The history of the Brocard company began in the middle of the 19th century, when the son of the famous French perfumer Atanas Brocard, Heinrich, came to Russia in 1861 to seek his fortune and three years later founded his own soap business. Prepared from childhood by his father for the profession of “sniffer,” Heinrich was well versed in the production of fragrances and possessed much more necessary qualities for achieving success: common sense, perseverance and commercial flair. All this allowed descendants to call Heinrich “the absolute genius of advertising.”

Heinrich Brocard with his wife Charlotte

In Moscow, Genrikh Afanasyevich Brokar first received a position as a laboratory assistant at one of the perfume factories. The French laboratory assistant, who knew the secrets of technology and Parisian perfume fashion, was a significant figure. For him, this work became a way to get to know the country he was going to conquer.

In the process, Heinrich created a technology for producing concentrated perfumes, the introduction of which promised great profits. Unable to independently use this discovery, he sold the know-how to the French company Ruhr Bertrand, and with the proceeds of 25 thousand francs he organized his own enterprise.

At the age of 24, the Frenchman opened his first soap factory, which was located in a stable, where three workers produced from 60 to 120 pieces of soap per day. Brocard put on his best suit and carried goods to small shops on a carriage.

On the advice of his Belgian wife, Charlotte Revé, who grew up in Russia and became her husband’s real partner in production, they began to print the letters of the Russian alphabet on each piece of soap, and made the soap itself in the shape of a fish, a bunny, and a carrot. The soap was called “Children’s” and it cost only a penny.

People liked the “penny” soap - it was both cheap and original-looking, and could be brought as a gift to children from the fair. Things went well for the Brokars. So much so that already in the fall of 1869 they moved to their own mansion on Mytnaya Street, and purchased several more houses in the neighborhood for the factory.

The idea that turned Brocard’s laboratory into one of the largest enterprises in Russia was that not only members of the social elite could wash their hands with soap and smell cologne. The release of “People's Soap” (these words were written on the label), a piece of which cost one penny, created a real sensation. The largest class becomes the consumer of Brocard's products.

For the Brocards, perfumery became not just a way to make money, but also a real passion. Charlotte Andreevna was involved in packaging design, came up with a name for the product, and negotiated well. In addition to soap, the factory began producing Swan Down powder and Snowflake Blush Cream lipstick. Everything was in bright packaging, with beautiful labels, which people pasted on the walls and collected like postcards. Created by Heinrich, Brocard and Company, a perfumery production company in Moscow, dominated the Russian market.

It is difficult to say whether Henry or Charlotte was the first to come up with the idea of ​​making sets designed to demonstrate product samples. These sets in elegant packaging soon became the company's most popular products. Since then, it has become customary to combine products, creating series of them, or, as they now say, lines.

However, the ambitious Henry dreamed of producing perfumes that could compete with the most famous French ones. Having visited a number of European perfume manufacturers and secured supplies of flower essences, Genrikh Afanasyevich began producing the “Floral” cologne, the release of which was accompanied by a spectacular advertising campaign. At the All-Russian Industrial and Artistic Exhibition of 1882, a fountain was built from which cologne flowed instead of water. Visitors threw scarves and jackets into the fountain, and then smelled like flowers for a long time. Just like “People's Soap,” “Tsvetochny” became the first mass-produced cologne in Russia.

cologne "Floral"

When Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna came to the capital, at a reception in the Kremlin Palace, Henry decided to go all-in. Bowing low, he presented the distinguished guest with an exquisite bouquet of... wax. When the princess bowed her head to the flowers, her admiration knew no bounds - artificial roses, lilies of the valley, and daffodils smelled like real ones, each with its own scent! In response to the princess’s astonished exclamations that she had never seen such a miracle in all of Europe, Brocard modestly said: “In Europe, no, but in Moscow, there is.”

This step became the only right one for Brocard, since within a week he was awarded the title of supplier of the Russian Imperial Court, and the company’s turnover increased 40 times.

Although Brocard perfumery regularly received prizes and diplomas at international exhibitions, the best technologists in Europe worked at the company, it was not easy to win a place in the luxury perfume market. Brocard invented an elegant way to demonstrate to customers that they do not understand anything about good perfume. In the presence of witnesses, perfume from one of the most famous French companies, Lubren, was poured into Brocard bottles. The perfume went on sale, but a significant portion of the bottles were returned to the store with complaints of poor quality. Picky shoppers were publicly exposed for their inability to independently determine the quality of a perfume. This story has been widely used to prove that Russian perfumery is in fact on par with French perfumery.

