The history of Colgate is far richer than its modern identity as a toothpaste company might suggest. Long before becoming one of the world's largest consumer goods corporations, the business was deeply involved in perfumery, scented soaps, toilet articles, and fragrance manufacturing. Founded in New York in 1806 by English immigrant William Colgate, the company originally produced starch, soap, and candles from a location on Dutch Street in New York City. A year later, Frances Smith joined as a partner and the firm briefly operated as Smith and Colgate before William Colgate purchased full control in 1813 and renamed it William Colgate & Co. From these modest beginnings, the company gradually evolved into one of America's earliest and most influential perfume and toiletry houses.
Following William Colgate's death, the business adopted the name Colgate & Company in 1857, a title that would become familiar around the world. During the mid-nineteenth century the firm began expanding beyond basic household necessities and entered the growing market for luxury personal care products. In 1866 Colgate officially began producing perfumed soaps, perfumes, and fragrant essences, identifying itself as a perfumery house in addition to its soap business. This move placed Colgate among the pioneers of American fragrance production during a period when many consumers still looked to France as the center of perfume culture.
Colgate quickly developed a substantial fragrance business. By 1872 the company was already registering trademarks for its perfumes and marketing fragrances in bottles bearing the Colgate trademark symbol. That same period saw the introduction of scented toiletries that would become closely associated with the company. Six years after entering perfumery, Colgate registered the famous Cashmere Bouquet trademark, its first milled perfumed toilet soap. Cashmere Bouquet would eventually become one of the most recognized scented soaps in American history and remained in production for generations.
The scale of Colgate's perfume operation became remarkable by the early twentieth century. At the time of its one-hundredth anniversary, the company was manufacturing not only dental products and laundry soaps but also an astonishing 160 varieties of toilet soap and approximately 625 varieties of perfume. Such numbers reveal that fragrance was not a side project but a major and highly diversified part of Colgate's business identity. Consumers of the period could choose from extensive ranges of floral waters, toilet extracts, scented soaps, perfumes, and cosmetic preparations.
Behind many of these fragrances stood an important figure in American perfumery: William P. Ungerer. Ungerer served as Colgate's chief chemist-perfumer beginning in 1872 and remained with the company for twenty-one years. His influence on the development of Colgate's perfume division was profound. Born in Basel, Switzerland, in 1833, Ungerer originally pursued perfumery studies in Paris despite family objections. He trained at La Pharmacie Centrale de France and later worked in southern France where he refined his knowledge of fragrance production. His talent eventually led him to the distinguished Parisian perfume house of Pinaud, where he rose from assistant perfumer to chief perfumer following the death of Ed Pinaud. He later achieved the prestigious appointment of private perfumer to the Emperor of Austria, creating fragrances for the imperial court.
Ungerer's move to America would significantly shape the nation's perfume industry. After arriving in the United States in 1865 and establishing an earlier venture in Rochester, he joined Colgate and brought European expertise directly into American manufacturing. During his tenure he helped establish many of the standards and practices that contributed to Colgate's reputation in perfumery. He became so respected that he was later regarded as one of the oldest and most influential authorities in American perfume production and was often referred to as the "Dean of American Perfumery." Following his departure due to health concerns, his son William G. Ungerer succeeded him as Colgate's chief perfumer before later joining the family essential oil business.
As the twentieth century progressed, Colgate increasingly transformed into a broader consumer products company. The original New York operations moved to Jersey City in the nineteenth century, and the company gradually expanded internationally. Colgate established Canadian operations in 1913 and entered France in 1920 before continuing into Australia, Great Britain, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, India, and numerous other countries. Its rapid international growth reflected the increasing demand for toiletries and household products around the world.
Corporate mergers eventually reshaped the company into its modern form. In 1926 the Palmolive Company merged with Peet Brothers to create Palmolive-Peet Company, and in 1928 Palmolive-Peet merged with Colgate to create Colgate-Palmolive-Peet. The company later simplified its name in 1953 to Colgate-Palmolive. Although today the corporation is closely identified with oral care products and household brands, its early history reveals a substantial and often overlooked role in perfume manufacturing and scented luxury goods.
For perfume historians, Colgate occupies an intriguing place in American fragrance history. It bridged the practical world of soap and household products with the more artistic and luxurious world of scent. Long before modern consumers associated the name with toothpaste tubes and dishwashing liquid, Colgate stood as one of America's significant perfume houses, producing hundreds of fragrances and helping establish a distinctly American perfume industry.
Perfumes:
The perfume catalog of Colgate reveals a side of the company that modern consumers rarely imagine. Today the name immediately evokes toothpaste and personal care products, but from the late nineteenth century through the early twentieth century Colgate functioned as a substantial perfume house with an immense and remarkably diverse fragrance library. The sheer breadth of titles demonstrates that Colgate was attempting to satisfy nearly every imaginable taste and fashion of its era, from simple single-flower fragrances to elaborate bouquet compositions, fashionable violet perfumes, exotic orientals, and even thematic artistic creations inspired by places and emotions. The list also illustrates changing perfume trends over nearly ninety years of production.
