The Magnum Import Company was an importer from New York who repackaged French perfumes for sale to the American market during the early 1920s.

Some of the perfume companies I have found are Coty, Houbigant, Guerlain, Dedon, D'Orsay, and Caron. Magnum was wholly independent from these companies.

The purse sized bottles were designed by Lalique and can be seen in the book Lalique Perfume Bottles by Mary Lou and Glenn Utt. These bottles are of clear glass in an oval shape with prominent shoulders, molded with a reptile skin pattern, long neck without a lip, and a tester stopper with a long dauber. The reptile motif is identical on the backside of the bottle and the stopper has the same pattern.Mary Lou and Glenn Utt attributed this bottle to Lalique. Well it turns out it wasn’t by Lalique and the Utt’s stated this clearly in a well circulated addendum published a few years later.

The labels were manufactured by the American company Stanley Manufacturing Co, one of the most important creators of deluxe labels, specializing in antique bronze colored metallic labels in high relief. Magnum bottles had these embossed labels.

Early labels stated: "Magnum of Rue de la Paix, contents made by (perfume company)".

Later after the lawsuit the labels stated the following: "MAGNUM containing  (perfume company name and perfume name) re-bottled by Magnum Import Co. NY NY Wholly Independent of (perfume company)"

The 3 1/4” bottles were sold in small little satin lined cloth pouches with a snap cover and a label that matches the one on the bottle.

 A bottle is also shown in the book Commercial Perfume Bottles by Jacquelyne Jones North and valued at $125.

Another bottle is shown in the 2005 Art & Fragrances Perfume Presentations auction catalog and its estimated value is $960-$1,440 for a rare Guerlain example with pouch.

These hard to find perfume bottles were in use for a very short time as there was a lawsuit in 1923 between the Magnum Import Company v. Coty. (262 U.S. 159). The lawsuit states that "The District Court found that the defendants in all these cases were infringing the rights of the complainants in their trademarks and the use of their trade-names, but thought it sufficient to permit the defendants to continue their rebottling and repacking of complainants' perfumes and powders if, in the form in which resold, the bottles or boxes bore a legend reciting all the facts and not giving any more prominence to the fact that these were complainants' perfumes or powders than to the fact that they had been rebottled and repacked by defendants."

These perfumes generally sell anywhere from $50 and up. I have seen a nice example sell for $150 here on ebay.

Pictures shown in this guide are courtesy of the following ebay sellers, please take a moment to view their current auctions:

• ohiokan

Feel free to email me for details or any questions. I also have a perfume identification and appraisal service here on ebay, click on my Me page for details.Please see my site at www .freewebs. com/cleopatrasboudoir

  Check out the 200+ guides & reviews  I have written on perfumes on ebay. If you have found this guide helpful, click YES below. Thanks!Good luck and have fun collecting!

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