In 1889, at an exhibition in Paris, the Persian Lilac perfume presented by Brocard received the Grand Prix. After a stunning triumph in France, they became the “number one perfume” in Russia. “Persian lilac” has been in great demand among all segments of the population for three decades. These perfumes were considered a sign of refined taste and good manners. Finally, Heinrich achieved his goal: he became a world-famous perfumer, and the company's turnover in mid-1900 was 2.5 million rubles.

However, in the year of triumph, Henry’s liver began to play havoc - a professional ailment for perfumers; while undergoing treatment in Cannes at the age of 64, the “maestro of smells” passed away.

By 1917, the Brocard firm, headed after his death first by Charlotte and then by their children, had reached its zenith. Its turnover increased 750 times. And even after 1917, without mentioning the founder, the company continued to produce products for dozens of Soviet years. Almost 140 years have passed since that memorable day in 1864, when the aroma of fragrant soap was first wafted onto the street from the former stables in Teply Lane. However, today this name continues its history. Or rather, this is a completely different story, but which is no less worthy than the beginning, a continuation of the most beautiful thing in the world: making people beautiful. And the name of this business today is Brocard Perfums.

The modern concern Brocard Parfums GmbH, preserving the tradition of serving beauty, represents today's largest network of multi-brand perfume and cosmetics stores in Ukraine (BROCARD). Each store, while maintaining its corporate style, has its own twist in interior design, which makes staying there a pleasure. Each of them presents lines of famous world brands - the widest range of perfumery and cosmetic products in the widest price segment.

Sales consultants who have undergone training with brand representatives are always ready to help in determining facial and body skin care tactics and developing a “seduction strategy.” Drawing on traditions dating back to the 19th century, BROCARD today gives all customers not only first-class products for every taste and budget, but also a great mood.

(1900-12-16 ) (61 years old) K:Wikipedia:Articles without images (type: not specified)

Heinrich (Henri) Afanasyevich Brocard(1836, Paris - December 3, 1900, Moscow) - Russian entrepreneur-perfumer and philanthropist of French origin. Collector of paintings and works of art.

Biography

He came from a wealthy family of French perfumer Atanas Brocard. Due to competition, the perfumer's family left for America and returned to France in 1850. In 1861 he moved to Russia, while retaining French citizenship. He was invited to the perfume factory of the industrialist Ghik, but soon decided to establish his own production.

Brocard and Co.

Brocard received the capital to open his own factory in Moscow after he sold his discovery (a new method of making concentrated perfumes) to the famous French company "Rure Bertrand" for 25,000 francs. On May 15, 1864, Brocard's enterprise was opened in Teply Lane in Moscow. Initially, only three people worked at the enterprise (Heinrich Brocard himself, Brocard’s student A.I. Burdakov and worker Gerasim). The factory produced only 60-120 bars of soap per day. The first product that the factory began to produce was “Children’s Soap” (each piece had an imprint of a letter of the Russian alphabet).

After the company’s products received two awards at Russian exhibitions and an honorary diploma in Philadelphia, his company Brocard and Co. (“Brocard and Co. Partnership” was founded in 1871, now “New Dawn”) was awarded the title of supplier to Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, Duchess of Edinburgh with the right “to use a monogram image of the Name of Her Imperial Highness on the sign.” Two company stores were opened: the first in 1872 (Nikolskaya Street, Bostanzhoglo House), the second in 1878 (Birzhevaya Square, Trinity Compound House).

Brocard's products were extremely popular. New types of soap have appeared: “Glycerin”, “Narodnoe” (1 kopeck per piece), “Mint soap”, “Russian soap”, “Coconut soap”, etc.

At the World Exhibition in Paris in 1878, the company's products were awarded a bronze medal. In 1882, the Brocard and Co. Partnership was awarded the highest, gold medal at the Industrial and Art Exhibition in Moscow, where it presented the “Floral Cologne” invented by Brocard.

Advertising

The success of Brokar and Co.'s products was facilitated by the fact that the cost of soap was very low, and the general population could buy it. In addition, Brokar's company became known for its advertising steps, which were unconventional for those times. For example, an elegant box with a perfume set (10 items in total) was released, which cost only 1 ruble. At an exhibition in Moscow, Brocard installed a “Floral Cologne” fountain to advertise his invention, which anyone could try. To convince wealthy buyers that Russian perfumes can be no worse than French ones, Brocard also resorted to various marketing tactics. To protect their products from counterfeits, Brocard's company began to use a special trademark, which was pasted on all products. By 1900, the company's turnover amounted to 2.5 million rubles.

