Evening in Paris by Bourjois

Sometimes, just catching a glimpse at a familiar cobalt glass perfume bottle brings back fond memories for many a woman. Sold in department stores and drug stores for over thirty years, Evening in Paris was given to many a mother, a sweetheart or a friend as a special gift to win her heart with its enticing scent.

Evening in Paris, also known as Soir de Paris (in France) by Bourjois, debuted in 1928 as Soir de Paris in France and was an instant hit.

The name evoked the reputation of gaiety, romance and love of the French capital. It was then named Evening in Paris and 1929 for sale in the United States.

Created by Ernest Beaux, the fragrance was a soft classic sweet floral parfum with top notes of violets and bergamot, heart notes of tilleul, clover, lilac, rose and jasmine on base notes of vetiver and styrax.

It was presented in a midnight blue hemispherical Art Deco flacon designed by Jean Helleu, and produced by the Brosse glassworks. The scent became Bourjois' most successful fragrance.

By the 1950s, it was touted as "the fragrance more women wear than any other in the world," yet by 1969 it had disappeared.

The fragrance was available in parfum, eau de toilette and eau de cologne. You may also find dusting powder boxes, talc bottles, sachet bottles, soap, lipstick, bath cubes, hand lotion, perfumed bath oil, rouge, cologne sticks, compacts and face powder.

Evening in Paris was attractively packaged in gift boxes, some in the shape of stars, sailor's hats or a crescent moon. These special gift sets were often for sale around Christmas, Mother's Day and Easter.

It is possible to find the various novelties for the perfume made up of blue marbled Bakelite, white plastic or light green plastic. You might come across the horseshoes, a clam shell, a hotel door, a shoe, the grandfather clock, an owl or very rarely the Eiffel Tower & the Marble Arch presentations from the 1950s.

During the 1940s, there were wartime presentations and all packaging bears the following statement: "This is a temporary Victory package. The contents are unchanged."

Bourjois is an old company bought out by the Wertheimer family who then purchased the Chanel group.


Chanel now owns Bourjois and Evening in Paris was reformulated in 1992 by Chanel's leading perfumers. The result was a sweet, smooth, creamy, slightly wood based fragrance known as "The Most Popular Fragrance in the World."  The newly formulated perfume is still for sale today.  I received a bottle of it for Christmas about 2 years ago.

The bottles were sold from the 1920s-1960s, and their bottles changed very little, but their labels can tell us a great deal about when they were produced. The majority of bottles are cobalt blue glass, but there were also clear glass and gilded glass examples to be found.


Silver triangle labels on cobalt bottles:
During the 1920s to the 1940s, most of the labels were triangular shaped. The 1920s and 1930s saw bottles with frosted glass stoppers, these generally had cork ends. The 1940s bottle had metal and cork stoppers. (see pic on the right)

Silver curved label on cobalt glass:
In the 1930s, the bottle appeared with this curved label; later on in the 1950s, gold labels appeared on clear, gilded and cobalt bottles.

Silver rectangle labels on cobalt bottles:
During the 1940s, silver rectangular labels were used as well as silvery metal screw caps. There was also an instance of thin silver labels across the bottom front of the bottle, noting Evening in Paris in script. (see pics 1 and 2)

Gold labels on cobalt or clear glass:
These began appearing in the late 1940s-early 1950s. (see pic 3)

Gilded glass bottles:
Bottles with a gilded or silvery  finish first appeared in the late 1940s, and continued into the 1950s.

Round silver labels on cobalt glass:
These rounded silver labels appear on cobalt "Mae West" shaped bottles of the 1950's. These bottles have blue plastic caps. (see pic 4)

V shaped silver labels on cobalt glass:
These v-shaped labels started appearing in the 1960s, easy to date because of the zip code found on labels. (see pic 5)

Gold screw caps:
Date your bottle to after late 1940s and into the 1950s.
 

Bullet shaped cobalt purse flacons:
First appearing in the 1920s, they continued to be added to gift sets well into the 1950s. Older examples have black Bakelite caps and tassels.
(see pic 6)

Author: Grace E. Hummel
(cleopatras_boudoir)
Fragrantica Member

Please visit my Cleopatra's Boudoir