CASWELL-MASSEY | Memories of Scent Older Than America Itself

“The goal is to remain in existence for another 10 generations.”
— Nicholas Arauz (then president, 2018)

The history of Caswell-Massey began in 1752, 24 years before the founding of the United States. Its starting point was not a perfume shop but an apothecary opened in Newport, in the colony of Rhode Island. At a time when medicine and fragrance, grooming and health were not yet clearly separated, Scottish-born physician William Hunter compounded medicines, handled essential oils, and made cologne.

Nearly three centuries have passed since then. The shop’s name, owners, and formulas have changed, but fragrances recorded in handwritten formulation books are being reread by contemporary perfumers. Caswell-Massey is not simply an “old perfume brand.” It is a brand that has preserved, through scent, the development of apothecaries, toiletries, gentlemen’s culture, and luxury in America.

Essential Information

Brand name: CASWELL-MASSEY
Established: 1752
Founder: Dr. William Hunter
Place of origin: Newport, Rhode Island, USA
Main products: Perfumes, eaux de cologne, soaps, shaving products, and bath and body products
Official website: https://www.caswellmassey.com/

An American institution dating from before independence, it was introduced as “America’s fourth-oldest company” in a corporate history around its 250th anniversary. The official website proclaims “America’s original apothecary and perfumery,” an image of itself as representing the origins of American apothecaries and perfume-making.

The name is pronounced “Caswell-Massey.” It took its present company name in 1876, 124 years after its founding; this is not the founder’s surname. It derives from the names of John Rose Caswell and William Massey, two men who ran the business during its long history.

The Founder and the Brand’s Origins

A Young Physician from Scotland

William Hunter was born in Scotland around 1730. Various records give his birth year as 1729, 1730, or 1731, and it has not been established with certainty. According to research by medical historian E. B. Krumbhaar, Hunter is said to have studied under Alexander Monro in Edinburgh and may also have studied medicine in Leiden. In 1752, at around 22 or 23, he crossed to North America and settled in the trading port of Newport.

Newport at the time was a cosmopolitan city prospering through shipping, with European goods and culture flowing in. Hunter operated an apothecary at the corner of Thames and Mary Streets, importing and compounding medicines while also practicing surgery and obstetrics. In 1755, when formal professional medical education had not yet been institutionalized, he advertised lectures on anatomy and surgery in a Boston newspaper and gave public lectures at Newport’s Old Colony House. These were among the earliest examples of systematically advertised anatomy lectures in colonial North America.

“Dr. Hunter was a man of talent, educated in Edinburgh, and a gentleman with a taste for the fine arts.”
— Recollection by physician Benjamin Waterhouse

This portrait bears a striking resemblance to the later Caswell-Massey. Scientific inquiry, discernment in imported materials, aesthetic sensitivity, and the skill of compounding to suit a customer: the brand’s prototype lay less in a workshop devoted exclusively to perfume than in the apothecary of an educated eighteenth-century physician.

A Shop Where Medicine and Scent Stood Side by Side

In an eighteenth-century apothecary, medicines, fragrance materials, cosmetics, and toiletries formed a continuous field. Hunter sourced medicines and fragrance ingredients from Europe, handled oils and proprietary preparations, and blended scents himself. The formulas were numbered, and one of them, Number Six, would endure for generations.

In the brand’s official history, Number Six appeared in 1772. The scent layers the brightness of bergamot, neroli, and rosemary with the warmth of clove, amber, musk, and other notes. During its 2018 restoration, the historical formula was reread as a modern eau de parfum. Citrus, aromatic plants, spices, and soft musk form the framework of the present fragrance.

There is, however, a time gap in the most famous story surrounding this scent. Hunter died in 1777, while George Washington is said to have purchased Number Six in Newport in 1781. In other words, Washington encountered a formula that remained in the apothecary after the founder’s death and continued to be made by his successors.

Washington is said not only to have used it himself but also to have given it to the French officer Lafayette. Later corporate histories recount an anecdote in which he bought two cases as gifts. Such connections with presidents and prominent figures have been passed down as stories supporting Number Six’s reputation.

Formulas That Survived the Founder

Hunter remained a Loyalist to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War. In 1776, he refused to swear allegiance to the colonial government of Rhode Island and was temporarily ordered to leave Newport. He later treated soldiers and prisoners in British-occupied Newport, contracted a fever, and died on January 30, 1777. He was around 46.

The shop did not end with one generation. After passing through the hands of Charles Feke, a pharmacist who had served the Hunter family, and others, the business was carried on in the nineteenth century by Rowland Hazard, Philip Caswell, and others. The Hazard and Caswell families expanded it to New York while recording perfume formulas, medicines, soaps, and elixirs in handwritten ledgers.

