FACTICES & DUMMY BOTTLES

In this guide I will introduce you to the world of perfume display bottles, also called Factices (pronounced fack-teece), and dummy bottles in the perfume trade.

A factice is an advertising store display bottle that is lent to a perfume vendor (department stores) by the perfume house and are not meant for retail sale. The bottles are exact replicas of the normal perfume bottles. Because these bottles are on loan, they are usually returned back to the perfume house and not sold publicly.



In the early days of factices, these might be filled with perfume, but as time went on, manufacturers began to use colored water, a type of colored antifreeze, a mixture of rubbing alcohol or formaldehyde, or glycogen is used in most examples. The colored water examples sometimes have some sort of sediment or flaky particles floating around in the liquid, this is most likely caused by bacteria or mold growing in the water. Some factices, such as those for My Sin by Lanvin, are hollow, opaque plastic bottles, with no liquid inside.

The Spatula, 1922:
"Light particularly electric light, has a powerful influence over perfumes, affecting both color and odor to a marked degree. Extensive heat causes decided and rapid deterioration. It has been asserted that the rays of the moon induce fading of both perfume and label. Window displays should be carried out with these facts in mind and it is generally well to use dummy bottles which are put up by most manufacturers for display purposes."

Dry Goods Merchant Trade Journal, 1929:
"Selling expensive perfumes by the dram is the most effective means in helping to sell more of them in larger quantities. ..Miss Kennedy does not sell empty perfume bottles. She believes she has found an even better use for them. After the contents of the decorative original bottle have been sold, it is filled with tea of a brew that matches the color of the perfume itself. This is used as a "dummy" for window and interior displays. Exposure to sunlight is not the best."

The Retail Chemist, 1930:
“Goods spoiled by exposure,” &c. There is only one satisfactory solution of this problem, and that is for the manufacturers to supply factice dummy or cartons so that a show can be made without spoiling any stock."
Treasury Decisions Under the Customs, Internal Revenue, 1934:
"Exhibit 8 represents all items of whatever size invoiced as "Dummy" samples Narcisse Noir. Most of these bottles were imported filled with colored water, and they all have the word "Dummy" etched on the bottom. Illustrative Exhibit A is a similar bottle to Exhibit 2, only a smaller size showing how these bottles are imported filled with colored water. It is an ornamental bottle, square without corners and rather squat, having a stopper apparently of cut glass. It is filled with a light yellow liquid, and is labeled "Bellodgia Caron." On the bottom, etched in the glass, evidently after its manufacture, is the word "Dummy." It is contained in an ornamental covered cardboard box. The witness Bergeman testified as to the use of these bottles as follows: 

"We ship it (Exhibit 2) to our customers, who in turn use it for display purposes only. We loan them to them." 

His attention was called to the fact that Exhibit 1 has a hole drilled in the bottom. He testified "it is never filled with any liquid of any kind." It is merely used in its imported condition as "an advertising display." These bottles are not sold but after use by plaintiff's customers are returned -

"and if its condition warrants that it be used again we use it again. Otherwise the condition of the water, through the effects of the sun probably in the window... if it fades the coloring, which it is very likely to do, then we open that bottle up, being a dummy, we empty the water out and put fresh water in it, redress the package and return it to stock." 

In redressing the bottle the water placed therein is colored to imitate the perfume which it advertises, also the carton in which it is contained is made to imitate the carton in which the bottle with perfume is placed as closely as possible. The witness further testified that the bottles with the word "Dummy" etched thereon are never used by his company for holding toilet preparations of any kind, or for the holding or transporting merchandise of any kind; and they are never used for any purpose other than advertising displays. He was asked why the word "Dummy" is etched on the bottom of these bottles and he answered: 

"So it can't be used. That word can't be erased. It can't be used for perfume. It can't be filled with perfume to be used."
 



The French Review - Volume 20, 1947:
"perfume dealers, etc., began displaying dummy bottles of their wares, discreetly labeling them flaunting factice so that no false hopes would be raised."



The colored liquid for the factices often come premade in advance in aluminum containers when they are delivered to the department stores. Alternatively they might come as an extract in a small plastic bottle and the shop owner would have to mix it with distilled water.

I would like to mention that factices came in many sizes, from smaller versions of their retail examples to identical sizes, all the way up to much larger than life examples. These larger bottles are known as giant factices.



The older factices were made of glass or crystal, some of the newer ones are made of plastic or acrylic. The bases may be acid stamped or etched with "dummy", "factice" or a "D" engraved into the glass.

I have three possibilities on how the factices were marked. They were probably scratched "dummy" by the glass factories before they were sent to the perfume factories, or were scratched on at the perfume factories so that it wouldn't be mistakenly filled with the actual perfume. Another possibility is that it could have been scratched on by a store employee to differentiate it from the perfume filled examples.

 Other bottles may simply have a paper label reading "factice" or "dummy", however, these often fall off over the years.

I wanted to mention that some vintage Guerlain & Balenciaga bottles are often marked dummy on the back of the label that is on the front of the bottle. The only way to see the word dummy is by looking through the back of the bottle and seeing the back of the label on the front of the bottle.


Since the labels were affixed at the perfume factories (which were in France but the bottles were for American export) it would make sense that the word "dummy" was used instead of factice (French for artificial, fake). Please note that recent examples might have a sticker or label on the back of the bottle that states "dummy" or "for display purposes only" or "not for resale".

