V. Vivaudou

In January, 1914, Victor Vivaudou arrived in New York from Havana, Cuba at the end of a commercial tour of South America, Cuba, and Eastern Canada. He had been scouting new markets for Erasmic, an English cosmetic company that also employed him as a perfumer and technical adviser. He returned to New York in September and established V. Vivaudou, Inc. (capital US$1,000,000) in November having secured Riker-Hegeman as a major investor. Formed in 1910 from the merger between Hegeman & Company and William B. Riker & Son, the Riker & Hegeman Company owned a chain of Riker-Hegeman and Riker-Jaynes drug stores in Greater New York, Boston, and other cities in New England.

Above: c.1913 Riker-Jaynes Drug Store in Portland, Maine.

Founding his own company may not have been the only reason why Vivaudou relocated to the United States. The First World War had broken out in August, 1914 and moving to America reduced the possibility that he would be drafted into the armed forces. It also allowed him abandon his pregnant wife, Agnes Rose Rosenthal [1872-1965], and children in England and to start living with his mistress, Rosa Maria Jung [1884-1970]. Rosa, who was born in Hamburg, Germany, was listed as Rose Young when she arrived in America, the immigration official presumably mistaking Young for Jung due to her German accent.

V. Vivaudou, Inc. set up offices in the Times Building at 340 West Fourth Street, in New York with a second company Arly, Inc. established at 37 Wall Street, New York. Vivaudou appears to have developed fragrances, cosmetics and toiletries for both companies with those from Arly being in a higher price range. This included the Lady Mary and Mavis ranges for V. Vivaudou and the La Bohême series for Arly.

Above: 1916 Arly La Bohême , Lilas Arly, Vivaudou Mavis Eau de Toilette, and Vivaudou Creme Lady Mary. Victor Vivaudou filed design patents for both of the Arly bottles.

Advertisements for the Vivaudou and Arly lines began in 1915, some backed by endorsements, most notably the silent film actress Naomi Childers [1892-1964] for Mavis.

Above: 1916 Mavis Talcum endorsed by Naomi Childers. It came in two shades, Flesh, and White.

Vivaudou and Arly advertisements generally included Paris at the bottom of the copy but I can find no trace of either line being sold in France before 1920. However, Vivaudou did establish a factory there at La Garenne-Colombes and hired Octave Pages to manage the French side of the business.

V. Vivaudou expanded its operations during the First World War. In 1917, it moved its manufacturing facilities to 418-426 West 25th Street, opened a plant in Montreal, Canada, and began exporting in Latin American countries such as Cuba.

Products

Like other companies, perfumes created by Vivaudou were also used to fragrance ancillary products such as toilet waters, sachets, talcum powders, face powders, bath salts, and soaps. V. Vivaudou also used them in skin creams, rouges, and lipsticks with the Mavis series being the most comprehensive.

Two examples of early skin creams were Vivaudou Creme Lady Mary and Vivaudou Cream of Almonds. Creme Lady Mary was a vanishing cream promoted more for its protective properties than its use as a powder base. The jar and its ingredients were replicated by Vivaudou in other ranges. Cream of Almonds was a general emollient used to soothe damaged skin.

Vivaudou Creme Lady Mary: “A dainty vanishing cream, delightfully soft and fine, with a soothing quality most refreshing to the skin.”
Vivaudou Cream of Almonds: “A pure white creamy lotion, soothes and cools when applied to chapped and roughened skin.”

Shade ranges for early V. Vivaudou face powders, rouges, and lipsticks were very limited, more so than similar products of the period. For example, Mavis Face powder only came in Rose, and White shades, Mavis Rouge in Light, Medium, and Dark, and Mavis Lipstick in Light Red, and Dark Red.

Buyout

In 1916, the Riker-Hegeman drug stores were combined with the Liggett drug store chain controlled by the United Drug Company headed by Louis K. Liggett [1875-1946]. The purchase included Riker-Hegeman’s shares in V. Vivaudou. In June, 1919, with the First World War over, United Drug applied to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and sold its interests in V. Vivaudou and Arly at a handsome profit to Victor Vivaudou and a group of investors he had assembled. V. Vivaudou was then reincorporated in Delaware (capital US$30,000,000) with Victor Vivaudou as the company’s president and general manager.