Jockey Club was created in 1840 against the backdrop of upper-class sporting culture, including riding and yachting. Combining bergamot and thyme with carnation, rose, orris, and musk, it is introduced by the brand as “America’s first sporting cologne.” It later became known as a fragrance favored by John F. Kennedy.

The Name Caswell-Massey

In 1876, the partnership between John Rose Caswell and William Massey established the present name, Caswell-Massey. The company launched Newport in 1890, turning the seaside air of Newport into fragrance. An aquatic fougère, it depicts the New England coast and conifers through mandarin, lavender, geranium, balsam, and cedarwood.

In New York, it operated several stores selling medicines, soda, soap, cosmetics, and perfume. In 1926, it opened a store in the Barclay Hotel at Lexington Avenue and 48th Street. This location remained in business for at least 80 years and became a symbol of apothecary culture. The name of the contemporary fragrance LX48 derives from that address.

During the twentieth century, it also made bespoke perfumes, asking customers about their food, clothing, hobbies, and lifestyle preferences before progressively narrowing down prototypes. Around 1914, it compounded Marem exclusively for stage actress Alla Nazimova. The formula lay dormant in a leather-bound ledger until its rediscovery in 2016. Perfumer Pascal Gaurin (in Japanese) replaced animal-derived musk, ambergris, and civet with plant-derived and synthetic alternatives, reconstructing it as the 2017 version of the perfume.

The Taylor Brothers and “The Nose of New York”

In 1936, brothers Ralph and Milton Taylor acquired the company. They traveled in search of orris and rose oil, preserving old formulas while nurturing new creations. Tricorn appeared in 1941, and Greenbriar in 1984. Actors, musicians, and politicians visited the Lexington Avenue store, and Caswell-Massey grew into a presence worthy of being called “the nose of New York.”

The people named among its customers also reveal the brand’s cultural position: George Washington with Number Six, John F. Kennedy with Jockey Club, and Dwight D. Eisenhower, who favored almond soap. Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn, Mick Jagger, and others also appear in its history.

Making the Past Material for the Future, Not a Display

Longevity does not necessarily mean security. At the end of the twentieth century, the brand struggled with store expansion and distribution strategy, and store closures progressed in the 1990s. The Lexington Avenue store also closed; a contemporary article from October 2010 reported that it had lost its lease that year.

The turning point came in 2016. Nicholas Arauz, whose background was in architecture and experience design for luxury brands, joined management and spent eight months studying brand awareness. He concluded that, within its long history, “the perfume story was important but had been lost.”

“What we learned was that Caswell-Massey’s perfume story was important, and that it had been lost.”
— Nicholas Arauz

Arauz reorganized the website, social media, product assortment, and packaging, redefining the company as a perfume brand. During the reforms, he reportedly set a rule that employees were not to speak of the company in the past tense. Rather than becoming a museum, it would transform its accumulated formulas into new scents. The opening words, “another 10 generations,” express this attitude succinctly.

For fragrance development, it partnered with US-based IFF (International Flavors & Fragrances). The aim was to bring formulas that had been dispersed among several fragrance companies together in terms of both materials and approach. Around 2018, historical perfumes including Number Six and Jockey Club were reformulated, and perfumers such as Laurent Le Guernec and Pascal Gaurin began rereading the old ledgers through contemporary ingredients.

What Defines the Brand

The Archive as Blueprint

At the heart of Caswell-Massey is an archive that includes leather-bound formula books, catalogs, customer records, and old bottles. Rather than simply reproducing scents from the past, it analyzes the roles played by the original materials and reconstructs them using ingredients available today.

In restoring Marem, the team researched roses and floral oils used in the shop around 1914 and expressed the original structure and personality without animal-derived ingredients. Number Six was also restored in 2018, becoming a contemporary version composed of bergamot, rosemary, neroli, amber, clove, dried rose, white musk, and lavender.

This is not a complete “reissue.” It is an approach that treats historical formulas not as fixed sacred relics but as musical scores that can be performed anew within contemporary safety, ethics, and taste.

Capturing Scent from Living Flowers

Another pillar is its collaboration with the New York Botanical Garden. Using IFF’s scent-capture technology, it analyzes the volatile components of blooming flowers without damaging the plants. Perfumers then reconstruct those scents in the Living Florals series.

The subjects include the garden’s heritage roses, peonies, Cattleya orchids, gardenias, lilacs, and honeysuckle. For Orchid, for example, the team considered dozens of orchids with horticulturists and selected 12 for scent capture. Combining scientific capture with a perfumer’s interpretation reflects the character of a brand that began as a physician’s apothecary.

Designing Fragrance All the Way to Soap

Alongside perfume, triple-milled soaps are among the brand’s defining products. Repeatedly working the ingredients reduces water and air, producing dense bars that hold their shape well. Scents shared with the perfumes, including Number Six, Jockey Club, Almond, and the botanical garden’s flowers, are extended into bathing, face-washing, and shaving rituals.