The earliest perfumes from 1872 show fragrance culture in its transitional stage between simple botanical extracts and more sophisticated blended compositions. Perfumes such as Rose, Musk, Patchouly, Primrose, Verbena, and Elder Flower were relatively straightforward interpretations of individual scent materials. During the nineteenth century many perfumes were marketed as faithful recreations of a single blossom or aromatic ingredient rather than highly complex compositions. Alongside these were perfumes such as Cashmere Bouquet and Jockey Club, names that carried social and emotional associations rather than merely identifying ingredients. Jockey Club had already become a famous perfume style in Europe, associated with elegant masculine floral-citrus accords, while Cashmere Bouquet suggested softness, luxury, and refinement.
The 1880s demonstrate Colgate moving decisively toward more romantic and imaginative naming. This decade saw an explosion of floral perfumes including Gardenia, Italian Violet, Jonquil, Lotos Blossom, Sweet Pea, Tea Rose, Tuberose, White Lilac, and Ylang Ylang. Many of these fragrances reflected Victorian flower culture, when blossoms carried symbolic meanings and floral language was deeply embedded in social life. Names such as Bridal Bouquet, Wedding March Bouquet, Sweet Sixteen, and Kiss Me Quick reveal the sentimental character of perfume marketing during this period. These were not merely scents; they were intended to evoke occasions, emotions, and idealized visions of romance.
Violet perfumes appear repeatedly throughout the catalog and reveal one of the most enduring fragrance fashions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Titles including Violet Water, Italian Violets, Mountain Violets, White Violet, Wood Violet, Carnival Violets, Monad Violet, Viodora, Violette de Mai, and Violets from the Riviera indicate the tremendous popularity of violet fragrances. Violet notes became fashionable partly because advances in aroma chemistry introduced ionones, synthetic molecules that recreated violet scents more effectively than nature could provide. Colgate appears to have embraced this trend enthusiastically.
Many of Colgate's perfume names suggest increasingly sophisticated bouquet construction. Perfumes such as Millefleurs, Garden Flowers, Spring Flowers, Meadow Flowers, Holiday Bouquet, Reception Bouquet, and Vision de Fleurs imply blended floral accords rather than singular botanical studies. The name Millefleurs itself, meaning "a thousand flowers," had deep roots in perfumery and decorative arts, suggesting a rich composition woven from numerous blossoms into a unified fragrance tapestry.
By the early twentieth century the company was introducing more distinctive and imaginative perfume identities. Fragrances such as Fantasy, Week-End, Royal Shamrock, Dawn, Myself, Hope, Allegro, and Clair de Lune moved beyond direct floral references and entered a more abstract realm. Perfume names increasingly reflected moods, aspirations, music, and emotional experiences. Clair de Lune likely attempted to suggest moonlit softness and dreamlike romance, while Allegro borrowed musical terminology to imply brightness and vitality.
The 1920s in particular show the influence of broader artistic and cultural trends. During this period exoticism was extremely fashionable in perfumery, and Colgate appears to have embraced it fully. Perfumes such as Princess Harran, Sandalay, Roses From Araby, Atta, and the striking Egyptian-themed series of Amarna, Bast, Egypt, Kahira, and Khepera clearly reflect the worldwide fascination with ancient Egypt that exploded following the discovery of the tomb of Howard Carter and the international attention surrounding Discovery of Tutankhamun's Tomb. Egyptian imagery permeated fashion, jewelry, architecture, and perfume during this era, and Colgate evidently adapted its fragrance line accordingly.
The names also reveal evidence of changing social ideals. Seventeen, launched in 1928, suggests youth culture and the growing recognition of younger consumers as a distinct market. Man Trap in 1959 reflects the flirtatious and sometimes playful marketing style of postwar perfume advertising, while Facade from 1949 hints at the increasingly modern and psychologically nuanced naming practices emerging in mid-century perfumery.
Perhaps most remarkable is the enormous scale implied by this catalog. Even though this list contains a vast number of fragrances, it likely represents only a fraction of Colgate's total perfume production. By the early twentieth century the company reportedly offered approximately 625 perfume varieties, meaning many fragrances have likely disappeared from surviving advertisements and catalogs. The surviving names therefore function as fragments of a much larger olfactory archive—evidence of a period when Colgate stood not simply as a soap or dental company, but as one of America's major perfume houses, creating scents that reflected changing fashions, chemistry, culture, and dreams over nearly a century.
