Elizabeth Arden was the first US distributor of Ciro's perfumes who imported them along with Babani perfumes around 1924. By 1926, drug stores and department stores were carrying Ciro's perfumes.
A 1924 advertisement states that "Every woman loves the rare fragrance of Ciro's Perfumes. Ciro's Perfumes are preferred - not because they are costly, but because of their exquisite charm. "
Parfums Ciro, originally a French perfume house that began manufacture in the United States when the war interrupted imports, returned to France in 1957.
In 1949, J. S. Wiedhopf, then president of Parfums Ciro, had been elected as first president of the Fragrance Foundation Inc.
Ciro ceased business by 1965/1966.
I want to mention that there are several different companies with the name of Ciro over the years, all in different fields. In fact, the British Ciro Pearls jewelry company had no connection to Parfums Ciro of Paris. Parfums Ciro did not like the fact that the Ciro Pearls company was offering perfumes in the early 1930s and they sued the jewelry company for copyright infringement and unfair competition because Parfums Ciro claimed that the public was mislead into thinking that Ciro Pearls and Parfums Ciro were one in the same and felt that the Ciro Pearls was using Parfums Ciro's steadfast reputation for high quality perfumes in order to sell their own.
In a 1936 issue of Chemist & Druggist, it details the 1936 lawsuit,
"In the Chancery Division of the High Court, London, on July 2, Parfums Ciro, Rue de la Paix, Paris, sought an injunction to restrain Ciro Pearls, Ltd., Regent Street, London. W.i, or their agents, from selling or offering perfumes or toilet articles as " Ciro's " without making it clear that they were not of the plaintiff's manufacture and from passing off such goods as the plaintiff's. Ciro Pearls, Ltd. denied that they had done this and answered that in this country the name was associated with their own merchandise and had been for many years, long before the plaintiff's scents were known in England .Parfums Ciro had asked for the obliteration of the name in the perfume advertisements, cartons and packing seals.
The defendant's case was that they had not passed off and that for eighteen years they were known to the public as Ciro and Ciro of Bond Street. They imported from France perfumes of their own selections. Their container and seal had been in use for eight years. The defendants claimed that they had approached the plaintiffs with a view of becoming sole distributors in this country of the plaintiff's perfumes, but the negotiations came to nothing, and shortly before last Christmas the defendants began selling French perfumes. They had a perfume called Sin, and asked by advertisement whether people had learned the virtues of Sin."
Ciro Pearls, Lt.d had three perfumes: Sin #1, Sin #2 and Sin #3, each has a beautiful cut glass flacon in a different shape. Their advertisement reads "SIN -newest in perfumes - is the crowning achievement of a thousand years of perfume making - a sublime essence of fresh and lasting loveliness combining the subtle qualities of rare and costly natural perfumes never before united. This sensational perfume - in its three distinctive names - is contained in exquisite flacons - each the perfect complement of the magic ingredients it imprisons."
I don't know how the lawsuit panned out, but I do know that in 1945, "Sin by Ciro" was trademarked in England as a perfume by Ciro Pearls, Ltd.
Resurrection of Parfums Ciro:
I was happily informed that Parfums Ciro is back in business. A line of fragrances based on the original offerings is now available on their website: www.ciroparfums.com
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