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A Note From The Founders...

A world's fair is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements and cultures of countries from around the globe. These exhibitions were held throughout the world, usually lasting from three to six months. 

The first World Expo was held in the Crystal Palace in London in 1851, under the title "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations."

Since 1851, world's fairs have have evolved, usually focusing on three areas--industrialization, cultural exchange and nation branding.

There were dozens and dozens of events since 1851 and perfumes and vanity items were common souvenirs from the fairs. For collectors interested in visiting the fascinating past, Perfume Passage has a World's Fair and Exposition display on the lower level, featuring an array of items that have somehow survived!

Two of the most popular events were held in Chicago--the 1893 Columbian Exposition and the 1933-1934 Century of Progress. The history and stories about these two iconic events, along with those from around the world, make us wish we could have been in attendance!

The Columbian Exposition was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World in 1492.

The expo was constructed on former wetlands along Lake Michigan in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The temporary pavilions were designed by a committee of the city's architects under the direction of Daniel Burnham. The white color of the materials used to cover the buildings' facades gave the fairgrounds its nickname, the "White City." 

The centerpiece of the event, held on over 600 acres of land, was a large water pool representing the voyage Columbus took to the New World.

The Palace of Fine Arts (above) was the only major building from the expo that was originally designed as a permanent structure. It's now known as the iconic Museum of Science and Industry.

The exposition drew over 27.5 million visitors and is considered among the most influential world's fairs in history, affecting art, architecture and design throughout the US. The six-month event also showed the world that Chicago had risen from the ashes of the Great Chicago Fire, which had destroyed much of the city in 1871.

October 9, 1893, was designated Chicago Day at the event, and the fair set a world record for outdoor event attendance, drawing a crowd of 751,026 people!

Ceramic and glass powder jars were popular souvenirs from the expo, sold with images of a variety of buildings from the fairgrounds. The Woman's Building (left) and Machinery Hall (right) appeared on round powder boxes.

This small shell coin purse would have been a fun souvenir for a young girl. The decal on the front is of the Manufacturers and Liberal Arts building. Each inside section would have held a few coins. It measures 3-1/2" and looks like it was hardly played with.

The Century of Progress International Exposition was a world's fair held in Chicago, during the depths of the Great Depression, from 1933 to 1934, to celebrate the city's centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation. The motto was Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Adapts. 

The city designated 3-1/2 miles of land along Lake Michigan for the fairgrounds. It was held on 427 acres of land and cost over $37,500,000. The buildings and grounds were some of the best examples of streamlined Art Deco design.

Visitors saw the latest wonders in rail travel, automobiles, architecture, and exhibits showing the art and culture of countries from around the world. 

Originally, the fair was scheduled to run until November 1933, but it was so successful that President Roosevelt asked that it be extended to October 1934. In its two years, the fair attracted 48,769,227 visitors.

Despite being held during the Depression, it was also the age of mass production and modern design. There were hundreds of souvenirs and trinkets created for the fair, many of them with Art Deco motifs. Of course they included vanity items such as perfumes, compacts, purses and hankies.

Sky Ride

The architectural symbol of the fair was the Sky Ride, a transporter bridge on which one could ride from one side of the fair to the other.

The World's Fair display at Perfume Passage includes a variety of now-collectible vanity-related souvenirs from the event! Ladies' compacts were a popular item to purchase, and they can be found today with a variety of images on the lids.

These rare 4-1/2" mesh purses were made by the Whiting & Davis purse company. They both show the fair's stylized globe logo that represented an optimistic vision of the future, despite the hardships of the Great Depression.

A rare Czech bottle measures 7" tall and includes the Hall of Science image on the front.

This 4-1/2" ceramic bird perfume has a sticker from the fair on the bottom.

This 2-3/4" commemorative medal says Research Industry on one side and has a map of the fair on the other. It's signed ERZ on the front for well-known art deco artist Emil Robert Zettler.

A Lucien Lelong window display with a variety of their perfumes was located in the Hall of Science at the fair. If you look closely, you can spot their now-iconic Lalique perfume bottle. It was also advertised in a Chicago Tribune advertisement in December 1934 for $9.69. That's approximately $235 in 2026! It often sells for several thousand dollars at auctions today.

The 4-1/2" bottle came in black or green enamel and was known as the "Skyscraper." It's on the Perfume Passage wish list!

