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INDUSTRIES

ZENOBIA PERFUMES:
ZENOBIA PERFUMES was started by chemist FW CHARLES in his LOUGHBOROUGH MARKET PLACE shop in the late nineteenth century . His well remembered slogan was "Romance in a Small Chemist's Shop" and the firm went on to make a huge variety of perfumes, many of them from flowers not normally associated with the industry today. His first success was SWEET PEA BLOSSOM and before long old favourites like Lily of the Valley, Violet and Jasmine were joined by rarities such as Wallflower and Poppy.

Some of the perfumes cost only pennies and many a bottle would be bought by young children as a birthday or Christmas gift for their mothers.

Having been one of those children myself, I have to say that the quality of some of these less expensive perfumes was, shall we say, variable. One Christmas I well remember presenting my mother proudly with a bottle of Poppy perfume, which she, being a mother, seemed to be delighted with. Finding it again many years later, I discovered that it was still as full as it had been on the day I had given it to her. After a quick sniff of the contents, I can understand why! It lived up to the name on the bottle - and if you have ever actually smelled a Poppy, you will know why it was never going to be a favourite addition to a night out! But my mother, of course, never let on.....

The firm continued to do excellent business and in 1949 the Wood Gate factory had an annual output of half a million bottles. The premises were sold to GENATOSAN in the late 1950s.