Ladies Powder Compact Manufacturer's Guide P to S

Powder Compact Manufacturer's Guide P to S

Parisian Novelty Company - An early Chicago based manufacturer of cookie compacts.

Parker Pen-Wadsworth - The Canadian distributor of Wadsworth USA compacts. See Wadsworth

Cigarette Case by Parker Pen Canada (Wadsworth)

Signed Parker Pen Wadsworth Canada

Pilcher - See Vashe. The maker of quality compacts often featuring colourful faux gems between 1944 to 1953.

Pilcher Compact and Sleeve

Pilcher Signed Puff

Pinaud - Ed Pinaud Perfumerie. Born in 1810 in the North of France, he decided at an early age to make perfumes his profession. At the age of 13 he left his family to apprentice in the perfume trade. He arrived in Paris and became the owner of A La Corbeille Feurie at the mere age of 20 years. He officially appeared in the 1841 Commercial Court register in Paris as a Superior Perfumeries Maker. He formed an association with his friend Emile Meyer in 1850 and began down the retail path. Ed died in 1868 and Emile Meyer carried on the Pinaud House company which later passed onto further descendants. After the crash of 1929, the then owners, the Klotz family, closed the Ed Pinaud business due to the huge financial demise.
 

Ed Pinaud Compact Lipstick Rouge Vanity Case

Signed Pinaud

Lipstick rouge lid and patented metal sifter Ed Pinaud

Plate - House of Plate, Detroit MI. Makers of the Trioette vanity in the 1940s

Pompeian - An American cosmetics firm. Introduced the new cosmetics line, Nymfaun, in the early 1920s and the compacts became refillable in 1923 due to consumer demand. The oblong compact vanity model was called Debutante but was short-lived. Colgate bought Pompeian in 1927 and sold it again in 1930. Pompeian's last vanity case was produced in 1935. Company was sold again in 1937 and the name disappeared.

Pompeian Rouge Compact

Pompeian signed on base

Princess Marcella Borghese - A cosmetics line begun by the Princess, from one of Rome's most famous noble families. The princess was an Italian socialite and the wife of Prince Paolo Borghese, the Duke of Bomarzo. In 1958 the Princess began her cosmetics enterprise with her own recipes as a subsidiary of Revlon.

Princess Pat - A brand by Gordon, Gordon Inc, established in 1907 by Fannie and Martin Gordon. Also created as a separate company called Princess Pat Ltd Chicago IL in 1925. The Gordon's partnership lasted for the next 50 years. Maker of the Vaniteen and small rouge and powder compacts. Princess Pat and another line named English Tint were claimed as being used from July 1919 but their first really successful line was called Mem'ry. Early cases were produced by Scovill Manufacturing Co of Waterbury CT, simple lacquered brass. Other successful lines were a rice powder called De Vora, and another line called La Joie. None were ever formally trademarked. The Princess Pat compact had an unusual stamped design that comprised a series of circles arranged in a design like a Celtic Cross. The popularity of Princess Patricia of Connaught, one of Queen Victoria's grandchildren, daughter of Canada's Governor-General, rocketed Princess Pat's popularity. The Gordon's rouge products sustained them through the 1930s. Princess Pat rouge was rated as the fifth most popular brand behind Luxor, Max Factor, Lady Esther and Richard Hudnut. It was also the 8th most popular lipstick. In 1939 the branding design was changed for Princess Pat, to a more conventional octagon design with a central emblem. Once the Gordon's passed away in 1956 and 1960, the new owners attempted to rejuvenate the company in 1966 but it did not last long.
 

Princess Pat Rouge Compact

Princess Pat signed Puff

Pupa - Trademark of the Micys Co of Milan Italy, and Italian maker of makeup sets in innovative designs in the forms of animals, human figure, foods etc.

Pygmalion - An English company noted for their novelty compacts such as the Sonata piano and the globe.
 

Pygmalion Sonata Piano Compact

 

R&G Co - see Ripley and Gowan Co

Raquel USA - A small perfume/cosmetics firm in the USA who had exclusive use of a leather bound book compact design by David Zell in the late 1920s into the 1930s.
 

Raquel Leather Book Design Compact

Raquel Leather Compact

 

W.T. Rawleigh Co - Perfumers, Freeport IL. Cosmetics in the 1920s. Acquired by Harry Hersey and merged into Golden Pride International in 1989
 

WT Rawleigh Rouge Compact

WT Rawleigh Rouge Compact

Reich-Ash Company - A firm based in NY and Paris that made or distributed cosmetic items with the Deere Trademark.

