Wrisley

The Allen B. Wrisley Company is one of the older American names in commercial perfumery and toilet soap, established in 1862 and incorporated in 1895 with operations based in Chicago. Through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the brand produced a range of colognes, toilet waters, and soaps positioned at the accessible end of the market — fragrances of modest pretension but genuine quality, with a distribution network that extended from Chicago to a New York branch. Early releases such as Goldfire and San Toy, both dating from 1908, reflect the romantic and slightly exotic naming conventions of their era, while later offerings like the citrus-bright Lemon Twist of 1966 show a brand capable of updating its vocabulary without abandoning its commercial core. In 1939, Fenton Art Glass produced nearly three hundred French Opalescent cologne bottles for the brand, underscoring the decorative ambitions of the packaging at its peak. Wrisley fragrance bottles and vintage packaging are now collected as artefacts of American beauty culture.