Inventions. Collecting

Heinrich Brocard is also known as an inventor: he discovered a new method for making concentrated perfumes, studied the effect of perfumes on human emotions, invented several new scents, and was the first in Russia to start producing floral cologne. The Persian Lilac perfume, invented by Heinrich Brocard, enjoyed enormous success and popularity. For them, Brocard's company was awarded the "Great Gold Medal" at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1889.

He was known as a collector: since 1872 he collected bronze art, porcelain and ceramics, exhibiting his collections annually and spending all the proceeds from these exhibitions on charity. In addition, he collected a large collection of paintings by Flemish artists.

Family

His wife, Charlotte Andreevna Brocard, helped her husband in everything. The couple had children - sons and a daughter. Heinrich Brocard lived in Moscow for 39 years. Doctors insisted that he go to Cannes for treatment, where he died in December 1900. He was buried in the family crypt in the city of Provins near Paris.

"Partnership" after the death of Heinrich Brocard

After the death of Heinrich Brocard, the business was continued by his wife, sons and daughter. In 1913, the Brocard and Co. Partnership was awarded the title of supplier to the Court of His Imperial Majesty. To celebrate the tercentenary of the House of Romanov, the Brocards released the fragrance “The Empress’s Favorite Bouquet,” which took first place at the largest exhibitions abroad.

Awards from Heinrich Brocard

• 1865 Exhibition of Russian production in Moscow - "Silver Medal"
• 1870 Exhibition in Moscow - "Great Silver Medal"
• 1878 World Exhibition in Paris - "Bronze Medal"
• 1882 Industrial and Art Exhibition in Moscow - "Gold Medal"
• 1883 Trade and Industrial Exhibition in Riga - "Silver Medal"
• 1883 World Exhibition in Nice - "Gold Medal"
• 1884 All-Russian Exhibition in Odessa - "Big Silver Medal"
• 1884 World's Fair in Boston - "highest honor"
• 1885 World Exhibition in Antwerp - "Gold Medal"
• 1885 Silver medal from the Paris National Academy
• 1885 International Exhibition in Paris - "Gold Medal"
• 1887 All-Russian Mining Exhibition in Yekaterinburg - "Silver Medal"
• 1889 World Exhibition in Paris - "Great Gold Medal"
• 1890 International Exhibition in Madrid - "Gold Medal"
• 1890 Kazan exhibition - "The highest award (honorary diploma and star)"
• 1896 All-Russian exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod - "The highest award (State Emblem)"
• 1900 World Exhibition in Paris - "Highest Award"

Gallery

Brokar,c.1900.Unknown artist.jpg

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Literature

• Vainshtein O.B. Aromas and smells in culture. Book 2. - M, 2010.
• Golden anniversary of the partnership Brokar and Co. - M, 1914.
• The fascinating world of Moscow advertising of the 19th and early 20th centuries. - M, 1996.
• Chumakov V. Russian Capital. From the Demidovs to the Nobels. - M, 2008.
• Business Excellence Magazine, 2011 No. 5. Art. The first Russian perfumer

