Natchez c1982

Natchez: launched in 1982. The idea was by the Margaret Hodge Company. Created by Florasynth.

Natchez, the luxury fragrance, was symbolic of "a place when an affluent society built their grand mansions in the Deep South, surrounded by magnificent gardens." The advertisements invited "you to reflect upon the most romantic era in our heritage." The Gone With The Wind tradition "let's you live the legend and inherit the wind."

The Natchez fragrance comes from the inspiration of the gardens and lifestyle of Natchez." Natchez "combines the essence of flowers found in the Natchez gardens," said the creator of the perfume, Margaret Hodge. Hodge was head of M. Hodge Co., a marketing, advertising and public relations firm from New York City. She explained that "We were trying to create the Southern ambiance of the garden florals that would permeate the air if you were sitting on the veranda."

Natchez, the name of a city on the Mississippi River was renowned for its grand antebellum homes, heritage gardens and elegant charm of the Old South. Natchez was founded in 1716 and is the oldest city on the Mississippi, with five nations - France, Great Britain, Spain, the Confederate States and the US - contributing to the city's rich legacy. Since March 1932, descendants of the pioneer families of Natchez have opened their homes and gardens filled with azaleas and camellias during the Annual Natchez Pilgrimage. 

During the half century before the Civil War, the region enjoyed a "Golden Age." Crops such as cotton, sugar cane, tobacco and indigo were staples which were in demand all over the world. These crops grew well on the rich soils of Louisiana and Mississippi. Of the seventeen men in the US who qualified as millionaires at that time, twelve lived in the St Francisville Louisiana-Natchez-Mississippi area. Those whose fortunes blossomed built magnificent houses and gardens, with each planter enthusiastically vying to build the biggest and finest. The verdant gardens boasted magnolias, camellias, azaleas, jasmines, roses, dogwood, honeysuckle, redbud and other native and imported flowers. These grand estates, many of them facing the mighty Mississippi and its ubiquitous riverboat traffic, were lined up one after the other stretching from New Orleans to Memphis. 

Hodge said that the Natchez fragrance was designed for the romantic, yet thoroughly modern woman. Hodge described her fragrance as "evoking an image of 'Gone With The Wind' for the woman of today. I wanted to create a fragrance for the woman of the '80s." It was specifically designed to satisfy a modern market wistfully looking back at the romance of yesteryear. This is apparent in other fragrances of the period, such as Truly Lace & L'Effleurt, both by Coty, which evoked the charm of the Victorian era. There was a particular fascination for the elegance associated with the Victorians and Edwardians. The period conjures up images of Southern belles clad in frilly lace dresses shaded by parasols strolling the manicured lawns, others sipping iced tea or mint juleps while fanning themselves languorously on wicker chaises perched on verandas overlooking fragrant gardens.

Elizabeth Arden in 1981, released the "Southern Heirlooms" line of porcelains which held her Blue Grass and Memoire Cherie fragrance products, "inspired by the historic antebellum homes of Natchez, Mississippi. Translating the opulence and splendor of another era into precious heirlooms-to-be."  " 

Hodge touched on this and said, "We're coming back to that beauty and romance. In the 80s we're coming back to the traditional and a revival of our American heritage. More and more you find young couples from the 60s and 70s that were living together now wanting traditional weddings. Married people today want a piece of antiquity in their homes."

Looking through vintage issues of Victoria magazine as well as others, such as the Lady's Gallery, one can certainly see the appeal for the era in clothing, home furnishings and accessories, especially wedding gowns. Hodge said, "Today's woman is very feminine with softened clothes - everything is softer, more feminine. Today they can't keep enough romantic novel paperbacks in the bookstores. She is a very romantic woman who wants a career, husband and family."

The entire development of the fragrance from the initial concept to the scent itself took a three years to be completed. Hodge explained that choosing the right name for the perfume was challenging, so the names were test marketed. "Charleston [South Carolina] was turned down because people associated it with the dance. Savannah was considered but rejected because people gave the actual definition - foot of the forest - to it." 

