Eau De Cologne

Waipawa Mail, Volume XLIX, Issue 152, 14 September 1928, Page 1 (Supplement)

Eau De Cologne

There are few products in the world which are more widely spread and so well known, and yet so much surrounded by mystery and peculiar circumstances, as eau ide Cologne. It has been in use now for more than two centuries, millions know its name, and maybe use it every day. but only a few persons, perhaps as many as can be counted on the fingers of one hond, know its composition, the secret of which is guanck'd with the utmost caution. It is strange that a product which is known the world over as German should be of Italian origin, and moreover, bears a French name, although successful attempts are being made to use the German word “ICoelnisch Wasser” (Cologne water) instead (writes the Cologne correspondent of the Christian Science Monitor). The first to produce eau do Cologne, it is said, were two Italian brothers, Johann Baptist Farina and Johann Maria Farina, who emigrated in 1709 from Santa Maria Moggiore to Germany, where they settled in Cologne,

The head of the company, following the tradition of generations, minces the essence himself which is needed for the production of the finished product. The recipe is kept locked away in a safe, to which there arc three keys, each one in pos ession of another person, so that tho safe can only be opened if all three arc present. The essence is carried, in cop per jugs to the cellar where it is pour-

ed into wooden barrels and mixed with pure alcohol. After six months the fluid, which is now eau de Co! ogne, is removed by a pipeline to the room where the bottles are filled.