Swee-Tone perfume and box

Titles: Swee-Tone perfume and box (Supplied title)

Description: Swee-Tone perfume in a one-gallon jug with the original cardboard shipping box. When acquired, the bottle appeared to be slightly less than "full". The clear glass bottle contains a deep green liquid perfume and has a product label on the front which reads: "ST [monogram] / Swee-Tone / TRADE MARK REG / High Grade / THEATRICAL PERFUME / LA SPRAYO / SWEET-TONE / NUIT D'EGYPT ODOR / SWEE-TONE takes the place / of incense in your premises. as / it gives no smoke, and is never / heavy or opressive, it is much / more satisfactory. / SWEE-TONE gives a delight-ful odor, refreshes the premises, / and is a deodorizer as well. It is / a "Many-Purpose" perfume--a / standard, high-grade product. / Swee-Tone Sold Coast to Coast / NIPOLA COMPANY / MINNEAPOLIS - ST PAUL". Another paper label on the back of the bottle reads: "SWEE-TONE - EGYPTIAN ODOR / Directions / Keep in a cool place. Shake well, and spray freely, / or place in a shallow dish. Do not mix with water. / Spray same with either mouth or hand sprayer / or atomizer. You will be delighted with the lasting / fragarance of the ORIENTAL odor. Do not spray on / polished furniture. / NIPOLA COMPANY, Inc. / Mfgrs. and Distrbrs. / St. Paul, Minn U.S.A.". The bottle is molded with: "ONE GALLON" on the shoulder, and maker's marks on the underside. The jug is sealed with a dark blue metal screw cap. The box is printed on two opposite sides with green ink, reading: "NUIT D"EGYPT / 1 GAL / Swee-tone / TRADE MARK REG. / HIGH GRADE / PERFUME SPRAY / THE NIPOLA COMPANY / MANUFACTURERS / ST. PAUL :-: MINN. / Make Your Home Sweet Home with Swee-Tone". Manufacturers marks on the side and underside of the box indicate it was made by Waldorf paper products in St. Paul, and conforms to certain performance parameters. On the top of the box is a green-printed shipping label from "Metro Distributing Company", of 1562 North Western Avenue, Hollywood, California, listed as a sole-distributor or Swee-Tone. No mailing address is visible on the label however. Manufactured by The Nipola Company of St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1930 the Nipola Company was indicted with over thirty other businesses nationwide on charges of conspiring to illegally divert legally obtained alcohol to bootleggers because their products could be distilled for use in bootlegged liquor. No further action appears to have been taken against the company before prohibition ended in 1933. This box of perfume was found with a cache of 70 similar boxes behind a false wall in a building on the Ancker Hospital complex at Jefferson and Colborne in St. Paul, Minnesota, shortly before the complex was demolished in 1967.

Dates

• 1927 - 1930 (Creation)
• 1920 - 1933 (Prohibition era) (Content)
• Not earlier than 1965 - Not later than 1967 (Discovery)

Creation

• made by: Nipola Company
• found at: Ancker Hospital
• found by: Letourneau, Peter A.

Identifiers

• Accession Number: 2013.141.1.A-C

Holding Type: 3D Objects

Quantity: 1 item

Format

• Content Category: artifacts

Measurements

• 11 1/2 inches height (2013.141.1.A: jug)
• 6 3/8 inches diameter (2013.141.1.A: jug base)
• 12 3/4 inches height (2013.141.1.B: box)
• 8 1/4 inches width (2013.141.1.B: box)
• 7 5/8 inches depth (2013.141.1.B: box)

Subjects

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