One of the most unique industry and consumer- focussed additions to the myriad of activities of The Fragrance Foundation is the establishment in 1999, by the Foundation’s board of directors, of the Annette Green Museum at The Fragrance Foundation. The Museum opened in November, 1999 in celebration of the Foundation’s 50th anniversary with a retrospective of the past 50 years in the Foundation’s history against a background of social changes taking place in the US.
As a matter of record, the growth of the fragrance industry in the US parallels the expanding role of the Foundation as it concentrated its efforts on potential industry opportunities to reach the consumer. In fact, the Fragrance Foundation was founded in 1949 because American women didn’t wear fragrance on a regular basis. When scent was worn, it was usually on Saturday night for dress-up occasions, and then, only a drop of perfume was dabbed behind each ear. In addition, most women owned only one fragrance and rarely changed brands.
In the late 1950s, the Foundation floundered and was no longer supported by the industry. I was invited, shortly after opening my own marketing and public relations agency, Annette Green Associates, in 1961, to consider rescuing the Foundation. I agreed, and the Foundation became a pro bono account of the agency.
