Quite a few decades ago, English Leather was my high school scent. It was made by Mem then, before it was sold to Dana Fragrances. I recently bought the current aftershave and cologne and was thinking of buying the vintage Mem. Most of what I see has the paper labels glued on to the bottles. Does anyone recall if Mem released bottles that just had Mem printed on the bottle without labels, as shown here?
Calling English Leather experts
- Thread starter AtraSensor
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I’ve got two Mem bottles. Both have the paper label. I have no idea (but doubt) whether Mem used engraved labels.
+1 I have several bottles of vintage MEM EL laying around. All have paper labels. The bottles in your picture, which say MEM on the front, if my memory serves me correctly, on the back of the cardboard carry box in your pic, it should say, Dana Perfume Corp, New York NY 10022. It should also show on the back of the box that it was imported from Canada.
At the time of production of the stuff in your pic, Dana had already purchased and taken over from MEM. And while MEM was still producing their famous and wonderful juice, it was being distributed by the now, new owner company of Dana.
This seems similar to me as the Old Spice story, where P&G had purchased and taken over The Shulton Co. They had Shulton keep producing the aftershave, while P&G was only listed as a distributor, until their own production abilities ramped up.
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You're correct about P&G. I found an unused 1993 P&G produced bottle of Old Spice Cologne in a box I had in a closet last year and it still had the Shulton copyright on it. From what I've read, I'm assuming they hadn't yet changed the formula. As indicated in the picture, that code of 577050-4 might be a formula code similar to the way Dior and L'Oreal place their fragrance formula codes on the last line of the ingredients.
I'm going to take a chance and pick up those Mem glass bottles. Even if they were made by Dana back then, I'm sure they're stronger than the version sold today. The top notes of bergamot, lemon and orange are most probably gone, but the rest hopefully is intact. If and when I can get a decent price on the older Mem versions with the paper labels, it will be fun to do a comparison. Thanks for your input!
When I went away to college in 1964, we had a guy on the floor who wouldn't shower. He would just splash on loads of English Leather to cover up his BO. Finally a bunch of guys on the floor, stripped him and thru him into the shower with a bar of soap. He got the message, but no one on the floor, including me, could ever stand the scent of English Leather after that.
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How did you like the scent of English Leather before that?
I've always found it a warming, comforting scent. I had a small can of the shaving cream quite a few decades ago. It was either the musk or the regular scent and it was fabulous. I'd suggest to Dana that they produce that again along with a shaving soap, but they rarely respond, and if they do, it's a cursory answer. I may email the woman who owns the investment group that bought Dana a few years ago.I can't understand what's happened to the companies that own the classic US brands like Old Spice, Brut, Mennen, Aqua Velva and English Leather. There's no imagination anymore. Would it be that difficult to issue novelty gift sets for the holidays? Even Clubman has been introducing new aftershaves like the Reserve line.
The same goes for all the recent men's edt's and edp's of the past decade. The top designer houses only offer balms in the gift sets. Aftershave lotions seem to be passé.
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Is that an English Leather shaving puck? If so, I have a feeling you don't want to use it as it's a great conversation piece.
I have this gift set. The bottles pictured for the gift set do not say "Mem" on them, but the product inside, each bottle, has "Mem" on the lower front. No idea the year it was produced, but the box says "Mem Company, Northvale, New Jersey". Mem did produce their lotions engraved with their name on the bottle front for years, see photos at the bottom of this post. No doubt Ebay and third-party Amazon sellers have Mem product to sell, so you might check that out. I also have the most recent version with a paper label, from a Walmart gift set a couple years ago. The accompanying shave balm says "Dana Classic Fragrances". The Mem version is lemon-lime up front, the current version is bergamot. In the middle and base notes, the leather is a bit more noticeable in the current version. Surely there are other notes in the mid/base of each version, a sandalwood perhaps. The Mem overall is softer, much like a light form of Tabac, than the Dana the entire way through the fragrance. The two versions differ, but you can smell the similarities. To me the Mem version fits in the workplace/office area, the Dana is sporty/casual. I enjoy both, have a backup bottle of each. By the way, if you don't have the Mem set, get it! The Wind Drift and Musk are also good. Also, if you can find the Mem "Spiced" and their Lime scent, they are worth a try if you like the fragrances of a couple decades ago.
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I don't understand, was he just not interested in getting laid? I mean, personal hygiene is pretty important for that, IIRC.
Don't be surprised to find, the top notes you speak of are not gone. My experience of owning many, vintage aftershaves, is the fact that because some of the alcohol and water evaporates over the decades, there seems to be another effect, where the aged product, becomes richer and smoother due to the now condensed ingredients from the lesser amount of alcohol and water.
I am old enough, that I used English Leather, Old Spice, British Sterling, etc, back in the 70's and 80's and a whole host of other classics that I also own and collect now, many decades later. From my own memory and experiences of using both. I enjoy the aged vintage juice now, more than I did, when it was the modern juice then.
Vintage English Leather, absolutely blows away modern English Leather. And the comparison between the two, is not even close imo.
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Don't be surprised to find, the top notes you speak of are not gone. My experience of owning many, vintage aftershaves, is the fact that because some of the alcohol and water evaporates over the decades, there seems to be another effect, where the aged product, becomes richer and smoother due to the now condensed ingredients from the lesser amount of alcohol and water.
I am old enough, that I used English Leather, Old Spice, British Sterling, etc, back in the 70's and 80's and a whole host of other classics that I also own and collect now, many decades later. From my own memory and experiences of using both. I enjoy the aged vintage juice now, more than I did, when it was the modern juice then.