Links

Notes

An excerpt characterizing Brocard, Genrikh Afanasyevich

Having arrived at the porch of a large house near the horse guards barracks in which Anatole lived, he climbed onto the illuminated porch, onto the stairs, and entered the open door. There was no one in the hall; there were empty bottles, raincoats, and galoshes lying around; there was a smell of wine, and distant talking and shouting could be heard.
The game and dinner were already over, but the guests had not yet left. Pierre took off his cloak and entered the first room, where the remains of dinner were standing and one footman, thinking that no one was seeing him, was secretly finishing off unfinished glasses. From the third room you could hear fuss, laughter, screams of familiar voices and the roar of a bear.
About eight young people crowded anxiously around the open window. The three were busy with a young bear, which one was dragging on a chain, frightening the other with it.
- I'll give Stevens a hundred! - one shouted.
- Be careful not to support! - shouted another.
- I am for Dolokhov! - shouted the third. - Take them apart, Kuragin.
- Well, leave Mishka, there’s a bet here.
“One spirit, otherwise it’s lost,” shouted the fourth.
- Yakov, give me a bottle, Yakov! - shouted the owner himself, a tall handsome man standing in the middle of the crowd wearing only a thin shirt open at the middle of his chest. - Stop, gentlemen. Here he is Petrusha, dear friend,” he turned to Pierre.
Another voice of a short man with clear blue eyes, which was especially striking among all these drunken voices with its sober expression, shouted from the window: “Come here - settle the bet!” It was Dolokhov, a Semyonovsky officer, a famous gambler and brigand who lived with Anatole. Pierre smiled, looking around him cheerfully.
- I don’t understand anything. What's the matter?
- Wait, he's not drunk. Give me the bottle,” said Anatole and, taking a glass from the table, approached Pierre.
- First of all, drink.
Pierre began drinking glass after glass, looking from under his brows at the drunken guests who were again crowded at the window, and listening to their conversation. Anatole poured him wine and told him that Dolokhov was betting with the Englishman Stevens, a sailor who was here, that he, Dolokhov, would drink a bottle of rum while sitting on the third floor window with his legs hanging out.
- Well, drink it all! - said Anatole, handing the last glass to Pierre, - otherwise I won’t let you in!
“No, I don’t want to,” Pierre said, pushing Anatole away and went to the window.
Dolokhov held the Englishman’s hand and clearly, distinctly spelled out the terms of the bet, addressing mainly Anatole and Pierre.
Dolokhov was a man of average height, with curly hair and light blue eyes. He was about twenty-five years old. He did not wear a mustache, like all infantry officers, and his mouth, the most striking feature of his face, was completely visible. The lines of this mouth were remarkably finely curved. In the middle, the upper lip energetically dropped onto the strong lower lip like a sharp wedge, and something like two smiles constantly formed in the corners, one on each side; and all together, and especially in combination with a firm, insolent, intelligent gaze, it created such an impression that it was impossible not to notice this face. Dolokhov was a poor man, without any connections. And despite the fact that Anatole lived in tens of thousands, Dolokhov lived with him and managed to position himself in such a way that Anatole and everyone who knew them respected Dolokhov more than Anatole. Dolokhov played all the games and almost always won. No matter how much he drank, he never lost his clarity of mind. Both Kuragin and Dolokhov at that time were celebrities in the world of rakes and revelers in St. Petersburg.
A bottle of rum was brought; the frame that did not allow anyone to sit on the outer slope of the window was broken out by two footmen, apparently in a hurry and timid from the advice and shouts of the surrounding gentlemen.
Anatole walked up to the window with his victorious look. He wanted to break something. He pushed the lackeys away and pulled the frame, but the frame did not give up. He broke the glass.
“Well, how are you, strong man,” he turned to Pierre.
Pierre took hold of the crossbars, pulled, and with a crash the oak frame turned out.
“Get out, otherwise they’ll think I’m holding on,” said Dolokhov.
“The Englishman is bragging... huh?... good?...” said Anatole.
“Okay,” said Pierre, looking at Dolokhov, who, taking a bottle of rum in his hands, was approaching the window from which the light of the sky and the morning and evening dawns merging on it could be seen.
Dolokhov, with a bottle of rum in his hand, jumped up onto the window. "Listen!"
he shouted, standing on the windowsill and turning into the room. Everyone fell silent.
- I bet (he spoke French so that an Englishman could understand him, and did not speak this language very well). I bet you fifty imperials, would you like a hundred? - he added, turning to the Englishman.
“No, fifty,” said the Englishman.
- Okay, for fifty imperials - that I will drink the entire bottle of rum without taking it from my mouth, I will drink it while sitting outside the window, right here (he bent down and showed the sloping ledge of the wall outside the window) and without holding on to anything... So? ...
“Very good,” said the Englishman.
Anatole turned to the Englishman and, taking him by the button of his tailcoat and looking down at him (the Englishman was short), began repeating to him the terms of the bet in English.
- Wait! - Dolokhov shouted, banging the bottle on the window to attract attention. - Wait, Kuragin; listen. If anyone does the same, then I pay one hundred imperials. Do you understand?
The Englishman nodded his head, not giving any indication as to whether he intended to accept this new bet or not. Anatole did not let go of the Englishman and, despite the fact that he nodded, letting him know that he understood everything, Anatole translated Dolokhov’s words to him in English. A young thin boy, a life hussar, who had lost that evening, climbed onto the window, leaned out and looked down.
“Uh!... uh!... uh!...” he said, looking out the window at the stone sidewalk.
- Attention! - Dolokhov shouted and pulled the officer from the window, who, entangled in his spurs, awkwardly jumped into the room.
Having placed the bottle on the windowsill so that it would be convenient to get it, Dolokhov carefully and quietly climbed out the window. Dropping his legs and leaning both hands on the edges of the window, he measured himself, sat down, lowered his hands, moved to the right, to the left and took out a bottle. Anatole brought two candles and put them on the windowsill, although it was already quite light. Dolokhov's back in a white shirt and his curly head were illuminated from both sides. Everyone crowded around the window. The Englishman stood in front. Pierre smiled and said nothing. One of those present, older than the others, with a frightened and angry face, suddenly moved forward and wanted to grab Dolokhov by the shirt.
- Gentlemen, this is nonsense; he will be killed to death,” said this more prudent man.
Anatole stopped him:
“Don’t touch it, you’ll scare him and he’ll kill himself.” Eh?... What then?... Eh?...
Dolokhov turned around, straightening himself and again spreading his arms.
“If anyone else bothers me,” he said, rarely letting words slip through his clenched and thin lips, “I’ll bring him down here now.” Well!…
Having said “well”!, he turned again, let go of his hands, took the bottle and brought it to his mouth, threw his head back and threw his free hand up for leverage. One of the footmen, who began to pick up the glass, stopped in a bent position, not taking his eyes off the window and Dolokhov’s back. Anatole stood straight, eyes open. The Englishman, his lips thrust forward, looked from the side. The one who stopped him ran to the corner of the room and lay down on the sofa facing the wall. Pierre covered his face, and a weak smile, forgotten, remained on his face, although it now expressed horror and fear. Everyone was silent. Pierre took his hands away from his eyes: Dolokhov was still sitting in the same position, only his head was bent back, so that the curly hair of the back of his head touched the collar of his shirt, and the hand with the bottle rose higher and higher, shuddering and making an effort. The bottle was apparently emptied and at the same time rose, bending its head. “What’s taking so long?” thought Pierre. It seemed to him that more than half an hour had passed. Suddenly Dolokhov made a backward movement with his back, and his hand trembled nervously; this shudder was enough to move the entire body sitting on the sloping slope. He shifted all over, and his hand and head trembled even more, making an effort. One hand rose to grab the window sill, but dropped again. Pierre closed his eyes again and told himself that he would never open them. Suddenly he felt that everything around him was moving. He looked: Dolokhov was standing on the windowsill, his face was pale and cheerful.

