City of Paris was a fanciful name of a a department store of Paris, San Francisco, Ca. that opened its doors in 1850. Their flagship store in San Francisco was built in 1896 and rebuilt in 1909, probably due to damage from the 1906 earthquake.
From some vintage photos that I have seen of the interior, this was a magnificent showplace, exuding luxury, sophistication and everything one would expect from "Paris". An oval rotunda was built during the 1909 restoration and featured a gorgeous leaded glass dome set with stained glass. The street floor of the store contained the beauty and perfume bars. It is here that one could purchase any of the leading names of the day such as Guerlain, Caron, Coty or D'Orsay, as well as City of Paris' own branded perfumes.
According to a 1926 newspaper ad, Del Monte perfumes were made especially for City of Paris.
City of Paris was associated with Lady Lillian, a cosmetic and perfumery company of San Francisco. City of Paris' earliest recorded perfume branded under their own name was Parfum de la Ville de Paris, introduced around c1880. This name was derived from the name of the ship that carried the department store founder, Felix Verdier to San Francisco, the "Ville de Paris" (City of Paris). More info here
Baccarat produced a spectacular bottle to hold their perfume "Ah! Paris".The 2 oz bottle featured various scenes of Paris, the stopper was molded with a sailing ship, most likely a nod to the Ville de Paris ship. The perfume was still being sold in 1933.
The City of Paris store closed in 1971, the building was taken over by other companies before finally being demolished in 1980, much to the dismay of those who pushed hard to have the building preserved as a historical landmark. The lot where the building once stood was the future home of the Neiman Marcus building. However, there was a silver lining as Neiman Marcus salvaged the leaded glass dome and had it installed into their new building. The contrast of the grand Victorian style with the sleek, modern look was quite jarring to some who were used to the old fashioned glamour of the City of Paris' past.
The perfumes of City of Paris:
From some vintage photos that I have seen of the interior, this was a magnificent showplace, exuding luxury, sophistication and everything one would expect from "Paris". An oval rotunda was built during the 1909 restoration and featured a gorgeous leaded glass dome set with stained glass. The street floor of the store contained the beauty and perfume bars. It is here that one could purchase any of the leading names of the day such as Guerlain, Caron, Coty or D'Orsay, as well as City of Paris' own branded perfumes.
According to a 1926 newspaper ad, Del Monte perfumes were made especially for City of Paris.
City of Paris was associated with Lady Lillian, a cosmetic and perfumery company of San Francisco. City of Paris' earliest recorded perfume branded under their own name was Parfum de la Ville de Paris, introduced around c1880. This name was derived from the name of the ship that carried the department store founder, Felix Verdier to San Francisco, the "Ville de Paris" (City of Paris). More info here
Baccarat produced a spectacular bottle to hold their perfume "Ah! Paris".The 2 oz bottle featured various scenes of Paris, the stopper was molded with a sailing ship, most likely a nod to the Ville de Paris ship. The perfume was still being sold in 1933.
The City of Paris store closed in 1971, the building was taken over by other companies before finally being demolished in 1980, much to the dismay of those who pushed hard to have the building preserved as a historical landmark. The lot where the building once stood was the future home of the Neiman Marcus building. However, there was a silver lining as Neiman Marcus salvaged the leaded glass dome and had it installed into their new building. The contrast of the grand Victorian style with the sleek, modern look was quite jarring to some who were used to the old fashioned glamour of the City of Paris' past.
The perfumes of City of Paris:
- c1880 Parfum de la Ville de Paris
- Ah! Paris
- 1945 Recamier
- 1945 Two Star
- 1945 Three Star
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments will be subject to approval by a moderator. Comments may fail to be approved if the moderator deems that they:
--contain unsolicited advertisements ("spam")
--are unrelated to the subject matter of the post or of subsequent approved comments
--contain personal attacks or abusive/gratuitously offensive language