Vintage English Leather, absolutely blows away modern English Leather. And the comparison between the two, is not even close imo.
English Leather was my high school scent up until the Sat. Night Fever part of the 1970's when I graduated to Aramis. Before college classes, I would shower and then shampoo with Aramis. After getting dressed I would splash on some Aramis cologne and walk into class reeking of Aramis! I still kept that bottle of English Leather in the wooden box in my desk drawer, though.
I probably have a collection of about 200 men's fragrances and another 75 aftershaves. A few edt's are left from what I bought in the 1980's and 1990's. You're right about the evaporation of alcohol. Between that and the maceration of the oils, the fragrances get stronger over time, but for the most part, no matter how you store them, the top notes suffer and some of the longevity is gone. What makes it smell stronger is the power of the base notes. I have an almost 40 year old bottle of Azzaro Pour Homme and it's much smoother than the current version but part of that is due to reformulations, especially the post 2014 reformulations due to IFRA recommendations. Others are because EA Fragrances bought a number of classics, reformulated and weakened them a bit because of oakmoss restrictions.
This is a very good article from a perfume site that I read a few years ago. It's what always makes me hesitate before buying vintage fragrances along with worrying about the "backwash" with used splash colognes and aftershaves. Yes, I know the alcohol content should kill all the germs, but we all know how often we go for another splash after a close shave that had a few nicks and cuts, and that vision is always on my mind.
Buying Vintage Fragrances
Maybe he believed that English Leather was enough after seeing the ad!
I ordered the set and will post photos when it arrives. There were two sets including some plastic bottles, so let's see what those are. I bought the Mem Spiced version a few years when discounters like Fragrancenet had them. I think two 1 oz. glass bottles were a few dollars per. I should have bought some more. It reminds me very much of Old Spice.
These are the notes for English Leather as per Basenotes. I think it's for the vintage even though Dana is listed. On the right side is the note listing from Fragrantica:
Great post @AtraSensor. Sounds like you and I have much in common when it comes to vintage aftershaves. I too, eventually gravitated towards Aramis from English Leather, back in the parochial days of my youth.
I bet we are close to the same age. I can understand the precautions and warnings of using vintage AS if the products containers have been opened and/or partially used. I would personally estimate, of the collection of vintage AS's I have from a collection of over 200 modern & vintage?
Probably 90% of them are NOS. The 10% which weren't when acquired, still went thru a thorough and very particular mental screening process, just from having the experience in acquiring them over the many years.
But I definitely, don't just throw caution to the wind and pick up non-discript used bottles of AS from flea markets, antique stores and off of Ebay.
while I am not a germaphobe, I am still the kinda guy who won't fill a bathroom sink to rinse my face and razor when I shave, because I don't feel it's sanitary. I instead, use a giant green rubber Marvey shave mug to sit in the sink under the faucet; and then rinse my razor in it. But there are a few opened vintage AS's, I have picked up over the years, if they meet the strict standards and criteria I look for, but never waver from.
I too, eventually gravitated towards Aramis from English Leather, back in the parochial days of my youth.I bet we are close to the same age. I can understand the precautions and warnings of using vintage AS if the products containers have been opened and/or partially used. I would personally estimate, of the collection of vintage AS's I have from a collection of over 200 modern & vintage?
Probably 90% of them are NOS. The 10% which weren't when acquired, still went thru a thorough and very particular mental screening process, just from having the experience in acquiring them over the many years.
But I definitely, don't just throw caution to the wind and pick up non-discript used bottles of AS from flea markets, antique stores and off of Ebay.
while I am not a germaphobe, I am still the kinda guy who won't fill a bathroom sink to rinse my face and razor when I shave, because I don't feel it's sanitary. I instead, use a giant green rubber Marvey shave mug to sit in the sink under the faucet; and then rinse my razor in it. But there are a few opened vintage AS's, I have picked up over the years, if they meet the strict standards and criteria I look for, but never waver from.
Money. As with virtually everything else today, companies get bought out because of market forces that cause costs to rise (doing it the old way) and profitability drops to the point that a conglomerate can acquire them cheap. Then they cut costs and merely live off of the name recognition. "New look, same product".
And the process continues. S-K tools just got bought by a Chinese company. 100 years in business making great tools but that didn't save it. I expect a scramble for vintage USA-made S-K stuff just like we all do for finds of vintage fragrances.
You're all enablers. I bought a larger bottle of this AS a few years ago and it was absolutely the worst AS I've ever had the mis pleasure of sampling. Straight in the bin. It literally stunk the house out. However after reading this thread, I've gone and bought a small 15ml sampler of the cologne. If that's terrible too then its definitely not me but the product ot self. 
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- #16
You're all enablers. I bought a larger bottle of this AS a few years ago and it was absolutely the worst AS I've ever had the mis pleasure of sampling. Straight in the bin. It literally stunk the house out. However after reading this thread, I've gone and bought a small 15ml sampler of the cologne. If that's terrible too then its definitely not me but the product ot self.
Paul H. Films once used a bottle of English Leather in one of his videos and I remember questioning the authenticity of it. You have to be very careful when buying English Leather in the UK. English Leather is only produced in splash versions and those bottles are very easy to alter. Amazon UK doesn't have English Leather available for sale and Ebay UK has this listing. I don't recall Dana ever issuing 15 ml travel size spray bottles. Maybe someone else here has more information.
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