One of Victor Vivaudou’s first acts after the Delaware listing was to buy the French company, Parfumerie du Monde Élégant S.A., better known as Parfumerie Delettrez, which had seen better days. This gave V. Vivaudou a larger factory at Asnières-sur-Seine in which to manufacture the Vivaudou and Arly lines in France as well as a retail outlet in Paris through the existing Delettrez store at 15 Rue Royale. Vivaudou hoped to use these French interests to expand the sale of Vivaudou and Arly perfumes, cosmetics and toiletries across Europe and the United Kingdom.

Above: Delettrez-Vivaudou-Arly shop at 15 Rue Royale, Paris. Note the signs for Arly (left) and Vivaudou (just visible right over the window facing the Rue Saint-Honoré).

Above: Vivaudou window display at 15 Rue Royale, Paris.

V. Vivaudou also bought Roxey, Inc., the makers of Chinwah perfume, a New York company that became Roxtan, Inc. by 1924, and used its well-established connections with drug store chains to acquire the distribution rights for a number of other firms. This included Mineralava Beauty Clay from Scott’s Preparations (1921), the Ego range of skin creams and toiletries from the Bizzoni Process Company (1922) and Myrurgia products from Perfumeria Myrurgia of Spain (1924).

Products

None of the later ranges added to V. Vivaudou, such as those based on Mai d’Or (1920), Chez Lui (1923), or Narcisse de Chine (1923) were as successful as the older Mavis series which included Mavis Perfume, Toilet Water, Talcum Powder, Face Powder, Rouge, Powder Compact, Vanishing Cream, Lemon Cream, Cold Cream, Tooth Paste, Soap, Brilliantine, and a Manicure Set. Of these, Mavis Talcum Powder was the best seller, easily outstripped sales of all other lines in the Mavis range.

Above: 1927 Mavis Manicure Set which included the Mavis Cuticle Remover, Nail Paste Polish, Nail Cake Polish, Buffer, Liquid Nail Polish and Brush, and Nail Whitener.

Other additions from V. Vivaudou included Vivomint Tooth Paste, Vivaudou Shaving Cream, and Vivaudou After Shaving in 1920. The toothpaste and shaving cream both contained hydrogen peroxide, a known antiseptic. It would also have acted as a tooth whitener, something it is still used for today. Previous toothpastes developed by Vivaudou appear to have contained chlorophyll, an additive widely used in early toothpastes.

Vivomint Tooth Paste: “[A] dentrifice that cleanses and purifies the mouth as the teeth are brushed.”
Vivaudou Shaving Cream: “Its cool soothing freshness will make you enjoy your morning shave.”
Vivaudou After Shaving: “Delightful to use, it will start you off on your day’s work with a smile.”

Vivaudou also appears to have created a range of products specifically for the European and British markets after the Delettrez purchase. This included five skin creams packaged in distinctive striped boxes – Vivaudou Lemon Cream (yellow and white stripes), Vivaudou Tissue Cream (red and white stripes), Vivaudou Massage Cream (black and white stripes), Vivaudou Astringent Cream (mauve and white stripes), and Vivaudou Beauty Cream (blue and white stripes). The Beauty Cream came in two versions – one for dry skin types, the other for greasy skins.

Above: 1923 Crèmes Vivaudou (France).

Vivaudou Lemon Cream: “It acts where soap and water fail, and removes from the pores all impurities and dirt which accumulate every day.”
Vivaudou Tissue Cream: “[S]trengthens and invigorates the tissues, making the flesh firm full and strong, thus making wrinkles disappear.”
Vivaudou Massage Cream: “[I]t is astonishingly to note the impurities in the pores which come away with the removal of this cream.”
Vivaudou Astringent Cream: “[I]nvaluable for effectively dealing with enlarged pores, wrinkles, lines or crow’s feet.”
Vivaudou Beauty Cream: “[H]elps the skin to retain its natural vigour and affords protection against sunburn or biting winds.”

Four powders developed for this market were also packaged in striped boxes – Vivaudou Beauty Powder, Vivaudou Body Powder, Vivaudou Dance Powder, and Vivaudou Baby Powder. Unfortunately, I have not seen any of these powders so do not know their shade ranges or the colours of their packaging. I also have no information on the fragrance used to scent them.

