Perfume

I had an enjoyable 45 minutes while my dinner baked in the oven looking at a bunch of catalogs. I do enjoy looking at them sometimes, but the opportunity is never good when I'm frantically picking up. One of the catalogs I looked carefully at tonight is that Old Vermont Country Store. I'm sure there's a word for it, but it stuns me when I see an image of a product that I had not seen or thought about in decades.

One of the products was this wind up alarm clock which the copy said was from 1947. I had that clock and wound it and set it and it woke me up for school many a morning. Later I graduated to a clock radio which was a big thing.

But the catalog had a page of old perfumes which brought back many memories. In high school, I loved the Windsong ads -- more than the smell of the perfume, but they were so romantic and dreamy. The catalog also sold Evening in Paris which I remember my mother having -- I wonder what that smells like. Also Arpege -- remember "Promise her anything, but give her Arpege"?

One perfume which I used to wear -- I'd say in the mid to late 1970s was Maja. It's a Spanish perfume, and I loved it. I had totally forgotten about it. I ripped the page out -- I think I might buy myself some for Christmas for old times sake. Wonder if I'll still like it.

I always used to wear perfume -- the last one I wore regularly was Oscar de la Renta's Oscar. I loved that smell. People would always come sniffing around me and ask, "Are you wearing perfume?" It was such a light, airy, floral scent. I loved that smell. I even kept wearing it after de la Renta said he refused to make his clothes for larger size women and was widely quoted as saying, "I make clothes for women. I don't upholster furniture."

But I kept with Oscar and they must have changed the formula.  Or else my body chemistry changed. However my sister was wearing it as well, and she had the same experience. I think we each bought one more bottle after the first bad one, thinking maybe we got an off lot or something, and then gave up.

So, anyone else remember Maja? What did you wear? Oh, another one I liked is Cristalle by Chanel.