Some factices are one solid piece, meaning the stopper is molded into the base and not removeable. I have seen some acrylic factices like this for Givenchy perfumes.

Don't confuse a tester with a factice. Testers are advertising bottles filled with actual perfume and were meant to be used. Some stores will sell testers, and there are companies who will wholesale testers to the public. Testers generally come without a cap or box.

Please make sure you mention factice in your title and description. Collectors of factices will be able to find it easily. And people who are looking for the actual perfume bottle (not a factice) will appreciate your honesty.



The larger factices are generally much more desired than their smaller counterparts. The best factices are those marked Lalique or Baccarat, these signed pieces command the highest prices. You can find many different factices on ebay quite easily. Why not add one to your collection today?


How to determine if your bottle is a factice:

Is your bottle sealed with contents? Does it look like perfume? How can you tell if you have a factice? Some simple ways of determining this are listed below:

Shake the bottle. Do you see floating particles? if so, it is a factice. The particles are bacteria forming inside the colored water.

Shake the bottle. Do you see a separation of the contents? Do you see little balls of oily substance in a sea of what looks like alcohol? Then you have perfume in your bottle. The perfume oils often thicken due to age and evaporation. The fragrance congeals a bit leaving small oil balls in the alcohol.

Does the bottle have a waxed paper seal? if so, it may not be a factice. Vintage perfume bottles are usually sealed with onion paper which has been waxed over to prevent spillage during shipment. Also the stopper will be tied with a cord which wraps around the neck of the bottle. Some factices, such as the Chanel often times have this too, but I have never seen a factice with the waxed paper seal.


Can you smell perfume around the mouth of the bottle? If so it is not a factice. Your factice should have no perfume smell at all.


Are the contents dark and discolored? If so, it is most likely not a factice.Vintage perfume usually discolors and turns a darker shade over the years when exposed to air or heat. The liquid in factices should not discolor with age.

Look at the stopper and the neck of the bottle. Do you see any discoloration? If so, this will not be a factice. Vintage perfumes, due to the oils and evaporation, often discolor the inside neck of the bottle and stopper and leaves residue even if its still sealed. Factices should be clear and clean with no residue present.

Some buyers prefer their factices emptied before shipping, this keeps the shipping costs down as filled factices can be quite heavy and expensive to ship. If you want your bottle emptied before shipping, please make mention of this to your seller.

If your factice is empty, you may wish to refill them with a colored solution to look like perfume. It should not be plain tap water, as the bacteria in the water can cause mold and you will see floating flakes of gunk, which is not pretty. Also due to the bacteria, it may eventually cause etching of the glass which looks like clouding, which cannot be reversed, really looks horrible and ruins the value of your bottle. Please note that distilled water can still cause etching to the glass due to minerals that might still be present in the water. Your best bet is to use demineralized water. Here is a recommended mixture to fill your factices:

Mix the following:
  • 3/4 parts rubbing alcohol
  • 1/4 part demineralized water

To make the colored dye to mimic perfume, mix the following:
  • A few drops of food coloring (or a small amount of gel food/icing color on the end of a toothpick)
  • Small amount of warm water
Then add the the color mixture to the alcohol mixture. If you omit this step and simply add the food coloring directly into the alcohol mixture, it will not mix right and you'll only end up with colored bubbles. I use very low amounts of yellow to create the look of yellow colored juice (for floral, chypre, aldehydic or light perfumes), and small amounts of red and yellow to create orange, and then add some brown to make it darker (as with heavy, aldehydes, or oriental perfumes). Be sure to look online to see what the color of your factice perfume should look like. If you have a very old bottle and cannot find it's match online, you can either go with the yellow shade or brownish orange.

Now, take a medicine dropper, plastic pipette or use a funnel to decant the alcohol mixture into your bottle. Be careful not to get any labels wet, as this can causing staining or rippling and will hurt the value of your bottle. Do not fill the bottle all the way to the top, leave some "headspace" for the glass to expand.

You can store any leftover mixture and save it for use the next time. 

What to do with smaller factice bottles? Use them for a display on your vanity or in a window instead of your precious perfume bottles. You can store your actual perfume bottles away from the light and heat, and use factices on your dressing table for a beautiful display.

CLICK HERE TO FIND PERFUME FACTICES

1 comment:

  1. Has there ever been a case of a Guerlain factice being marked as such, but in fact was found to contain perfume? I recently purchased two Shalimar (vintage 60’s and 70’s) through an online auction. One, had been opened at some point - it was NOT marked in any way indicating a dummy, and it smelled just like Shalimar but the scent fades nearly immediately- was a scented alcohol formulation ever used? In the case of the other Shalimar bottle, “Dummy” is indeed etched on the bottom, yet there is a paper stamp on the bottom “39 Alcoholique” in green lettering, the neck of the bottle is not only sealed with a deep blue “waxed paper” looking seal but the intricately tied blue/gold cord and seal. When shaken, there are tiny bubbles that appear and rise up to the top and there is a slight “clean” foam which dissipates. The liquid is a clear golden - a light whiskey/amber but not dark - all indications this might actually contain perfume. I’m dying to open this, thinking it might be perfume and have carefully unwrapped the ribbon and removed the wax paper seal but the stopper will not budge. Could this be perfume? Did Guerlain “permanently” seal some of the crystal bottles? More importantly (interesting) are there known cases of mistakes? Thank you!

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