Esme of Paris

 During the early 1940s, Esmé Davis Matz launched her fragrance line, Esmé of Paris, in New York City. Born Esmeralda Consuelo Maria del Delgado Holland on January 18, 1906, in Wheeling, West Virginia, she came from a colorful international family of Spanish, Irish, and Romani ancestry. Raised amid the worlds of theater, music halls, circuses, and ballet, Esmé spent much of her youth traveling throughout Europe, Russia, South America, Africa, and Asia with her mother, a celebrated soprano, and her grandmother, the renowned Spanish dancer Lola "La Maravilla" Bazil de Delgado. Her cosmopolitan upbringing exposed her to a wide variety of cultures, languages, and artistic traditions that would later influence her approach to fragrance creation and marketing.

By the 1930s, Esmé had established herself as a performer and entertainer under the stage name "Esmé of Paris." Although she enjoyed success in ballet, circus acts, and music halls around the world, an entirely different passion had begun to take hold: perfume. The foundation of this interest dated back to her childhood travels in Russia, where she became acquainted with members of the Russian aristocracy and was introduced to the world of fine perfumery.

image enhanced & colorized by Grace Hummel/Cleopatra's Boudoir.

One of the most influential experiences occurred in Moscow when she visited the perfume shop of the famed perfumer Manioulieff. According to Esmé, the perfumer's boutique was filled with rare crystal and jade flacons containing fragrances created for members of the Russian aristocracy. The perfumes, especially the celebrated Imperial Violettes, left a lasting impression on her. She later recalled that the scent of violets had always fascinated her, reminding her both of her beautiful mother's favorite fragrance and her father's sentimental attachment to the flower. These early experiences awakened a lifelong appreciation for fine perfumes and fragrance composition.

Years later in Paris, Esmé renewed her interest in perfumery through her friendship with Madame Loury and members of the Russian émigré community. The group had preserved a collection of perfume formulas originating from Manioulieff's workshop, and Esmé spent countless hours studying their blending methods and ingredients. Under Madame Loury's guidance, she learned about essential oils, fixatives, fragrance construction, and the relationship between scent, color, and mood. She became particularly fascinated with the history of perfume and the exotic raw materials used in traditional oriental fragrances.

Her travels throughout the Middle East further deepened this fascination. While visiting Egypt, she became captivated by the mysterious aromas drifting from local perfume shops and spent considerable time studying oriental essences and fixatives. One fragrance note especially intrigued her: the scent of the tonka bean, which she described as embodying the mysterious soul of the East. She also developed an interest in traditional perfume materials such as attar of roses, amber accords, and animal-derived fixatives, seeking to understand both their artistic and technical applications.

The outbreak of World War II unexpectedly provided an opportunity. While recuperating in New York following surgery in 1939, Esmé received word from her Russian associates in Paris that many European perfume businesses were facing an uncertain future. They proposed sending their treasured formulas to America and forming a partnership to market them. Encouraged by French perfume experts, including Monsieur de la Vigne of the distinguished firm Roure-Dupont, Esmé began assembling the ingredients and technical expertise necessary to bring the fragrances to market. Chemists translated and modernized the older formulas, adapting them for contemporary production while preserving their original character.

The result was the creation of Esmé of Paris, a perfume house that combined European fragrance traditions with American entrepreneurship. One of the first fragrances introduced was Green Eyes, launched in 1940. The perfume was housed in a distinctive bottle topped with a black glass hand stopper and quickly became one of the firm's best-known creations. The name was almost certainly inspired by Esmé herself, whose vivid green eyes were frequently remarked upon. Despite entering a market already crowded with established French and American fragrances, Green Eyes achieved notable success and helped establish the young company.

Esmé's role within the business was primarily artistic rather than technical. She devoted herself to creating perfume names, developing packaging concepts, designing advertising campaigns, and orchestrating the overall image of the brand. Drawing upon her theatrical background, she understood the importance of presentation and spectacle in selling luxury products. Many of her perfume names and promotional ideas reportedly came to her while serving with the American Women's Voluntary Services Motor Transport Corps during World War II. Meanwhile, the financial and operational aspects of the business were largely managed by her husband, Robert Matz, whom she had married in 1938. Together they expanded the company from a small penthouse operation into a business with offices, a showroom, warehouse facilities, sales staff, and a growing clientele.

Beyond perfumery, Esmé was also an author. In 1944 she published her autobiography, Esmé of Paris, which chronicled her remarkable adventures in ballet, circuses, aristocratic circles, and international travel. Three years later she immortalized her grandmother in the semi-fictional biography Lola, La Maravilla: Seed of the Serpent (1947). These publications helped reinforce the glamorous, cosmopolitan image that surrounded both Esmé and her perfume brand.

Esmé remained passionate about fragrance throughout her life and often shared practical advice on perfume use and preservation. She recommended testing perfume on the skin and allowing it time to develop before making a purchase, emphasizing that a fragrance undergoes important chemical changes when exposed to body chemistry. She also advised collectors to protect valuable perfumes from heat and light by storing them in plain bottles and displaying decorative flacons filled with colored liquid instead. Such advice reflected both her appreciation for perfume as an art form and her understanding of its delicate nature.

Although Esmé of Paris was never among the largest American perfume houses, it represents a fascinating example of how European perfume traditions were transplanted to the United States during World War II. Drawing upon Russian formulas, French expertise, Middle Eastern inspirations, and her own theatrical imagination, Esmé Davis Matz created a fragrance line that reflected the extraordinary experiences of her unconventional life.

 

image enhanced & colorized by Grace Hummel/Cleopatra's Boudoir.

The perfumes of Esme:

• 1940 - A May Morning (smells like new mown hay)
• 1940 - Green Eyes
• 1940 - Ballet
• 1941 - Hubava
• 1941 - Sea Lady
• 1941 - Secret Garden
• 1941 - The Lady Wore Black
• 1941 - Totem Pole
• 1942 - Sophisticated Lady
• 1943 - On Fifth Avenue
• 1944 - Indian Summer
• 1944 - In The Forest
• 1953 - High Heels