Mills Novelty Co. | Perfume Lady

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The floor model Perfume Lady is a beautiful and rare piece. John Papa and his crew decided to make six re-creations. Serial number one and two were made with flame birch cabinets (pictured far left). The other four cabinets were made in poplar and painted in a similar manner to the originals. The cabinets are decorated with elaborate three dimensional floral appliqué as per the original, which adds glamor and charm to this piece.

 

This machine is a simple perfume vendor with an elaborate mask. The user is invited to cover the perfume lady’s flowers with a handkerchief and then insert a penny into the lady’s purse which she holds in her hand. After a few mechanism cycles, the perfume squirts from the flowers and onto the user’s handkerchief.

 

Mills used an ingenious spring wound motor drive to power through its cycles. After several hundred plays the machine operator would wind the handle restoring the energy to the spring, presumably while collecting the pennies earned by the machine in the cash box.

 

The Perfume Lady is the last and final re-creation by John Papa and National Jukebox Exchange. There are no other projects planned.

 

Read more in No Tampering! A Guide to Papa's Re-creations.