Reincke-Ellis Co - An advertising firm based in Chicago and NY in the early 20th Century, successor to Reincke-Ellis-Youngreen & Finn, known for their cosmetic advertising. Reincke-Ellis manufactured early cookie advertising compacts.

Regent of London - Brand used by David Strasburger Inc. They mostly manufactured vanity sets with petit-point inserts and brass filigree handles, often with an Oriental theme. They had a few compact patents. In business 1934 to 1985.

Revlon - Charles Revlon began as a cosmetic salesman in 1931 and soon developed his own nail polish business. By 1937 his strategy to give his products seductive names like Kissing Pink and to link the introduction of new colours to seasonal changes in fashion made him a success. He called his company Revlon and stressed not only quality products, but advertising and alluring packaging as well. To give his products panache, he worked with the noted jewelers Van Cleef and Arpels to design a line of compacts in the 1950s. Revlon eventually acquired both Helena Rubinstein in 1984 and Max Factor 1986.
 

Revlon Pressed Powder Compacts

Revlon Pressed Powder Compact

Rex Fifth Avenue - aka Rex Products Corp 302 Fifth Ave NY. A maker of compacts in the 1950s. This company later joined another, Dorset, to become Dorset-Rex in 1951. Zell, Rex, Dorset and Columbia all had Fifth Avenue appended to their names and are often called The Fifth Avenues. They all made moderately priced compacts. Most early Rex designs were not signed, simply having the patent number and made in USA. Large clasps were a Rex feature. Under Rex Products Corp they made plastic novelties and turned to making compacts from Catalin and other early plastics. They became Rex Fifth Avenue in 1945. Rex purchased Shields Inc, a compact manufacturer, in 1939 and continued with the Shields compact brand until 1942 when production under the Shields brand changed to men's jewelry and accessories into the 1960s.
 

Rex Fifth Avenue RAF Military Compact with Sleeve

Rex Fifth Avenue signed puff

Rho-Jan - Name based on the first names of their eldest daughters; the Bogoff's RHOda and the Michal's JANet. The Rho-Jan brand was created in the 1940s. The first compacts were plastic and were introduced to market in early 1945. They were large, described as ultra-sized (5 inches in diameter) and competed with other plastic compacts such as Ziegfeld Girl, Mavco, Morris, Mann and Reilly's Iva Mae and Hampden, among others. Included in Rho-Jan's early offerings was a very large compact shaped like a seashell. A more commonly seen case, often made from red plastic with a tufted chesterfield or waffle effect was also marketed in 1945. This decorative effect was based on another Bogoff design patent he applied for in October 1944. The Michals' designed case was also offered in a hand painted version. Once the war had been won and the embargo on brass lifted, Rho-Jan, like many other case manufacturers, abandoned the large plastic cases in favour of the more durable and smaller metal containers. Unknown if Rho-Jan produced their own brass cases. Their advertising peak was reached in 1948, and although Rho-Jan cases could still be purchased as late as 1952, it seems as if the co-partnership had dissolved a few years earlier than that. 

Richard Hudnut - A cosmetic firm of NY famous for it's DuBarry, Deauville and Debut decor lines of compacts. Richard Hudnut, the son of Alexander Hudnut, owner of a NY area drug store, began his cosmetic career in 1903. His company became one of the foremost cosmetic companies in the USA.
 

Richard Hudnut Compact Canada

Richard Hudnut compact Canada

Rigaud - A Parisian cosmetic company at 16 Rue de la Paix, noted for its association with Mary Garden, the opera singer, and her line of cosmetics produced in the 1920s.

Ripley & Gowan Co - An Attleboro MA company established in 1874 and incorporated in 1921. They marketed compacts and jewelry in the names of R&G, R&G Co, LaMode and the R&C letters with a padlock. Their earliest compacts date form the late 1920s. They made top quality guilloche enamel compacts. In 1968 they were acquired by Barrow Industries and then in 1981, by JED Ind.

Robin Handbags - A USA purse trademark of the 1950s.

Roger and Gallet - A French perfume and cosmetics firm. In 1695, Jean-Paul Feminis traveled from Italy to Coogne with a secret formula for water with healing properties. Cologne's medical school patented the formula 30 years later. In 1806 the heir to Jean-Paul's secret formula opened Maison Farina, a perfumery on the rue Saint-Honore in Paris. By the end of the century, the next generation of heirs, Armand Roger and Charles Gallet, continued the family owned compay's innovations, including face powder and lipstick. They also introduced the unique round shape and pretty pleated paper that distinguishes Roger & Gallet soaps.