Mar 04 2012

Perfumer Heinrich Brocard (1837-1900)

Even as a child, Heinrich Brocard discovered an incredible gift; one day Papa Brocard was throwing his rosy-cheeked little one up in the air with great pleasure, and he was laughing in his father’s arms and suddenly asked:

- Dad, what makes you smell so amazing?

“The delicate aroma of your mother’s perfume,” answered the father. “Darling,” he turned to his wife, “look at the nose our baby has!” He will definitely become a perfumer!

At the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries, all of cultural Russia knew. A Frenchman by birth, Brocard came to Russia in 1861 and three years later founded his own soap production. But relations with Russia were not straightforward. Genrikh Afanasyevich Brocard hated Russia and never hid it. “When leaving Russia abroad,” he wrote to his wife, “you experience the feeling of taking off a dirty shirt and putting on a clean one.” It was impossible for him to live in Russia, but he couldn’t work in any other country either... It turns out that You can not love a country and still benefit it.

... Heinrich Brocard got to Russia the hard way. His father, Atanas Brocard, sold a perfume shop located in the very center of Paris - on the Champs-Elysees, and moved with his family to America. The reason for leaving was increased competition among Parisian traders of aromatic products. France during the Second Empire was experiencing a period of economic growth, with large companies absorbing small ones. Atanas Brocard's business was too small, and the overseas market seemed untapped and therefore tempting.

However, things did not work out for Brocard Sr. in the USA either: the settlers who inhabited the continent were not yet ready to spend money on such things as cleanliness and aroma. For several years, Atanas honestly tried to instill in Americans a love of soap, but he failed. In the end, he became sad, started drinking and returned to Paris. The sons were not going to give up. The eldest decided to “finish off” America, and the youngest, Henri, went to wander around the world, looking for a place where his perfumery talents would find application. Quite unexpectedly, such a place turned out to be a distant and vast northern country, about which the young man had the vaguest idea.

But the invitation to work received from an old acquaintance of my father, the famous French perfumer Geek, who had just opened his own factory in Moscow, was worthy of attention. And in 1861, 24-year-old Henri moved to Moscow, where they began to call him Genrikh Atanasovich or Genrikh Afanasyevich. Historians of entrepreneurship and biographers of Heinrich Brocard have still not figured out the motives for this action, but perhaps he sensed the enormous potential of the new market.

Russia really looked extremely attractive for perfumers. There were ancient bathhouse traditions in Rus'. Representatives of all classes invariably once a week (usually on Saturday) visited the baths and steamed until exhaustion. But most Russians at that time washed themselves with lye, made homemade from stove ash. Good soap was imported from abroad and was available only to members of the upper class. And simpler people, at best, used a cleaning agent, the appearance of which became a proverb:

“Soap is black, but washes white.”

By that time, when in Russia they did not even imagine that soap could have any color other than black, Atanas Brocard had already patented a method for making transparent soap.

