The perfumery of the Adolphe Siou company was popular in the Russian Empire. The history of this company began in 1853, when the 25-year-old Frenchman Adolphe Siou arrived in Moscow with his wife Eugenie to work at the same perfume company.
In 1855, Adolphe Siou opened a confectionery store in Moscow, where a bakery and a chocolate workshop operated in the basement of the same building. At first, his wife managed the store, but after Adolphe’s contract with his company expired in 1861, production expanded, and they began working in a new direction — perfumery. Some time passed, and their sons Louis and Charles together with their cousin Arnold joined the business. They registered the trading house “A. Siou & Co.” in 1881 and decided to build a factory of a new kind designed by the French architect Oscar Didio on Petersburg highway. This factory was one of the first factories in Moscow to have electric lighting, steam engines and gas generator turbines with a total capacity of 500 horsepower. Production was steadily expanding as well as the factory’s territory, where 20 workshops were built (4 of which produced perfume, and the rest confectionery).
Charles was responsible for perfumery. He traveled to Europe and the USA to adopt best practices. In the early 20th century, the factory of “A. Siou & Co.” produced more than 120 varieties of perfumes and 30–40 types of cologne. Their perfumery was considered to be elite. Among the most popular fragrances were “Odor di Femina” (“The Smell of a Woman”) and “Floreal” (“Floral”). Their perfume “Fresh Hay” caused a real sensation. It replicated the aroma of freshly cut grass and wildflowers drying in the summer sun.
After the revolution, perfume production almost stopped, resuming only during the NEP years. The Bolshevik factory produced a certain amount of perfumes according to old recipes in old, pre-revolutionary bottles. And in 1927, the Mosselprom trust transferred the factory to the production of exclusively flour-based confectionery products, and the famous fragrances were lost.