Colgate Perfume List:
- 1872 Cashmere Bouquet
- 1872 Elder Flower
- 1872 Jockey Club
- 1872 Marshmallow
- 1872 May Blossom
- 1872 Musk
- 1872 Musk Lavender
- 1872 Patchouly
- 1872 Primrose
- 1872 Rondeletia
- 1872 Rose
- 1872 Rose Geranium
- 1872 Verbena
- 1879 Wedding March Bouquet
- 1880 Ambrosial Perfume for the Bath
- 1880 Cassie
- 1880 Heliotrope
- 1880 Heliotrope Toilet Water
- 1881 Bouquet de Caroline
- 1881 Bridal Bouquet
- 1881 Damask Rose
- 1881 Lily of the Valley
- 1881 Magnolia
- 1881 May Flower
- 1881 Musk Rose
- 1881 New Mown Hay
- 1881 Night Blooming Cereus
- 1883 Caprice
- 1886 Speciosa
- 1886 Speciosa Toilet Water
- 1887 Apple Blossom
- 1887 Blush Rose
- 1887 Ess Bouquet
- 1887 Fleur d Orange
- 1887 Four Seasons
- 1887 Frangipanni
- 1887 Garden Flowers
- 1887 Gardenia
- 1887 Italian Violet
- 1887 Jasmin
- 1887 Jonquil
- 1887 Kiss me quick
- 1887 Lavender Toilet Water
- 1887 Lilium Auratum
- 1887 Lotos Blossom
- 1887 Meadow Flowers
- 1887 Mignonette
- 1887 Millefleurs
- 1887 Moss Rose
- 1887 Multiflora Toilet Water
- 1887 Opoponax
- 1887 Pansy Blossom
- 1887 Pond Lily
- 1887 Rosodora Toilet Water
- 1887 Spring Flowers
- 1887 Souvenir
- 1887 Stephanotis
- 1887 Sweet Brier
- 1887 Sweet Clover
- 1887 Sweet Pea
- 1887 Sweet Pink
- 1887 Sweet Sixteen
- 1887 Tea Rose
- 1887 Tuberose
- 1887 Upper Ten
- 1887 Violet Toilet Water
- 1887 West End
- 1887 White Heliotrope
- 1887 White Lilac
- 1887 White Rose
- 1887 White Violet
- 1887 Wood Violet
- 1887 Ylang Ylang
- 1889 La France Rose
- 1889 Pansy Blossom
- 1890 Coleo
- 1890 Violet Water
- 1890 May Bells
- 1890 White Rose
- 1890 White Violet
- 1890 Fleurette
- 1891 Apple Blossom
- 1891 Ess. Bouquet
- 1891 Frangipanni
- 1891 Gardenia
- 1891 Heliotrope
- 1891 Italian Violets
- 1891 Jasmin
- 1891 Lilium Auratum
- 1891 Lotos Blossom
- 1891 May Blossom
- 1891 Mignonette
- 1891 Millefleurs
- 1891 Moss Rose
- 1891 Mountain Violets
- 1891 Opoponax
- 1891 Pansy Blossom
- 1891 Reception Bouquet
- 1891 Souvenir
- 1891 Stephanotis
- 1891 Sweet Lavender
- 1891 Sweet Pea
- 1891 Tea Rose
- 1891 Tonquin Musk
- 1891 Violet
- 1891 West End
- 1891 White Heliotrope
- 1891 White Lilac
- 1891 Ylang Ylang
- 1894 Crab Apple Blossom
- 1895 White Clematis
- 1895 Bay Rum
- 1897 Vioris
- 1900 Young People's Perfumes (set)
- 1900 Christmas Bouquet
- 1900 Eclat
- 1900 Holiday Bouquet
- 1900 Splendor
- 1900 Violet Water
- 1901 Carnation
- 1901 Dactylis
- 1901 Lilac Imperial
- 1901 Monad Violet
- 1901 Peau d'Espagne
- 1901 Robinia
- 1901 Sandalwood
- 1901 Trailing Arbutus
- 1903 Viodora
- 1903 Alba
- 1903 Coronel
- 1903 Dermal
- 1903 Quinol
- 1903 Rosodora
- 1904 Fantasy
- 1904 Week-End
- 1905 Knickerbocker
- 1906 Carnival Violets
- 1907 Frisia
- 1907 La France Rose
- 1908 Eleda
- 1910 Lilac Imperial Toilet Water
- 1910 Caprice Toilet Water
- 1911 Corylopsis
- 1911 Cut Roses
- 1911 Royal Shamrock
- 1912 Florient
- 1914 Radiant Rose
- 1914 Splendor
- 1915 Eclat
- 1915 Violette di Mai
- 1915 Vision de Fleurs
- 1917 Cha Ming
- 1917 Les Fleurs Favorites
- 1917 Orange Perfume
- 1920 Dawn
- 1920 Myself
- 1921 Allegro
- 1921 Atta
- 1921 Clair de Lune
- 1921 Florient
- 1921 Hope
- 1921 Piquante
- 1921 Princess Harran
- 1921 Sandalay
- 1921 The Unknown Flower
- 1922 Alba Violet
- 1922 Fi Fi
- 1922 La Liberte
- 1922 Orchis
- 1922 Pansy Blossom
- 1922 Roses From Araby
- 1922 Violette de Mai
- 1922 Violets From The Riviera
- 1923 Amarna
- 1923 Bast
- 1923 Egypt
- 1923 Kahira
- 1923 Khepera
- 1923 Watch Case
- 1924 Andor, reissued in 1954
- 1925 Colgate Fleurs
- 1926 Dona Flor
- 1926 Night
- 1926 Piquant
- 1927 Orchis
- 1928 Seventeen
- 1936 Parami
- 1949 Facade
- 1959 Man Trap