We often save tickets when attending a concert, movie or sporting event, so it makes sense that unused tickets for the fair survived. These tickets belonged to a 98-year-old International Perfume Bottle Association member and perfume collector who actually attended the event as a 6 or 7-year-old! She donated several items to Perfume Passage, including a souvenir program. When talking about the fair, she said she remembers riding the Sky Ride, saying "they didn't tell us it was going to land with a thud!"

The Philadelphia Centennial International Exhibition (the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine) was held in 1876 and was considered the first US world's fair. It coincided with the centennial anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.

The Philadelphia event featured products from the early Industrial Revolution in the US. Exhibits included the largest steam engine ever built and new inventions such as the telephone, typewriter and mechanical calculator. The expo was also the first to spread out the exhibitions throughout large, specially designed pavilions, a design that other fairs used.

Nearly 10 million visitors attended the expo and 37 countries participated in it. This 6" glass dresser bottle is embossed with 1876 Memorial Hall.

It's amazing that this hot air balloon- shaped perfume bottle survived 150 years! Made by the Perfume Novelty Company, this 4-3/4" glass bottle has what we assume is the original juice! It has a wire mesh over the glass and is attached to a metal basket.

The labels for the company and Superba fragrance name are intact. A great souvenir from the 1876 expo!

A design patent for a hot air balloon- shaped bottle was issued to George W. Bean of Philadelphia and assigned to his Bean & Vail Bros. company. This patent was dated 1893, years after the bottle was introduced by the Perfume Novelty Company for the expo as a souvenir. Interesting!

The fair was held on 1,200 acres that included over 1,500 buildings that were connected by over 75 miles of roads and walkways. Visitors were exposed to new architecture, foods, music and exotic exhibits. In addition, innovations in communication, medicine and transportation were showcased at the event.

Celluloid covered 2-1/4" round souvenir purse mirrors featured the Cascade Hall & Gardens and the Palace of Liberal Arts building. A very practical souvenir!

San Francisco Panama-Pacific Expo, 1915...

The Panama-Pacific International Exposition was held in 1915 from February to December in San Francisco.

One of its purposes was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, and the city also used the event to showcase its rebuilding and recovery from the 1906 earthquake. It was held on 640 acres of land along the northern shore in an area now known as the Marina District.

Exhibits included the first steam locomotive purchased by the Southern Pacific Railroad. In addition, the Liberty Bell traveled by train on a nationwide tour from Philadelphia to attend the expo!

The Expo's International Jury of Awards presented a gold medal to the California Perfume Company for their perfumes, toilet articles and household specialties. In their 1919 catalog, the company, later known as Avon in 1939, included a copy of the award certificate.

A new California Perfume Company and Avon exhibit is now located on the lower level at Perfume Passage! Our collection includes several colorful catalogs, salesmen's samples and products from the 1890s through the 1970s.

Another 1915 expo souvenir item is this 4" sterling spoon. It reads San Francisco on one side and California on the other. It was made by the A.A. Vantine company which began importing foods, household items and textiles from the Far East to its California mercantile in the 1860s. When Ashley Abraham Vantine moved his company to New York, his business flourished and they became well-known for their "Oriental" textiles, furnishings, perfumes, toiletries, compacts and incense burners, among other items.

A beautiful window display in the Passageway gallery at Perfume Passage displays a variety of Vantine items from our collection. The display has been expanded with recently acquired items made by the company. When we discovered the Vantine name imprinted on the back of the spoon, we made the surprising connection to the 1915 expo!

Our Journal 8 was devoted to the history of Vantine's and the treasures in our collection.

It was unusual for one country to host two world's fairs in the same year. Yet the US was ready to showcase the future on both the east and west coasts!

The 1939 New York World's Fair was an international event held in Queens, New York from April 1939 to May 1940. Its motto was The World of Tomorrow and it was promoted with the motto Dawn of a New Day.

The fair featured exhibitions, entertainment, art and food from 62 countries and 35 US states. Over 1,400 organizations and businesses participated, and more than 45 million people attended the event over the two years.

The Cosmetics Building at the fair was a pavilion that showcased the beauty and cosmetics industry. It featured an auditorium that hosted daily pageants, fashion shows and films, highlighting the newest personal care products.

A fun enamel suitcase-shaped compact with decals showing fair images. The inside includes a mirror, rouge and powder areas.

The iconic symbols of the fair were the Trylon and Perisphere, a pair of futuristic, modernistic structures representing the fair's theme.