For her inspiration, Hodge said that "I kept coming back to Natchez as the theme of a romantic place. Natchez has such a marvelous history. There is a 'Gone With The Wind' quality to it. The name was natural." Hodge herself claimed a Southern heritage, being born in South Carolina. "Being a Southerner, I was looking for a romantic period in our history and kept coming back to the South. We kept coming back to the gardens." 

She said that "Natchez is a place in America that relates to the romance of yesteryear for today's woman. As a student at Parsons in the mid 50s, I visited the city on the recommendation of one of my teachers. Natchez was considered one of the landmarks in America to visit. [But], my reaction wasn't too good." She said that at the time, it was a "city in shabby shape." But within 30 years the city had changed, and for the better. Residents started restoring the old mansions and parks. The city was cleaned up and more inviting to tourists. It made an impression on her. "Wealthy plantation owners there filled their homes with Aubusson rugs, Limoges porcelain, George III silver and hand carved four-poster beds. Thirty homes in Natchez have been preserved in the National Register of Historic Places," said Hodge.

Hodge said, "I want people to know what Natchez is all about. I've spent junkets there. The sweetest people live there." She said that Natchez was symbolic of "a place when an affluent society built their grand mansions in the Deep South, surrounded by magnificent gardens. We were trying to create the Southern ambience of the garden florals that would permeate the air if you were sitting on the veranda," said Hodge.  

Hodge set out to capture the essence of the Natchez allure and approached Florasynth, a perfumery house in New York. Hodge commissioned Florasynth to create the Natchez fragrance that would evoke the "romantic ambiance of the Old South" in the tradition of Gone With The Wind. Hodge explained that "we wanted to create a fragrance which would capture the scent of heritage gardens."

In response, Florasynth created four fragrances which were test marketed for final selection. The test marketing was done in big cities where there was a wide range of women from all walks of life to evaluate the scent: New York, Houston and Los Angeles. After 1.5 years of test marketing, the final fragrance was chosen to become Natchez. 

"Developing a fragrance is like a composer writing a composition - it has to have harmony, symphony, a highly specialized concept. I sat down [with Florasynth researchers] and told them what [flowers] we had in the South," said Hodge. "Natchez is an all-floral essence that was researched thoroughly. Research was done on who brought the magnolia and camellia to Mississippi. Rare jasmine was brought by French explorers, magnolia by the Spanish. We had to develop four fragrances in order to create the Natchez image."  

"Natchez was chosen after 1 1/2 years of test marketing. We also wanted to do what everyone had never thought of," said Hodge. Hodge was very specific in her requests for the fragrance. She said "Most perfumes are colored, mine is not. We love the colors of nature - no fake dyes. We used the actual color of the essence. It embodies the most delicate of camellia, but it is as alluring as potent jasmine, blended with moonlight and magnolias."

The perfume itself, cost $120 per ounce due to the rare jasmine used in the fragrance, which wasn't affordable to just anyone, Hodge revealed. "People want the best they can buy. Men and women will buy the best perfumes they can while the younger women may buy the eau de toilette." She then explained that the Natchez eau de toilette has a stronger essence than other such fragrances so that if one bought a bottle of it in France, it would be called an eau de parfum.

The fragrance was was introduced by Bloomingdale's in Autumn 1982, and McRae's during Christmastime of that year, proved to have universal appeal. The fragrance had successful launches in New York City, Dallas, New Orleans, San Francisco and its namesake, Natchez. Hodge explained that fragrance sales, like those at Natchez at Christmas, indicated the perfume's popularity. Eleven percent of the holiday fragrance sales at the Natchez McRae's store was for the Natchez perfume.  

Hodge said, "We presented it in stores in mid-America and the customers there all knew of Natchez. Then there were people in the South who understood what the who idea means. It was a little frightening to present it to Natchez because it's real chancy to go to the source. But I knew the people in Natchez were sophisticated enough to buy it because it was good and not because it was named for the city."

Tony Byrne, mayor of Natchez, who had a population of only 22,015 at the time, said "I guess somebody thought the Natchez meant elegance and that's what we try to project. We are sophisticated for a city of our size." The Natchez fragrance marketing helped boost tourism to the area. Carolyn Denton, director of the Natchez Convention and Tourism Commission said that, "We've gotten a good piece of publicity from it."