Vivaudou Beauty Powder: “[A] complexion powder of exceedingly high merit.”
Vivaudou Body Powder: “[I]t keeps the skin soft, smooth, supple and delightfully perfumed, and absorbs any excess moisture.”
Vivaudou Dance Powder: “[E]xtraordinarily effective in absorbing excessive perspiration and neutralising all body odours.”
Vivaudou Baby Powder: “The texture of this powder is so perfectly fine and smooth that it can do the tender skin of a baby nothing but good.”

Also see the booklet: The Vivaudou Remembrancer (c.1924)

Sales of V. Vivaudou began in Britain in 1921 through F. A. Bell at 1 Montague Street, London, along with Arly and Delettrez, but switched to Penny & Co. Ltd. at 20 Old Cavendish Street, London in 1924.

New Owner

By 1924, V. Vivaudou was in serious financial trouble. Sales had fallen from US$5,903,645 in 1923 to US$2,949,488 in 1924 with the company recording a loss of US$448,887. The post-war recession of 1921-22 had played a part but most of the firm’s troubles were due to poor business decisions for which Victor Vivaudou, as president and general manager, had to take responsibility. The acquisition of Delettrez and the move into the French and British markets had not generated sales that recovered their establishment costs, the Roxtan subsidiary was losing money, and there were problems with the lines for which V. Vivaudou was acting as a distributor. This was particularly evident with Mineralava. It was initially very profitable but the American fad in beauty clays was largely over by 1924 and sales had plummeted.

Perhaps the only bright spot in V. Vivaudou’s product range was Mavis.

Above: 1924 Vivaudou Mavis window display tie-up with the silent movie ‘Beau Brummel’ (Warner Bros. Pictures, 1924). Vivaudou did something similar with Mineralava.

Strident criticism from stockholders saw Victor Vivaudou resign his positions in the company and selling his 43,700 shares in V. Vivaudou to Park & Tilford, a company owned by the Schulte Retail Stores Corporation headed by David A. Schulte [1873-1949]. Schulte had been buying shares in V. Vivaudou and the purchase of Victor Vivaudou’s shares now gave him a controlling interest in the company.

Schulte installed Thomas J. McHugh [1880-1932] as the new president of V. Vivaudou and gave him complete control over its management and sales policy. McHugh terminated V. Vivaudou’s distribution agreements for Mineralava and Ego, shut down Roxtan, Inc. and closed the Arly outlet in Paris.

Above: c.1926 Vivaudou-Delettrez shop at 15 Rue Royale, Paris. The Arly sign has been replaced by another from Vivaudou.

McHugh also appears to have given up on the idea of expanding V. Vivaudou throughout Europe and closed its operations in Britain by the end of the decade.

On a more positive note, McHugh acquired the Alfred H. Smith Company in February, 1926, which held the rights to distribute the products from Djer-Kiss (a French perfumery company), and the Kleanwell Brush Company (which made toothbrushes and other products). McHugh then organised the purchase of the Chicago-based Melba Manufacturing Company (which made and sold the Melba range), moved it to New York, and reincorporated it as Parfumerie Melba. Perhaps in compensation, a branch office for V. Vivaudou was opened in Chicago in 1927, joining the one opened in Los Angeles in 1925. The New York offices of V. Vivaudou were also moved in 1927 to the newly completed V. Vivaudou Building at 233-245 Spring Street.

V. Vivaudou’s acquisition of Alfred H. Smith and Melba Manufacturing caused the Federal Trade Authority (FTC) to issue a complaint against V. Vivaudou, claiming that it had violated the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914. The case was eventually settled in 1931 in V. Vivaudou’s favour.

McHugh’s actions, combined with the economic boom of the second half of the 1920s, returned V. Vivaudou to profitability, something that must have been very galling for Victor Vivaudou. Victor went on to establish other companies but was hindered by the fact that he had signed away the use of his name in perpetuity when V. Vivaudou was purchased from United Drug in 1920.

Other companies founded by Victor Vivaudou included: Vivi, Inc. (1924), which folded after legal action was taken against it by V. Vivaudou; Truvy, Inc. (1926) which got into financial difficulties forcing Victor Vivaudou to sell his shares; and Vimay, Inc (1934) set up in Hollywood with Louis B. Mayer [1884-1957], the co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM), as an investor, which seems to have floundered fairly quickly after it was formed.