The Perisphere was a 200-foot-wide sphere that housed the fair's utopian city of the future. The Trylon was a 700-foot-wide triangular obelisk that was a beacon for the fair.

These symbols were produced on millions of souvenirs, including this perfume.

The 2-1/2" red bakelite base featured a mini perisphere, filled with perfume, along with the obelisk.

This souvenir perfume was made by Rubicon Parfum.

A 1-1/4" souvenir coin says, "1939 New York World's Fair" on one side, along with the Periscope and Trylon images. The opposite side says "Souvenir of the 150th Anniversary George Washington Inauguration."

The 1939-1940 Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) was a World's Fair held on Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay. It celebrated the city’s two new bridges -- Golden Gate and Bay Bridge, along with the Pacific region culture. The expo featured a 400-foot "Tower of the Sun," and the event welcomed 17 million visitors over two years, showcasing Art Deco design, technology and arts. Following the event, the US Navy took over the island for World War II. Compacts were a popular expo souvenir!

This set of three perfumes--Bouquet, Gardenia and Chypre came in a brass holder. The brand is Cardinal from New York and the label says Tantalux by Cardinal, The Personal Perfume Bar. The brass holder measures 4-1/2" long and each bottle is only 2" tall. It's engraved with a cityscape and reads 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition San Francisco Bay. The box is also stamped Golden Gate Exp.

Paris hosted major international expositions (Expositions Universelles) between 1855 and 1937. Each event focused on technology, art and industrial progress. Iconic structures were built for the events, including the Eiffel Tower (1889) and Grand Palais, Petit Palais and Paris Metro (1900).

Of course, the most well-known Paris expo was the 1925 event, officially known as the "Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes." It was a landmark event that showcased over 15,000 exhibits from 20 countries. Held in Paris from April 28 to October 25, 1925, it was designed by the French government to highlight a new modern style that included architecture, furniture, glass, jewelry and other decorative arts from around the world.

The expo was visited by over 16 million people and was showcased in pavilions built along both banks of the Seine river in central Paris. Years later, the styles that emerged from the event were termed "Art Deco," after the expo's name.

Perfume Passage has souvenir vanity items from other Exposition Universelles.

1931

The Paris Colonial Exhibition was a six-month expo held in 1931 that displayed the diverse cultures of the French colonies. Held in the Bois de Vincennes park area on 500 acres, the event included a variety of large-scale re-creations of architecture from African, Asian and other French territories. 

A powder and rouge compact measures 2-3/4" x 1-3/4" and has a faux leather lid featuring colonial themed images.

The heads of these 4-1/2" ceramic multi-colored figural perfume bottles are the stoppers. There's a label on the bottom that says "Souvenir de l'Exposition Coloniale."

1937

The 1937 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne was held from May to November 1937. Despite the tensions of the 1930s, the expo was a large event designed to showcase modern art and technology. Over 30 million visitors attended the fair, which was the last fair held in Paris, and people remembered it for the contrasting exhibits prior to WWII.

This rare enamel envelope-shaped compact was a fun souvenir from the expo!

The Midway was also filled with nightclubs where future stars Judy Garland, The Cook Family Singers and The Andrews Sisters performed. There was also an exhibition of incubators containing real babies!

Exciting times are ahead as our museum continues to take shape! We can’t wait to announce the exact completion date soon. Meanwhile, we're thrilled to share some of the exquisite Italian perfume and beauty artifacts from our collection at Perfume Passage Milano. Stay tuned for more updates!

In 1827, Pietro Bortolotti patented “Acqua di Felsina,” a creation celebrated for its fragrance and medicinal properties. This "true and unique wondrous medicinal water" offered a pleasant scent and provided comfort against a variety of illnesses and ailments! In 1835 it was advertised in Genoa for its use in battling the cholera epidemic.

In 1876, Acqua di Felsina won the gold medal at the Philadelphia Exposition. In 1878, at the Exposition Mondiale in Paris, it received the only medal in its category, triumphing over both French and English competitors "for its true health-giving qualities and pleasant fragrance." 

Follow us on Instagram to see the progress and updates. We look forward to hosting your visit in the new year.



Upcoming tour dates are now available on our site.

Our mission is to preserve the history, beauty and artistry of perfume bottles, compacts, ephemera and related vanity items. Through education, outreach, and awareness of the Perfume Passage collection and library, our goal is to inspire art lovers, collectors, artists and curators to keep this history alive. 

Perfume Passage Foundation perfumepassage.org