Captures of Carnation on Christopher Street
Tell people that you have made a fragrance based on stories from Christopher Street, and elicit some rather interesting responses (i.e. “What does THAT smell like?!?!?”). Kneejerk reactions like these stem directly from Christopher Street‘s infamous reputation as known home to merchants, mobsters, and homosexuals in NYC… AKA where to find those damned Greenwich Village troublemakers.
When I first started scent-profiling Christopher Street, I also started keeping a rather thorough journal of people’s specific scent memories to later incorporate into the fragrance. I wanted to know how everything looked and felt through “real world” perspectives to help add depth to the written archives… some emotional context to build the perfume from. I was also tracing overlap. This journaling is something I continue to do as new chapters are added to Christopher Street’s history.
Here are just a few of my favorite first impressions to the question: “What does Christopher Street smell like to you?”:
“damp, dirty, and seedy…like an aged outhouse.”
“like wig head, sweaty hose, and testicles.”
“coffee, tea, and desperation.”
“like piss, stale beer, and New Jersey.”
“passed its expiration date.“
As you can see, “floral” is not exactly top-of-mind when people think about the West Village (especially today). Yet there is hidden floral beauty to be found all along Christopher Street. While not always the predominant presence, the flowers of Christopher Street act more like connective tissue: both present in the physical setting and supporting cast within its colorful history. They add a pop of natural beauty within the Village’s more subversive surroundings, and echo the unlikely heroes of Christopher Street‘s past.
Flowering from the Filth
During the late 1960’s, The Stonewall Inn was the place to be for listening and dancing to good music on Christopher Street. The scene inside, however, was a complete dive. Stonewall had no running water behind the bar, and no fire exits. Toilets overran consistently. Glasses were run through tubs of still water, and immediately reused at the bar. Stonewall always attracted a very mixed crowd despite its rather dilapidated interiors, perhaps due to its being one of the few spaces in New York City where gays slow dancing was allowed,
“I liked that the [Christopher Street] scent needn’t be pretty… could even be slightly dirty.“
— Ralf Schwieger (Mane USA)
Early in the creative process, Ralf and I gravitated toward this image of what daily life would have been like inside Stonewall, particularly the description of this tub of still water kept behind the bar. What we discussed was something flowering from these dingy waters. Just like unlikely protesters rising up during the ’69 Stonewall Riots, an unlikely floral note rising through the alcoholic citrus and smoke on top. Carnation, with its warm, spicy undertones, was the perfect counterbalance for the sharper subversive tones found in Christopher Street.
Following Carnations on Christopher Street
So why carnation? As I said above, the floral notes in Christopher Street were always talked about as representative of the unlikely political heroes rising up during The Stonewall Riots. These flowers never dominate the olfactive character, but instead echo in the shadows of the fragrance’s other accords. And like a Victorian bouquet, each flower chosen carries with it a specific symbolic reference to life on Christopher Street.
The story of carnation begins with the Christopher Street Day Pride March, and the many floral moments witnessed each year. From cut flowers seen decorating the many floats and people, to blossoms in full bloom along the parade route. They are symbols of love, beauty, and pride. Flowers move the fragrance “out of the bottle, and into the street.”
So, too, is carnation present in the story of Jefferson Market Garden. Officially established in 1974, this beautiful patch of greenery on 6th Avenue sits in the shadows of the Jefferson Market Courthouse, current home to the New York Public Library in Greenwich Village. Before becoming a garden, Jefferson Market was indeed a bustling marketplace as well as site of a Women’s House of Detention (the only one in NYC when founded). Here is yet another example found on Christopher Street of ascending from a subversive past: transitioning from prison to garden. Carnations, peonies, roses… Jefferson Market Garden is a cornucopia of pleasant floral aromas.
According to gardening myth, burying clove nails at the base of a carnation plant helps enrich its spicy aroma. I have always considered the triangular shaped Northern Dispensary as the base from which the rest of the Christopher Street grows. As a former dental clinic, there are cloves “buried within its walls.” This is because before the days of novocaine, doctors would use clove to numb a patient’s gums before performing any dental procedure. Some current residents of Christopher Street claim that so much clove was used inside the Northern Dispensary that it can still be smelled leeching from the building’s windows when it rains.
Last, but not least, is Craig Rodwell’s Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop, formerly at 15 Christopher Street (currently home to a day spa). Setting up shop on Christopher Street in 1973, it was the first bookstore dedicated exclusively to LGBT authors and served as an early meeting space for activists and organizers. Unfortunately, OWMB officially closed its doors in 2009 due to financial difficulties. The Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop was named after famous author and dandy, Oscar Wilde, who is often associated with the green carnation.
About Carnation
Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus) – From the Greek word ‘carnis‘ meaning ‘flesh,’ a linguistic reference to the flower’s carnal color. Carnations are native to Southern Europe with cited usage appearing in medieval Arabic perfumery, as well as in formulations crafted during Tudor-era Britain. Today, it is estimated that carnation notes are used in roughly 20% of fragrances categorized as “masculine” (i.e. Old Spice). Carnation possesses a rich, spicy (clove-like), floral aroma stemming from its main chemical component: eugenol.
Over the years, carnation has been used to make black hair dye and also as a flavoring component in beers, ales, and wines. Medicinally, it has been prescribed to help combat fevers. It is believed that burying dried cloves at the base of a carnation plant helps enrich the desired spicy fragrant qualities produced by its flowers. Carnations are sometimes referred to as ‘Pinks‘ because of how their serrated petal edges appear as though cut with a pair of pinking shears.
Christopher Street
Available as 30ml bottle or 1.5ml sample
What’s your Christopher Street Carnation story?