Magnum Perfume Bottles

During the early 1920s, the Magnum Import Company of New York operated as an independent perfume importer that specialized in bringing celebrated French fragrances to the American market in a novel and convenient format. At a time when genuine French perfumes were considered the pinnacle of luxury but were often sold only in expensive full-size bottles, Magnum devised a clever solution: it repackaged small quantities of these prestigious scents into compact purse-sized flacons that were affordable and easy to carry. The company was not affiliated with the perfume houses whose products it sold, yet it capitalized on the popularity of their fragrances by offering miniature versions of perfumes by well-known makers such as Caron, Guerlain, Coty, Grenoville, Rosine, D’Orsay, Roger & Gallet, Houbigant, and Dedon.

Advertisements from the period reveal how this concept was marketed to American consumers. A 1922 newspaper advertisement promoted Magnum bottles as “a delightful new innovation in a purse size bottle containing the most famous perfumes of France,” listing celebrated houses such as Coty, Houbigant, Caron, Rosine, Dedon, Guerlain, Grenoville, and D’Orsay. Each bottle sold for about $1.50, making it possible for customers to experience prestigious European fragrances without purchasing the much larger and more expensive original bottles. This strategy appealed particularly to fashionable women who wanted to carry their perfume discreetly in a handbag for use throughout the day.

The Magnum bottles themselves were distinctive and elegant despite their small size. Measuring about 3¼ inches in height, the flacons were made of clear glass in an oval form with pronounced shoulders and a long, slender neck that lacked a traditional lip. Both the bottle and its stopper were molded with an unusual reptile-skin pattern, giving the surface a textured, scale-like appearance. The motif continued seamlessly onto the stopper, which held a tester-style dauber used to apply the perfume directly to the skin. For many years these bottles were mistakenly believed to have been designed by the renowned French glass artist René Lalique, largely due to their decorative surface pattern. This attribution appeared in the early reference book Lalique Perfume Bottles by Mary Lou and Glenn Utt. However, the authors later issued a widely circulated correction retracting the claim, acknowledging that the bottles were not Lalique creations.

The labeling of Magnum bottles was also notable for its craftsmanship. The decorative labels were produced by the Stanley Manufacturing Company, an American firm known for creating elaborate embossed metallic labels. These labels were typically finished in an antique bronze tone with high-relief embossing, giving the bottles an appearance of richness that belied their modest size. Early labels often proclaimed “Magnum of Rue de la Paix,” an address referencing Paris’s famous luxury shopping district, followed by wording such as “contents made by” the respective perfume house. Later labels were altered significantly after legal disputes arose over the company’s practices.

Magnum’s business model—decanting perfumes from established French houses into its own bottles—soon led to legal challenges. It appears the company had not obtained permission from the original perfume manufacturers to rebottle their fragrances. As a result, lawsuits were filed, most notably the case Magnum Import Company v. Coty (262 U.S. 159) in 1923. The court determined that Magnum’s practices infringed upon the trademark rights of the perfume companies. However, rather than immediately prohibiting the rebottling entirely, the court required that Magnum clearly disclose the circumstances of the product. Bottles and boxes had to state explicitly that the perfumes had been rebottled and repacked by Magnum Import Company, and that the company was “wholly independent” of the original manufacturers. This ruling forced the firm to revise its labeling to ensure that the rebottling was given equal prominence to the name of the perfume itself.

Despite the legal controversy, Magnum bottles continued to appear in advertisements for several years afterward, with evidence suggesting they were still being sold as late as 1928. Each bottle was typically packaged in a small satin-lined cloth pouch with a snap closure, designed to protect the glass and make it easy to carry in a purse. The pouch bore a label matching the one affixed to the bottle, reinforcing the product’s identity and presentation.

Because the Magnum Import Company operated only briefly and its bottles were produced in relatively small quantities, surviving examples have become prized collectibles among perfume bottle enthusiasts. One example is illustrated in Jacquelyne Jones North’s book Commercial Perfume Bottles, where it was valued at approximately $125. Particularly rare specimens, especially those containing prestigious fragrances such as Guerlain and accompanied by their original pouch, have achieved significantly higher estimates. For instance, a Guerlain example featured in the 2005 Art & Fragrances Perfume Presentations auction catalog was valued between $960 and $1,440, probably because of the mistaken belief that the bottle was by Lalique.

Today, Magnum bottles represent a fascinating intersection of perfume history, early twentieth-century marketing, and legal controversy. They illustrate how entrepreneurial importers sought to make luxury French fragrances accessible to a broader American audience—while also demonstrating the complexities that arose when independent companies attempted to trade on the reputation of famous perfume houses.