Ladies Powder Compact Manufacturer's Guide H to K

Powder Compact Manufacturer's Guide H to K

Halston - Well known name in fashion. Contemporary compacts.

Harriet Hubbard Ayer - NY. Trademark was registered by Vincent B Thomas in 1907 for his cosmetics. The original Harriet was a woman who manufactured Lady Recamier's Facial Creme in the late 1800s and wrote a popular beauty advice column. In business through the late 1950s. Marked H.H.A.

Hattie Carnegie - American costume jewelry manufacturer. Probably did a limited range of compact designs sometime in the 1940s to 1950s.

Helena Rubenstein - American cosmetic house. Probably began mass producing affordable designs sometime in the 1940s.

 

Helena Rubenstein raised tulip design compact

Henriette Inc - An American compact brand noted for novelties like military hats and ball shaped compacts including the famous 8 Ball. It was located at 385 Fifth Avenue NY. Trade name for the NY division of Wadsworth Case Co of Kentucky. Manufactured compacts during the 1940s and 50s.

 

Henriette Compact

Henriette signature inside pan lid

Hingeco Vanities - Providence RI. A compact distributor noted for its compacts that open with a key like a sardine can. Manufactured compacts sometime between the 1930s and the 50s.

 

Sardine Can Opener Compact

Hingeco Sterling Compact

Hingeco Sterling Military Compact signed on reverse

Hobe - American costume jewelry manufacturer. Probably had limited number of compact designs in the 1940s and 50s.

Houbigant - A perfume cosmetics company founded by Jean Francois Houbigant in Paris in the 19th Century. Compacts featuring Houbigant's flower basket logo and vanities with abstract Deco designs are highly collectible. Exporting compacts as early as the 1920s.

 

Houbigant Compact

Houbigant Flower Basket Logo Compact with puff

Houpette - A French trademark noted for the telescoping Pli compacts

Innoxa - England. Manufacturing compacts as early as the 1930s.

I.W.C.Co / Illinois Watch Case Co - Not to be confused with the Illinois Watch Co of Elgin IL whose trademark was Elgin or EAM. Max and Solomon Eppenstein founded the company in Chicago in 1886. A few years later, after producing about 20,000 cases, the firm was lured to Elgin IL by the offer to assist with a building and a parcel of land upon which to build it. By the 1930s, it was quite a substantial company concern. Despite the questionable use of the name "Elgin" on its items, the Illinois Watch Case Co. was a reputable company. They continued to make cases at least as late as the 1940's. The manufacturing plant and office equipment was sold at public auction in 1957.

 

Watch case compact, clock by Weldwood.

Illinois Watch Case Co signed on powder pan lid

Jay Strongwater - Contemporary compacts.

Jaquet Company - Perfumer and treatments by Josephine Jaquet, soon forming a partnership with Lawrence J Maxwell known as Jaquet and Maxwell, doing business under a brand called Tanty. The first face powders were packaged in vanity boxes of silk brocade and gold lace and fitted with a mirror and puff. Metal Jaquet compacts appeared in the 1930s, made by the J.V. Pilcher Manufacturing Co of Louisville KY. The only adornment a small coat of arms which became the Jaquet logo. Several other manufacturers produced metal compacts for the brand in the 1930s. Josephine published her book in 1936 and effectively retired and references to Tanty slowly died off after WWII.

J.D. Mendes Co - Rouge and powder compacts.

J.M Fisher Co - Attleboro MA.  See Fisher

Jonteel - A trademark of the Liggett Co NY. A cosmetics house. Probably began mass producing affordable compacts in the 1940s. Boston based United Drug Co (Rexall) president L Liggett. See also Cara Nome, another line by the same company. Metal cases first made by D. Evans and Co Novelty Dept in 1919.

J.R. Watkins Co - Plainview/Winona MN. Sold under trademark MarKing / Mary King. Founded by Joseph Ray Watkins. Specializing in selling to rural areas. Founded in 1868 as a door-to-door seller of liniment. Still in business today.

 

Also a Trade Name in Canada - Cologne Bottle

Mary King trade name Rouge Compact

Juno - An Australian compact trademark

K&K - Kotler and Kopit. They manufactured compacts sometime during the 1930s to 1950s. Pawtucket RI.

 

K&K jeweled Compact with signed puff

K&K signed puff

Karess - see CB Woodworth

Katherine Baumann of Beverly Hills - a noted contemporary designer of minaudieres and accessories decorated with Swarovski crystals.

Kerr, William B - Newark NJ c1880 to 1927 when it was taken over by Gorham. Makers of fine silver Art Nouveau and vanity items.

KIGU - England. A compact company founded by Gustav Kiaschek, son of master goldsmith Joseph Kiaschek of Budapest Hungary. The name derived from Gustav's name. KI = Kiaschek GU = Gustav). Made compacts until the 1950s and in 1977 it was acquired by A.S. Brown maker of Mascot compacts. Later, both Kigu and Mascot brands were acquired by Laughton and Sons of London, makers of Stratton compacts. In the early 1920s Gustav had a factory in Budapest producing compacts under his trade name Kigu. Gustav's son George came to England in 1939 and the Kigu Co was established in Great Britain by George in 1947. Advertised as Compacts with Character. Well engineered with quality materials. Made their very collectible flying saucer compact in 1951. Stopped making compacts in the late 1950s and manufactured costume jewelry instead until the take over by A.S. Brown in 1977.

 

KIGU compact

KIGU signed Ballerina Compact

Klix - Trademark of D. Harris & Co of Great Britain. Began manufacturing in 1950s. Famous for their transparent plastic / lucite compacts with a simple print on the lid. Not to be confused with (Klix) Marathon of USA.

Kreisler - A manufacturer of compacts in Germany

Kronheimer & Oldenbusch / K&O - Probably the first American business to produce its own line of metal souvenir vanity cases made specifically for tourists in America. France initially developed the metal souvenir vanity case in the years leading up to WWI. Typically, they were decorated with repousse images of historical and monumental structures, and flowers. The first K&O vanity case decorated with a shield and sold as a souvenir was about 1912, before most cosmetic houses had begun to use metal vanity cases. From about 1915 to 1927 K&O used one type of case made of stamped metal, often with a bale to wear as a pendant to disguise its actual use. From the late 1920s till the company went out of business in 1942, the company relied upon cases made by other manufacturers and fixing their commemorative shields to them.

Kunick - Makers of the Petie Vanity camera made is post war Germany for the home market. The camera used 16mm paper-backed film for 14x14mm images. It was simply made with a 20mm f9 fixed focus lens and a shutter speed of 1/50.

 

I will issue more compact blogs for more of the alphabet soon!

Be sure to check out mandicrafts.ca for compacts to purchase!

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