Vivaudou also worked for V. Vivaudou for a short period in 1933 and was employed by Shulton, the makers of Old Spice, in 1940. His activities and various businesses should not be confused with those of his son, Jean Eugene Vivaudou [1908-2003], who established a number of fragrance companies after he moved to America in 1926, nor those of his Victor’s second wife, Rose Vivaudou, who opened the Madame Rose Vivaudou Beauty Shop in New York in 1926. It was to be the first of a chain but I doubt any others were opened.

As the economic boom of the late 1920s gathered pace, McHugh decided to get into the salon business and established a Delettrez shop on Fifth Avenue, New York in 1927. The salon offered a number of Delettez skin-care and hair-care treatments. Smaller Delettrez salons were opened in other cities and these existed through to the beginning of the Second World War. However, the large Fifth Avenue store appears to have closed in 1929, before the stock market crash, possibly due to poor sales and/or a change in direction that followed the formation of Vadsco in 1928.

Vadsco Sales Corporation

In 1928, V. Vivaudou was merged with the American Druggists’ Syndicate and the Kny-Scheerer Corporation (a hospital and surgical supplier) into a new company, the Vadsco Sales Corporation which was then reincorporated in Delaware in 1929. The name of the new company was generated from the capital letters of Vivaudou and American Druggists’ Syndicate. Thomas J. McHugh continued as the president of the new company and David A. Schulte became the chairman of the board.

Under the new arrangement, Alfred H. Smith, Parfumerie Melba, Inc. Delettrez, Inc. and the Kleanwell Brush Company were listed as subsidiaries of V. Vivaudou which then largely became a holding company. V. Vivaudou’s executive and sales offices were moved from Spring Street to 580 Fifth Avenue in 1928 and manufacturing was consolidated at the American Druggists’ Syndicate plant at 227 Borden Avenue, Long Island City. V. Vivaudou’s offices also moved there in 1932 after having its capital reduced from US$100,000 to US$1,000 in 1931.

Products

By the time Vadsco was formed the V. Vivaudou range was well and truely on the decline. This was partly due to more emphasis being place on Delettrez but was also the result of deodorants and antiperspirants cutting into the sales of V. Vivaudou perfumes, toilet waters and talcum powders. The company was well aware of this and made some attempt to promote its talcum powders as deodorants.

Above: 1924 Vivaudou talcum powders.

Undortunately, sales of V. Vivaudou’s other lines were weak. By the late 1920s, women had come to expect more from their skin-care cosmetics and make-up than a nice smell which was largely all that V. Vivaudou was offering. Its skin-care range was very basic and the shade ranges of its make-up were still very limited. For example, Vivaudou Poudre Mavis, a face powder, still only came in four shades – Flesh, White, Brunette, and Dark Brunette in 1933.

V. Vivaudou had made some small attempts to improve its make-up range. In 1928, it had added two new lipstick shades – Titian, and Congo Red and when it introduced an automatic lipstick in 1933, in a silver and jade metal case, this came in five shades – Light, Medium, Brilliant, Dark, and Flame. However, it would seem that Vadsco had decided to continue to concentrate on promoting its Delettrez range and let V. Vivaudou largely rely on sales of Mavis Talcum. The only new products added to the V. Vivaudou range through to the beginning of the Second World War, that I know of, were Mavis Mildly Scented Talcum; Vin-A-Balm, a sun-care lotion; and Viva-Caprice Lipstick, a short-lived novelty lipstick.

Mavis Mildly Scented Talcum: “The scent is so delicate as to be practically non-existent, and the oval shaped tin would make a nice beach and travel companion in sticky weather.”
Vin-A-Balm: “Non greasy. Prevents and relieves sunburn. Creates a golden tan.”
Viva-Caprice Lipstick: “Green in color but turns red on the lips.” Shades: Natural and Brunette.

Wartime

In 1942, V. Viaudou tried to boost its sales of Mavis Talcum Powder by adding Mavis Talc Mit, increasing the promotion of both products though ‘The Swing to Mavis’ advertising campaign, later switched to Glamour Girl. The following year it added Mavis Talc for Men (1943) by which time the Mavis metal containers had been replaced with cardboard due to wartime metal shortages.

