with lye double as household cleansers and bath soap. Once

electricity and running water are universal, bathing becomes more

commonplace. Depression-era ads for Lifebuoy warn against the social stigma

of B.O. 1940s

Americans meet fragrance when GIs return from France with perfume for their

girlfriends. The crystal bottles are anathema to rugged American

sensibilities, and many remain unopened.

A consortium of French perfumers sees promise in the unscented U.S. market.

They establish the Fragrance Foundation in New York, aiming to educate

Americans on scent's importance. 1950s

Even if they own perfume, many women balk at putting it on. In 1957,

Glamour magazine beseeches readers to use it: " Don't simply admire the

bottles on your dressing table. . . . The only thrifty way to wear perfume

is to use enough to count. "

U.S. technology grows more sophisticated, and so do noses. Commercial

flights encourage middle-class travel to Europe; tourists to Paris return

with perfume they chose themselves. Marilyn Monroe boosts the popularity of

Chanel No. 5 when she tells a reporter it's the only thing she wears to bed.

Television provides a new advertising venue for perfumers. Avon ladies

appeal to housewives, helping to shed perfume's extravagant image. 1960s

Scent is ubiquitous -- and populist. It even makes a brief appearance in

living rooms with the ill-fated Smell-o-Vision, a TV that emits smells.

Brut is advertised as a babe magnet: Wilt Chamberlain and Joe Namath slap

it on and slip their arms around gorgeous women. Guys who wear Hai Karate

are portrayed as so irresistible they need martial-arts training to fend

off the ladies.

The counterculture heads back to nature. Sandalwood massage oils and

patchouli sticks become as much a part of the olfactory landscape as

marijuana smoke. 1970s

Revlon captures the modern woman's dilemma with Charlie; ads show a

pantsuited woman patting a man's behind. In campy Enjoli ads, a sexy blonde

in pumps and a skirt slings pots around her kitchen to a Peggy Lee song.

When she gets to, " And never let you forget you're a man, " she appears in a

cocktail dress, thrusting an Enjoli bottle forward. Teens spend babysitting

money on Love's Baby Soft and Love's Fresh Lemon. Even shampoo is perfumed:

Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific! 1980s

Three words remind us of why we had so many headaches then: Giorgio,

Obsession and Poison. Hair was big, and so were the perfumes. Giorgio banks

on technology and snob appeal. It's available only by mail or in boutiques,

and the founders invest in a new fragrance strip that goes out in glossy

women's magazines. The perfume generates $80 million in sales, but before

long, its popularity backfires. Restaurants put up signs: " No Smoking. No

Giorgio. " 1990s

Celebrities market their own fragrances, but only a few take off. People

love , and they love White Diamonds. People love Cher, too,

but they don't necessarily want to smell like her. Her Uninhibited flops.

The nose emerges as a new scientific frontier. Research shows what the

ancients always knew: Fragrance can influence the mind. One study finds

that heliotrope, a vanilla-like scent, reduces anxiety in those about to

undergo MRIs. Late 1990s-present

The fragrance industry expands, wreaking such nasal havoc that Halifax,

Nova Scotia, bans all chemical scents. The town newspaper asks employees to

refrain even from using strong-smelling mouthwash.

A sense of play emerges, too. As retailers roll out scented candles,

Demeter, a New York fragrance company, introduces products aimed more at

lifting spirits with humor rather than science. Today, the company lists

almost 200 scents that range from Apple Pie and Fireplace to Dirt. Adapted

from " The Nose: A Profile of Sex, Beauty and Survival " by le Glaser

(Washington Square Press, $14, 262 pages)

Anya

http://artisannaturalperfumers.com The Artisan Natural Perfumers Guild

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