The impressions from the first date with Moscow were the most unpleasant. The Frenchman saw dirty men in patched sheepskin coats, smug and stupid officials, drunken merchants. It smelled of fumes and sauerkraut. And this stench followed the scent-sensitive perfumer everywhere. However, the salary he received from Gik was significantly more than what he could count on if he worked in Europe. And so I had to endure it.

And to unwind only by meeting a few Europeans, even if not the French, but at least the Belgians. Brokar could talk to them in his native language, complain about the damp Moscow weather, the barbaric customs of the Muscovites, remember Europe...

The young Frenchman felt best in the house of a Belgian who owned a store of surgical instruments, Thomas Rave.

There were many reasons for this, but the main one was Thomas’s daughter, the beautiful Charlotte.

Being a Frenchman to the tips of his nails, Henry approached the issue of marriage pragmatically: his future wife must be businesslike, economical, intelligent and necessarily sociable; it is important that she knows French and Russian well and can be a translator and secretary for her husband (Henry himself had no desire to study the barbarian language, he taught it out of necessity, and spoke with a terrible accent all his life). Charlotte possessed all these qualities: she received a good education in one of the Moscow boarding houses for noble maidens, where, in addition to music, artistic embroidery, dances and manners, she acquired knowledge of several foreign languages, the basics of mathematics and the basics of accounting. Besides, she was beautiful.

Thomas, her father, looked closely at the ambitious Frenchman with interest: his daughter was already of marriageable age. As soon as Thomas Rave introduced his daughter Charlotte to Heinrich, he was fascinated by her from the very first minute, but the girl’s heart was already occupied by the famous singer. However, Brocard did not give up. At one of his home concerts, he brings a basket of wax violets to Rava and asks him to put them on the piano. The insidious perfumer knew the secrets of bewitching smells. As it turned out, the smell of violets has a detrimental effect on the ligaments, as a result of which Mademoiselle Charlotte’s beloved disgraced himself by giving birth to a rooster, after which he disappeared in an unknown direction.

They got married according to Catholic custom - despite the fact that in patriarchal Russia conversion to Orthodoxy promised numerous benefits, Henry and Charlotte did not change their faith.

Now that my personal life was settled, I could start my own business. But we need at least some capital. Brocard received good money from Gik, but this money was not enough for a serious undertaking. But I wanted something serious. While his wife was carrying their first child, Henry was inventing. He mixed, evaporated... and a year later he invented a new method for producing concentrated perfumes. Realizing that you couldn’t find profitable buyers for this type of product in Russia, he quickly went to France, where he sold the invention for 25,000 francs to the famous Ruhr Bertrand company. Using the proceeds, he opened a soap factory in Moscow. So Brocard, in today's language, found his market niche.

The factory of 25-year-old businessman Heinrich Brocard opened in 1864 in Teply Lane in Moscow. However, a factory is a strong word. The premises of the former stables were hastily prepared for production needs. He hired two workers, Gerasim and Alexei, bought two boilers and turned to the city government with a request to allow him to make soap. And, as often happens in Russia, I encountered the unexpected: the profession of “perfumer” was not listed in the nomenclature lists of the Crafts Council. Officials spent a long time racking their brains about which article to use for soap making, and finally assigned Heinrich Brocard to the “paramedic workshop.”

Having received official permission for his activities, the young entrepreneur set to work the very next day. The owner directly supervised the technological process and was not afraid to get his hands dirty (lessons from American business had an impact). On the very first day, 60 pieces of soap were brewed, which were called “Children’s” and were neat fragrant bars, each of which had one of the letters of the Russian alphabet embossed on it. Thanks to this original idea and low price (Brokar's first soap was three times cheaper than competitors' soap, not to mention foreign goods), the young company's products were immediately noticed and became popular. Later, many Russians admitted that “they learned to read from Brocard.”

At first, Brocard himself delivered the products to the merchants in a carriage, but a year later the merchants began to visit the stable to intercept a shipment of popular goods. The names of the first buyers have been preserved - merchants Smirnov, Dunaev and Damtin. But no matter how hard the newly minted perfumer tried, the soap was not in demand. The revenue was 2–3 rubles. Charlotte knew that Russian aristocrats used soap ordered from France, and felt that it was more correct to focus on ordinary people.

But ordinary people don't buy soap.

So the problem is to get them interested in buying soap. She suggests creating cheap soap for kids in the form of bunnies, dogs and cats, for older children - with letters of the alphabet, and for adults - multi-colored soap in the form of vegetables. Even in these days of perfume abundance, soap of various forms makes an excellent souvenir. And in those days, with a price of one penny, it gained unprecedented popularity. “With this penny you will get your million!” – Charlotte promised her husband and she turned out to be right.