End of the line

Vadsco recapitalised in 1943, merging with Delettrez, Inc. and changing its name to Universal Laboratories, Inc. In 1949, it disposed of its interests in V. Vivaudou (Mavis) and Kerkoff (Djer-Kiss), selling them to Nestle-LeMur where it joined a number of other declining brands that Nestle-LeMur had been collecting – Pinaud, Blue Waltz, and Irresistible.

Above: 1964 Djer-Kiss and Vivaudou lines from Nestle-LeMur.

Nestle-LeMur was still selling Mavis Talcum Powder when it became a subsidiary of Kleer Vu Industries in 1983 but I have lost track of it after that.

Timeline


1914	V. Vivaudou, Inc. founded in New York.
1915	New Products: Vivaudou Lady Mary series; Vivaudou Mavis series; and Arly La Bohême series.
1916	United Drug Company and the Riker-Hegeman Company merge.
1917	Manufacturing moved to 420 West 25th Street, New York Plant opened in Montreal, Canada.
1919	Victor Vivaudou and investors buy V. Vivaudou. V. Vivaudou reincorporated in Delaware.
1920	Parfumerie du Monde Élégant S.A. (Delettrez) purchased. New Products: Vivaudou Mai d’Or series; Vivaudou Shaving Cream, Vivaudou After Shaving Talcum, and Vivomint Tooth Paste.
1921	Becomes the distributor for Mineralava. British distribution begins through F. A. Bell at 1 Montague Street, London.
1922	Begins distributing the Ego range from the Bizzoni Products Company.
1923	New York office moves to 469 Fifth Avenue. V. Vivaudou of Canada, Ltd. founded at 344 Saint Paul Street, Montreal.
1924	Acquires the distribution rights to Myrurgia. Penny & Co. Ltd. become the new British distributor. Park & Tilford buys Victor Vivaudou’s shares in V. Vivaudou. New York offices moved back to 418-424 West 25th Street.
1925	Branch office opened in Los Angeles.
1926	Acquires the Alfred H. Smith Company. Buys the Melba Manufacturing Company.
1927	New York offices moved to 233-245 Spring Street. Branch office opened in Chicago. Delettrez shop opened on Fifth Avenue, New York.
1928	Vadsco Sales Corporation formed.
1929	Vadsco Sales reincorporated in Delaware. Executive and sales offices moved to 580 Fifth Avenue.
1932	Executive offices moved to Long Island.
1933	Executive offices moved back to 580 Fifth Avenue. Begins radio advertising. New Products: Automatic Lipstick; and Viv-A-Balm.
1937	New Products: Mavis Mildly Scented Talcum.
1940	New Products: Viva-Caprice Lipstick.
1942	New Products: Mavis Talc Mit.
1943	Vadsco merges with Delettrez, Inc. and becomes Universal Laboratories. New Products: Mavis Talc for Men.
1947	Executive offices and factory moved to new plant in East Orange, New Jersey.
1949	Djer-Kiss and Mavis sold to Nestle-LeMur.
1983	Nestle-LeMur acquired by Kleer Vu Industries.

First Posted: 3rd March 2025

Sources

The American Perfumer & Essential Oil Review. (1906-1955). New York: Robbins Perfumer Co. [etc.].

The Drug and Cosmetic Industry. (1932-1997). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich [etc.].

The Vivaudou Story – Part 1 – Creativity and Deception. (2016, September 12). Retrieved January 28, 2025, from https://collectingvintagecompacts.blogspot.com/2013/05/vivaudou-part-1-creation-of-company.html

The Vivaudou Story – Part 2 – From Cockerel to Feather Duster. (2016, January 16). Retrieved January 28, 2025, from https://collectingvintagecompacts.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-vivaudou-story-part-2-from-cockerel.html

The Vivaudou Story – Part 3 –The True Vivaudou? (2016, January 21). Retrieved January 28, 2025, from https://collectingvintagecompacts.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-vivaudou-story-part-3-true-vivaudou.html

V. Vivaudou. (c.1924). The Vivaudou remembrancer [Booklet]. London: Author.