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Q. I have inherited a collection of Avon bottles from an aunt and want to sell them Can you tell me if they are still desirable?

A David H McConnell founded the California Perfume Company in 1886 He hired saleswomen to go door-to-door selling their first product “Little Dot,” a set of five perfumes In 1929, the California Perfume Co. became the Avon Company using the CPC name until 1937 By 1979, there were more than one million Avon ladies Avon-bottle collecting started in the mid-60s when the company launched its “Collector’s Series” of figural bottles Watch out for an “R” on the bottom meaning a later reissue of an earlier style Thousands of designs have been created over the year. The plain bottles of the California Perfume Co command some of the highest prices

Avon collecting was popular through the 1970s and 1980s, but tapered off in the 1990s However, collectors still meet at Avon bottle shows and clubs keeping the field alive Go to your local bookstore and ask for Bud Hastin’s Avon Collectible Price Guide I also found some price information in Warman’s Americana & Collectibles

Prices for other perfume bottles are skyrocketing. The great glass artisans, such as Viard, Lalique, and Baccarat, created bottle designs that make these miniature works of art more valuable than the perfume they once held Besides these glass makers, look for porcelain bottles by Meissen, Webb & Sons, Wedgwood, and Sampson Mordan & Co

Crystal Lalique designs are highly collectible works of art After Rene Lalique’s death in 1945, his son, Marc, continued to design exquisite glass containers He was

Nina Ricci’s L’Air he beautiful glass rm of doves oduced decorative since the early 19th umers including ey, Elizabeth nt, Christian Dior, and Guerlain The Shalimar bottle, designed by Richard Guerlain, was introduced in 1913 and remains one of the most beautiful fragrance containers The bottle design was inspired by the garden of Shalimar created by the Shah Jehan for his wife, Mumtaz, for whom the Taj Mahal was later built as a memorial

Collectors look for prestigious makers, commercial bottles in their original packaging, and those that remain unopened However, if you open a partially used bottle, you may be unpleasantly surprised by the cloying scent. You may want to clean out a bottle by using denatured alcohol or isopropyl alcohol, followed by warm soap and water Be sure that you are careful not to damage the label or painted surfaces

Speaking of unpleasant odors, some of the oldest scent bottles, mostly in terra cotta and bronze, date from around 1100 BC, when perfume was used to mask the smell of burnt offerings at sacrificial ceremonies The word perfume derives from the Latin “per fumum” through smoke

So not only can you enjoy collecting these lovely works of art, but you can get a scents of history by collecting them

Dr Georgia Caraway, former director of the Denton County Museums for 14 years, and her friends opened the Howe Mercantile at 107 East Haning

Store hours are Thursday through Saturday noon until 8 p m She has written four Denton history books and has finished a 5th history about the North Texas State Fair and Rodeo that will be published in August She hopes her next book will be the history of Howe PLEASE SHOP LOCALLY We can show you Howe!

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