Following the “Children’s” came the transparent “Glycerin”, the round “Sharom” and the green cucumber-shaped “Cucumber”. But the real hit of the company was the Narodnoye soap. A piece of “Narodny”, which was quite normal in quality, cost 1 kopeck, and in bulk it was even cheaper. At the same time, competitors’ prices did not drop below 30 kopecks. It is not surprising that even peasants who had never used soap before began to buy Narodnoye in boxes at fairs.

At different times, such varieties as “Yantarnoe”, “Medovoye”, “Rozovoe”, “Greek” and “Spermaceti” entered the market. The last two were more expensive (40-60 kopecks per piece) and became popular among the wealthiest public. These types of soap were followed by coconut soap, according to Brocard's grandfather's recipe - 5 kopecks each and round soap. These stamps received a silver medal at the Exhibition of Russian Production in Moscow in 1865. The success of Brocard's undertaking was fantastic. Wholesalers spent their days and nights near the factory gates, almost all the products went off the rails.

The popularity of the new detergent was so great that already in 1866 Brocard was able to move from the former stable to a spacious factory in Presnya. By the way, he moved without fulfilling his obligations to Mrs. Favorskaya, who rented him the stable. “I still don’t see any decoration in the stable where you were thinking of making your factory,” the indignant housewife wrote to her irresponsible employer. “Let me ask you, when will you finish the stable?”

But even after expanding, the company could not cope with the constantly growing demand.

Brocard’s dream was coming true: Russia began to wash itself with soap, and more and more “Narodny” was needed. I even had to get permission to install a steam engine. But this soon turned out to be not enough: despite the fact that “Narodnoye” accounted for almost nine-tenths of the factory’s total output, it was still not enough.

In September 1869, the factory moved again. This time - to the former Musil estate. The new address of the Brokar company was: Moscow, Brokar soap factory behind the Serpukhov Gate, on the corner of Arsenyevsky Lane and Mytnaya Street. In several stone buildings, a mass was boiled, steamed, mixed, crumbled, designed to wash Russia, bring it to European standards.

But it wasn’t just soap that was poured here. In addition to the penny “People’s” soap (which gave far from penny income), Brocard began producing also penny “People’s” lipstick and powder. Charlotte suggested this clever move to the manufacturer.

Now a peasant who had done well at the fair could buy his wife and daughters a whole set as a gift: three useful items in elegant colored packaging - and for only 3 kopecks.

To expand production, it was necessary to quickly transfer the company to the category of partnership. Brocard began an intensive search for his “comrade.” In fact, there were many who wanted to invest money in promising production, but it is not difficult to guess for what reason Genrikh Afanasyevich preferred the Saxon, merchant of the second guild Vasily Rudolfovich German, living in Moscow, to Russian millionaire merchants, and the capital was only 10,000 rubles. These thousands were deposited in the bank into the account of the newly formed partnership. They did not stay in the bank for long: a week after signing the agreement with Herman, the enterprising Brocard “let” his estate to the joint firm for 5,000 rubles a year for ten years at once.

And a year later, “Trading House Brokar and Co.” opened its first company store on Nikolskaya Street, in the house of a Greek citizen Bostanzhoglo.

Living in Russia and being completely isolated from Russia was quite difficult.

Sometimes Henry had to meet with Russians. How could you not meet, for example, with the Grand Duchess (and Duchess of Edinburgh) Maria Alexandrovna, who visited Moscow in the summer of 1873?

The dashing Frenchman not only met her, but completely won her heart. When a woman at 69 years old is presented with a bouquet of lilies of the valley and violets, it cannot but enchant. And even if the flowers in the bouquet are not real, but made from colored wax, they are scented with special aromatic essences compiled personally by Brocard (several bottles were included with the bouquet in reserve).

A few months later, the Moscow governor-general received a paper from Count Adlerberg, which stated: “The Sovereign Emperor has most deigned to allow the Moscow perfume manufacturer and merchant, French citizen Heinrich Brocard, to be called the supplier of the Empress Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, with the right to use the monogram image of Her Name on the sign.” Imperial Highness."

Such a privilege came at a price. Moreover, considering that it was during this period that Brocard’s company was in a state of real war with pirates. Underground syndicates did their best to “help” Brocard in the production of super-popular “folk” varieties, giving out tons of low-quality products per day. Even the special stickers invented by the manufacturer and printed in the factories of the Ministry of Finance, which guaranteed the authenticity of the products, did not stop the dashing businessmen: the pirates learned to stamp almost the same ones.