Rowell - E.N. Rowell Co Inc, Batavia NY. Powder and rouge boxes.

Helena Rubinstein - A cosmetics executive and founder of Helena Rubinstein Cosmetics. Born in Poland and trained in medicine in Krakow. After immigrating to Australia, she opened her first beauty salon there in 1902 featuring her own face cream formulation. She returned to Europe for further study and opened salons in London in 1908 and Paris in 1912. By the beginning of World War 1 she was in business in the USA. Purchased by Revlon in 1984, her name still thrives today, though she died in 1965.
 

Helena Rubinstein Tulip embossed Compact

Helena Rubinstein Full of Pressed Powder and Signed Puff

Scoville - Scoville Manufacturing co, Waterbury CT was a manufacturer of compact cases in the 1930s. Art Deco inspired geometric themes used as a design on Princess Pat cases.

Schuco - A Germany toy company that manufactured teddy bears and other plush toys. They made several collectible compacts in the forms of animals, most notably a bear and a monkey.
 

Schuco Germany Mohair Monkey Powder Compact 1920s

Schuco Germany Mohair Monkey Manicure Compact 1920s

Seventeen - Trademark of the House of Jeurelle, maker of perfumes and cosmetics in the 1920s. These items are also sometimes marked Colgate.

S.F Co - Saks Fifth Avenue (Paul Flato) under the Tradition name.
 

Saks Fifth Avenue Compact Tradition Line

Saks Fifth Avenue Compact with Cultured Pearl Label Signed Puff

S.G.D.G. - Trademark on the French Houpette Pli

Shields Inc - Originally Fillkwik who began manufacturing compacts in the late 1920s for other companies such as Avon and other cosmetic houses. Andrew Shields. Company name was changed to Shields In in 1936 and sold to Rex in 1939 who kept the Shields brand for compacts until 1942, after which, only men's jewelry was under the Shields brand. Shields bought Volupte in 1957.
 

Shields Compact 1930s

Compact signed Shields on pan lid

Souvenir Compacts - Often unsigned, popular in the 1920s to 50s featuring scenes and sites and purchased as souvenirs of a holiday. A sub-genre for collectors.
 

Spotlight Corp - Located on 155 W 72nd St NY, maker of the Venus Ray compact in the 1940s.

St Denis - A small French cosmetics house with a branch at 452 Fifth Avenue NY. St Denis was better known for bath salts and powders, but did retail some compacts in their line.
 

St Denis NY small Compact

St Denis Enamel Compact

Stratton - A company founded in 1860 in Birmingham England, a manufacturer of fine British compacts. Today it is a division of Firmin and Sons of Birmingham. Stratton Convertibles could be used with pressed or loose powder. Stratton previously went by the same of Stratnoid, which was founded in 1860 as a knitting needle company. The company changed its name to Stratton and began producing compacts in 1923, importing all the required components from America. By 1930, Stratton produced all of its own compacts in its factory in Birmingham. At that time, they held 50% share of the UK's cosmetics industry. In 1940 the war caused four of its five Birmingham based factories to be destroyed, halting compact production. In 1946 the company resumed its full operations however rationing and shortages of metal during this time caused production to slow. Business picked up in the following years and Stratton became a worldwide brand, producing compacts across the world. During the 1980s, compacts were slowly going out of fashion and demand declined. Stratton had acquired some of the other major compact companies including Kigu and Mascot. Stratton itself was sold numerous times, until it was eventually closed down in 1997. The company was revived a few years later and is still in operation in Birmingham today although on a much smaller scale. The parts are made abroad and assembled in the UK. If your compact has a self opening inner lid patented by Stratton in 1948, then it was made after 1948. If the compact is convertible or takes cream powder, then it dates from the 1950s. If the compact has the Compact-In-Hand logo on the inner lid, then it was made between 1950 and 1970. Compact-In-Hand refers to the patented self opening inner lid.
 

Stratton Compact with Sleeve

Stratton Convertible Compact full of pressed powder

 

Stratton Compact-In-Hand Logo

Stratton Compact Lily Pads

Many compacts can be viewed at mandicrafts.ca

I will issue a future blog to continue the alphabet!

Mandy Kennett
Mandicrafts