Perfumery Timeline
1865
After training as a chemist and apprenticing with Master Perfumer LaLoie in France, Blocki opens a perfumery specializing in the finest essential oils, perfumes and pomades. It is the first perfume boutique in Chicago; a palatial space said to be well worth a visit from any retailer needing a lesson in how to present fine goods.
1893
The World’s Fair Columbian Exposition: Blocki hosts the president of the Chemical Society and a jurist at the fair. At the turn of the century chemists were isolating odor compounds in raw materials to create new fragrances.
1907
Blocki develops a novel method of placing a preserved natural flower within the perfume bottle that earns a patent. The perfumes celebrate the bloom and delight of nature. The flower-in-the-bottle perfumes become our most popular line of fragrances.
1910
At the annual meeting of the Manufacturing Perfumers’ Association in New York, Blocki is elected first vice president and predicts a bright future for American perfumery. Blocki now has perfume manufacturing facilities in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Toronto.
1915
Blocki is chosen to baptize a steamer taking an initial voyage through the Panama Canal to California owing to his expert experience in cracking perfume bottles for that purpose. He is one of the first US perfumers to open a trade office and hire agents in South America.
1920
The popular fragrance, Esprit d'Amour, expands into a line of skin care and cosmetics that were sold in independent women-owned salons. Products included specialized skin care lines for men and babies. It became one of the first lifestyle brands as "the Esprit d'Amour way"
took over beauty counters during the roaring 1920s.
1934
John Blocki is remembered as one of the country’s pioneer perfumers; a lifetime dedicated to turning out some of the highest grade perfumery made in America. His daughter, Jeanette, will continue the legacy of combining quality, artistry, and novelty to delight the senses.
2015
On the 150th anniversary of the original perfumery, the Blocki family revives the perfumery and launches three new fragrances guided by a legacy of quality without pretension and delighting customers.