The brand emphasizes US manufacturing, and current descriptions of Number Six and Jockey Club introduce botanical extracts produced using solar power and FSC-certified paper packaging. Its FAQ also states a policy of not testing products or ingredients on animals. Another characteristic is packaging that combines traditional gold foil, crests, and glass reminiscent of medicine bottles with concise contemporary typography. Rather than copying the past exactly, it adapts archival designs into forms that can sit on a modern shelf.

The Perfume Lineup

Below are representative fragrances for understanding the brand’s journey, presented through their histories and inspirations.

At the Heart of the Heritage

Number Six: The brand’s emblem, dating to 1772. A citrus-woody scent moving from bergamot, rosemary, and neroli to clove, amber, dried rose, lavender, and white musk. Available as eau de parfum and cologne.
Jockey Club: A sporty fougère-floral born in 1840, layering bergamot, thyme, carnation, honeyed rose, jasmine, orris, and musk. The modern version is Pascal Gaurin’s reinterpretation, and an eau de parfum is now also offered.
Newport: A seaside cologne dedicated in 1890 to the brand’s hometown, Newport. Mandarin, lavender, geranium, balsam, and cedarwood portray the sea breeze and coastal trees.
LX48: An eau de parfum dedicated to the flagship store that stood at Lexington Avenue and 48th Street. A contemporary, animalic creation layering tobacco, worn leather, cedar, and oakmoss over the refinement of violet.

Reborn from the Archive

Marem: A reconstruction of the private fragrance created around 1914 for Alla Nazimova. Redcurrant, neroli, eucalyptus, Crimean rose, amber, and cedarwood move between the glamour and darkness of the stage.
Almond: Developed from the fragrance of the brand’s signature soap, with creamy almond, tonka, and hints of cherry and sandalwood. Through eau de toilette and soap, the series connects the boundary between body-care products and perfume.
Elixir of Love: With an old formula preserved in the archive, this fragrance embodies the brand’s apothecary-style naming. It is currently offered as an eau de toilette.

Contemporary American Perfumery

2571: Its name uses the same four digits as “1752.” A unisex perfume composed of bergamot and cardamom, orris, cypress, sandalwood, amber, and vetiver. Created by Laurent Le Guernec, it is an eau de parfum.
OAIRE: Opening with tarragon, osmanthus, sage, and citrus, it develops into geranium, patchouli, and timur pepper. Atlas cedar, resins, and suede-like musk give depth to this airy, unisex eau de parfum.
RÒS: A masculine rose centered on the New York Botanical Garden’s Scepter’d Rose, combined with bergamot, anise, spices, and dark amber. A contemporary eau de parfum that does not assign flowers a fixed gender.

The New York Botanical Garden

The botanical-garden collection has two broad expressions. Rose, Orchid, and Peony are perfumes (officially labeled “Perfume”). Blackcurrant, fig, and musk accompany Rose; pear and vanilla accompany Orchid; and wild berries and amber accompany Peony, giving each flower fullness.

Gardenia, Lilac, and Honeysuckle are eaux de toilette. Gardenia combines leaves and white woods; Lilac, lily of the valley and suede; and Honeysuckle, citrus, moss, and musk, lightly depicting the expression of flowers just opened.

The value of this series lies not simply in “floral scents” but in its starting point: specific flowers that actually grow in the botanical garden. Wearing the perfumes becomes a way of carrying the memory of a plant blooming in a New York garden.

Incidentally…

Washington Bought a “Scent from Before the Nation’s Founding”

Number Six appeared in 1772, four years before the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Even in 1781, when George Washington is said to have purchased it, the United States Constitution had not yet been established. Although it is a scent symbolizing America, its birth predates the United States itself.

The Founder Was More Physician Than Perfume Merchant

Hunter was a surgeon, obstetrician, military physician, and medical lecturer, and owned a substantial collection of medical books. Isolating his work with scent gives a misleading picture of the brand’s beginnings. Medicines, plants, hygiene, the body, and aesthetics sharing a single counter: that is Caswell-Massey’s original landscape.

An “Old Formula” Does Not Mean the Same Smell

Historical perfume formulas also used animal-derived materials such as musk, civet, and ambergris. Marem’s reconstruction, for example, rereads an old formula without animal-derived ingredients. The contemporary version does not put exactly the same materials as before back into the bottle. Nevertheless, rather than merely copying notes superficially, the company brings historical fragrances into the present by carrying on the functions within the formula: light and shade, diffusion, temperature, and the lingering trail.

Additional Note

Sources differ on the date of the first New York store. An official article places the opening in the basement of the Fifth Avenue Hotel in 1854, while a secondary corporate history describes a branch opening in 1833. Both agree that the brand entered New York in the nineteenth century, but the stores referred to and the arrangement of dates do not align across sources.

References