Perfume-O-Books
In 1960, Monarch Books announced the launch of Perfume-o-Books. These were books infused with perfume.
They had plans to use a saddle-leather scent for westerns, floral odors for flower-arrangement books, and food scents for cookbooks.
All of which seemed logical. However, they decided to launch the line with three movie tie-in titles: "The Enemy General," by Dan Pepper, "The Stranglers of Bombay," by Stuart James, and "The Brides of Dracula," by Dean Owen. These three titles were each infused with a "Chanel 5 type perfume."
They seem like very odd titles to have been perfumed. And evidently the perfume didn't appreciably help sales, because no more perfume-o-book titles were ever printed.
They had plans to use a saddle-leather scent for westerns, floral odors for flower-arrangement books, and food scents for cookbooks.
All of which seemed logical. However, they decided to launch the line with three movie tie-in titles: "The Enemy General," by Dan Pepper, "The Stranglers of Bombay," by Stuart James, and "The Brides of Dracula," by Dean Owen. These three titles were each infused with a "Chanel 5 type perfume."
They seem like very odd titles to have been perfumed. And evidently the perfume didn't appreciably help sales, because no more perfume-o-book titles were ever printed.
Richmond Times Dispatch - Apr 17, 1960
Comments
Maybe "The Brides of Dracula" did go well with Chanel No 5, but The Stranglers of Bombay would have been better with either patchouli or sandalwood. As for The Enemy General... gunpowder and beer.
Posted by Yudith on 05/18/20 at 06:27 AM
I remember my brother and I watching "The Stranglers of Bombay" movie as kids and afterwards pretending to strangle each other while yelling "Cali! Cali!", imitating the murderous cult members in the movie. Just one of many things we did to drive our parents crazy in those days.
Posted by Fritz on 05/18/20 at 06:50 AM
I remember my aunt subscribing to Town & Country magazine, and it being loaded with perfumed cards that would fall out every time you picked up the magazine. They all blended together to create a headache inducing stink. Men’s magazines like GQ did it as well, though the effect wasn’t as obnoxious. I wonder if that’s still a thing...
Posted by Brian on 05/18/20 at 07:42 AM
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Category: Books | 1960s | Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents