Nelson Baker & Co.

Nelson, Baker & Co. was one of the many regional American pharmaceutical firms that expanded naturally into perfumes, toiletries, and cosmetic preparations during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Based in Detroit, Michigan, at 61 Brooklyn Avenue, the company operated as a subsidiary of the Penslar Stores organization, a large chain of cooperative drugstores that flourished throughout the United States during the 1910s and 1920s. Like many pharmaceutical houses of the era, Nelson, Baker & Co. combined medicinal products with luxury toiletries, recognizing that perfumes, toilet waters, talcs, and grooming products represented an increasingly profitable extension of the drug trade. Their fragrances, while not as internationally famous as the great French perfumes, reflected the growing sophistication of American perfumery during the interwar years.

The company’s leading figure was Edwin Horatio Nelson, an accomplished pharmacist and businessman whose career mirrored the rapid industrial and commercial growth of Detroit itself. Born in Brighton, Ontario, in 1856, Nelson received extensive pharmaceutical and commercial training in Canada before relocating to Detroit in 1878. There he entered the employ of the respected druggist Frederick Stearns, eventually becoming associated with Frederick Stearns & Company, one of the city’s most important pharmaceutical manufacturers. By 1886, Nelson had risen to secretary of the corporation, demonstrating both technical knowledge and managerial ability. In 1890, he helped organize and incorporate Nelson, Baker & Co., becoming the head of the enterprise and guiding its growth for decades afterward.

The biographical entry from The Book of Detroiters in 1908 presents Nelson as a quintessential early twentieth-century businessman: civic-minded, socially connected, and deeply involved in Detroit’s commercial life. In addition to leading Nelson Baker & Co., he served as director of the National Can Company and the National Bank of Commerce, while participating actively in the Detroit Board of Commerce. His memberships in elite social clubs — including the Detroit Club, Country Club, and Les Cheneaux Club — reflected his standing within the city’s professional and social circles. Such men often viewed perfume and cosmetic manufacturing not as frivolous luxuries, but as respectable and profitable extensions of pharmacy and chemistry, industries closely tied to scientific modernity and consumer culture.

By the 1910s and 1920s, Nelson, Baker & Co. had developed a notable line of perfumes and toilet preparations marketed through Penslar drugstores and affiliated retailers. Their fragrance names reveal a strong alignment with the popular trends of American perfumery during the period: romantic florals, European-inspired sophistication, and gentle escapism. Garden Court, introduced in 1919, evokes images of formal gardens and genteel outdoor elegance, likely intended as a refined floral fragrance suitable for daytime wear. By the mid-1920s, the company expanded further with perfumes such as Fleur du Midi (“Flower of the South”), Spring Blossoms, and Blossom Time, all emphasizing freshness, flowers, and seasonal beauty — themes that appealed strongly to American women seeking optimism and femininity during the prosperous Jazz Age.

The 1928 fragrance releases demonstrate the company’s growing awareness of international perfume trends. Chypre, for example, reflected the enormous influence of the chypre fragrance family popularized in Europe after the success of François Coty’s famous 1917 perfume of the same name. American companies frequently adopted the term to lend their fragrances an air of continental sophistication. A Nelson, Baker Chypre perfume likely featured mossy, woody, citrusy elements intended to evoke elegance and modern refinement. The same year saw the release of Orange Blossoms, Jasmine, and Narcissus, classic floral soliflores that would have appealed to women who preferred recognizable flower scents rather than abstract modern compositions.

One particularly interesting entry in the company’s catalog is Colonial Club for Men, introduced in 1928. Men’s fragrances during the 1920s were still relatively conservative compared to women’s perfumes, typically emphasizing freshness, cleanliness, barbershop notes, and restrained spice or woods. The name “Colonial Club” suggests an attempt to market masculine sophistication through associations with gentlemen’s clubs, traditional refinement, and Anglo-American prestige. Such fragrances were often sold alongside shaving lotions, hair tonics, talcum powders, and grooming kits, reflecting the expanding men’s grooming market of the interwar years.

Although Nelson, Baker & Co. is today largely forgotten outside of pharmaceutical and perfume collecting circles, the company represents an important chapter in the history of American regional perfumery. Firms like Nelson, Baker bridged the worlds of pharmacy and luxury goods, bringing fragrance into everyday American life through local drugstores and cooperative retail chains. Their perfumes may not have possessed the international fame of Parisian couture houses, but they reveal how deeply fragrance culture had penetrated American consumer society by the 1920s. Surviving bottles and packaging from Nelson, Baker & Co. are now relatively scarce, offering collectors a glimpse into an era when even regional pharmaceutical companies sought to capture the romance, elegance, and aspiration associated with fine perfume.

Perfume List:

• 1919 Garden Court
• 1926 Fleur du Midi (Flower of the South) 
• 1926 Spring Blossoms
• 1926 Blossom Time
• 1928 Chypre 
• 1928 Orange Blossoms
• 1928 Jasmine
• 1928 Narcissus
• 1928 Colonial Club for Men

CREAMS and LOTIONS FOR THE SKIN 

Garden Court Benzoin and Almond Cream

Garden Court Cold Cream

Garden Court Double Combination Cream

Spring Blossoms Cold Cream

Spring Blossoms Almond and Buttermilk Cream

Spring Blossoms Vanishing Cream

Fleur du Midi Buttermilk Cleansing Cream

Fleur du Midi Cold Cream

Fleur du Midi Tissue Cream

Fleur du Midi Vanishing Cream

Fleur du Midi Vanishing Cream Lotion

Fleur du Midi Facial Astringent

Penslar Almond and Cucumber Cream

Camphor Ice Lotion

Cocoa Butter Cold Cream

Theatrical Cold Cream

Cosmetine

Glycerine & Bay Rum

Creme of Almonds

Glycerine & Rose Water

PERFUMES and TOILET WATERS

Garden Court Perfume

Garden Court Toilet Water

Fleur du Midi Perfume

Fleur du Midi Toilet Water

Spring Blossoms Perfume

Spring Blossoms Toilet Water

Chypre Perfume 

Chypre Toilet Water

Jasmine Perfume

Jasmine Toilet Water

Narcissus Perfume

Narcissus Toilet Water 

Colonial Club Lilac Vegetal

TALCUM POWDERS 

Garden Court Talcum

Nelson's Baby Powder 

Orange Blossoms Talcum

Spring Blossoms Talcum

Fleur du Midi Talcum

Colonial Club Talcum for Men

SOAPS

Fleur du Midi Facial Soap

Benzoin and Almond Facial Soap

Baby Castile Soap

Germicidal Soap

FACE POWDERS

Garden Court Face Powder, White, Natural, Brunette

Spring Blossoms Face Powder, White, Natural, Brunette

Fleur du Midi Face Powder, White, Natural, Brunette

Jean Nolan Face Powder

Chypre Face Powder 

ROUGE COMPACTS

Fleur du Midi Rouge, Raspberry. Strawberry, Medium

Spring Blossoms Rouge, Flame, Medium. Poppy

MISCELLANEOUS:

Spring Blossoms Brilliantine (Liquid)

Fleur du Midi Brilliantine, Solid