Your favorite brand or scent holds a small place within the vast history of perfume. Many cultures of both the ancient and modern worlds used perfumes for a variety of purposes.

   1.
      Antiquity
          *

            Egyptian culture first incorporated perfume around the time of the Queen Sheba for use in embalming and religious anointing. The Persian kings wore crowns of myrrh or labyzuz. The Ancient Greeks later began using perfume when Alexander the Great defeated the ruler of Persia and moved into Egypt, and perfume had a special place in important Grecian ceremonies from then on. The Romans used perfume starting in 750 B.C. to celebrate the goddess, Flora. Into the Middle Ages, European Catholics used perfumes for religious purposes as well.
      The 1800s
          *

            In 1820, the first perfume brands came about. Pierre François Paul Guerlain first sold perfumes, which had previously been reserved for the elite, to the general public in 1828. The New York Times, in an August 14, 1870 story, indicated that perfume use had only recently become popular in the U.S.
      Modern Day
          *

            Perfume use remains popular, and manufacturing companies in America, Europe, South America and Asia make products sold worldwide. Simple scents, "classic" scents, French-style perfumes and celebrity perfumes dominate perfume culture.

• About
• History
• Culture
• Jokes