Hodge said that sales were "Fantastic. Let me put it this way, when we first introduced the fragrance in Natchez at Christmas, large stores reported it was one-tenth of all its fragrance sales. they couldn't keep it in stock."  She felt that part of the perfume's popularity was because it bore no designer name. "We knew we had a beautiful fragrance and the mid-American market is telling us so."

A perfume salesclerk from McRae's said, that sales were so brisk and aggressive, that "We couldn't keep it [in stock]. We had it back ordered and back ordered and we couldn't fill the orders."

Princes for the parfum ranged from $45 for the 0.25 oz $75 for the 0.5 oz and $120 for the 1 oz. The Eau de Toilettes, more attainable to the general public, ranged in price from $22.50 to $35. In addition to the parfum and toilet water, the line included bath and body care basics and dusting powder.

Hodge said that "We've found that the young who couldn't afford the [$120 an ounce] perfume bought the eau de toilette, $22.50 an ounce. Then there are the ear-omatics, a new, innovative concept that's fun, provocative and flirtatious. the young love it."

The interesting "Ear-omatics," were earbobs that released a burst of fragrance, by twisting a little dial on the earrings. These earrings contain discs saturated with the Natchez fragrance. The "ear-omatics" were made up of 14kt gold tone finish with clip backs or solid 14kt gold posts, they were available in either spiral shape, faux pearls or a Melon shape. These retailed for $40 and $42. Hodge said she created and patented the "Ear-omatics" herself and that with the switch of a tiny dial on the earrings, fragrance was released "to have a pulse of essence."

Hodge had set her mind to creating a company that would eventually evolve from the Natchez fragrance line. "I can develop for 10 years from Natchez. And I haven't touched the home furnishings market. It's going to be a makeup and cosmetics house using Natchez as a backdrop. We'll move into the bath with innovative things and build a room with curtains and accessories featuring prints of magnolias one year or camellias the next. We're also working on a men's fragrance. The essences are being developed after the Natchez man - the person who is a masculine, elegant gentleman who also has a little bit of the rogue in him and called - Natchez Homme."

Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like? It is classified as a floral fragrance for women. It was described as a blend of sumptuous natural florals made up of Spanish magnolia, rare jasmine, camellia, fiery azalea, lily of the valley and a profusion of 10 other floral essences, born out of the South.

• Top notes: Spanish magnolia, bergamot
• Middle notes: jasmine, camelia, azalea, lily of the valley, rose
• Base notes: patchouli, oakmoss, musk, sandalwood

Bottles:

Available as

• 0.25 oz Parfum
• 0.5 oz Parfum
• 1 oz Parfum
• 2 oz Eau de Toilette Splash
• 3.3 oz Eau de Toilette Splash
• 2 oz Eau de Toilette Spray
• 3.3 oz Eau de Toilette Spray

The opulence of the antebellum period was expressed in the packaging for Natchez. "It comes in faceted flacons of French crystal, simple and classic with a square top wrapped with gold cord. The front seal is printed in gold on the bottle in style of a portico of a Greek Revival, inspired by the antebellum homes of Natchez," said Margaret Hodge. "The boxes are wrapped in black moire [a watery, textured French silk], because when I look at Spanish moss hanging in old oak trees, it looks like moire," Hodge said.

A sweepstakes was offered to customers from April 18th to May 1st. No purchase was necessary.  Grand prize winners would receive a free trip to historic Natzchez, Mississippi. The winners would fly first class via Delta Airlines to stay at the luxurious Eola Hotel, circa 1920s for a three day, two night stay. Then get the chance to visit 6 antebellum mansions, all part of the National Registry of Historic Places. Including a lavish Southern breakfast at the Natchez mayor's home. And those were just the highlights!

Fate of the Fragrance:

Unfortunately, sales of Natchez didn't extend into the late 1980s, and was discontinued most likely by 1985ish as I cannot find any other advertisements after 1984.

I wanted to mention that there was a brand that wanted to bring back memories of the antebellum years, Old South Toiletries. 

CLICK HERE TO FIND NATCHEZ PERFUME