But the forgery of “Her Highness’s monogram” transferred the case from a simple criminal or civil case to one hundred percent hard labor.

Having protected himself from uninvited helpers, Brocard tirelessly invented more and more new varieties of soap. Having invited the most famous soap laboratory technician of that time, the Frenchman Chevalier, in less than six years he put on the market soap “Mint”, “Russian”, “Coconut”, “National”, “Rural”, “French”, “Spermaceti” , “Theatrical”, “Dining” and even “Electric”.

Not a single major event in the life of the empire took place without Brocard timing the release of a new type of soap. For exhibitions, at which the company's products invariably took prizes, "Vystavochnoe" soap was brewed, for fairs - "Fair" soap, for anniversaries, colorfully packaged "Yubileinoe" was made, for ladies - "Damskoe", for men - "Men's". At the beginning of the Russian-Turkish War, “Military” soap appeared on sale, and on the day when Russian troops entered Plevna victoriously, “Bouquet of Plevna” lipstick appeared on perfume counters - Brocard always prepared for such events in advance.

Muscovites quickly got used to Brocard's products. Heinrich Brocard realized that one company store was not enough, and in 1878 he opened a second one, on Birzhevaya Square.

The discovery was accompanied by a huge scandal, the fault of which was Charlotte. It was she, holding on to her idea of ​​“holiday sets,” who suggested that her husband make a set that would include all types of their products. An advertisement appeared in the newspapers notifying customers that on the opening day the new store would offer sets for sale, including: premium perfume, cologne, lustrine for hair, toilet vinegar, Vaseline, Swan's Down powder, powder puff, sachet, lipstick and soap - and all this will be sold at a price of 1 ruble per box. As a result, at the request of the authorities, the store had to be closed at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, since the mounted police could not contain the crowd of people wanting to stock up on the fabulous selection. Fortunately, there were no casualties, but several battered ladies had to be hospitalized for a short time. In six hours of work, more than 2,000 sets were sold, that is, five to six boxes were sold per minute.

In 1882, Brocard finally achieved his goal, making the people smell, not stink.

For a whole month, one particular scent reigned in Moscow. Especially for this, the perfumer developed a cunning plan that combined the latest achievements of the aromatic industry and mankind’s love for various kinds of freebies.

It all started with the fact that for the next exhibition, Heinrich Brocard (with the help of the young but promising perfumer Ferrand, recently brought from France) secretly produced a new cologne from competitors, the smell of which was lily of the valley, carnation and jasmine. The new secret development received this name: “Floral” cologne.

And at the opening of the exhibition, a fountain of new cologne began to flow in the pavilion of the Brocard company. Access to the fountain was free, and people, taking the opportunity, not only smeared themselves with free cologne, but even dipped items of clothing in it: women - hats and veils, men - jackets. Many visitors to the exhibition returned here several times, bringing with them new things. Of course, the “Floral” cologne received first prize, and the aroma of lily of the valley, cloves and jasmine hovered over Moscow for a long time.

Heinrich Brocard continued to fight.

Now not with Russian pirates, but with compatriots, the French, who increasingly brazenly began to meddle in the Russian territory they had long ago staked out with such difficulty.

Having developed a taste for perfume, Russians turned towards the West. And they began to order the best soap, perfume, lipstick, etc. from France. At the same time, everything that was produced in Russia already seemed worse, “non bien”. Although Brocard's products beat such whales as Legrand or Bertrand at international exhibitions, this did not count: it was not made in Paris - therefore “not good.”

This infuriated Brocard: he worked, he tried, but others will skim the cream? This could not be tolerated.

And Brocard went for a provocation. Having purchased a batch of the best perfume from the famous Parisian company Lubin, he, in the presence of witnesses and a notary, poured them into his own bottles and put them up for sale. Everything was calculated with impeccable precision: after using a little of the pseudo-Brocard perfume, the buyers brought the products back to the store and, declaring that “the quality of the product is low and cannot be compared with Paris,” they demanded their money back. In the store, these customers were shown notarized “overflow” protocols, and then what could they do? Admit that they do not understand perfumes, or admit that Brocard's products are superior in quality to Lubin's. The cunning Russians chose the second. Soon a report on the provocation appeared in all central publications of the empire.

Despite all the efforts of Brocard, Russia did not want to turn into France. It remained Russia. And he wanted to live in Paris, but make money in Russia. Therefore, he created little France within the walls of his home.

Here everyone spoke only French, there were only French books on the shelves, and in the kitchen a French cook prepared exclusively French dishes. French tutors took care of the children. The children were French subjects and even served in the French army.

When the time came to marry off their eldest daughter Evgenia, they did not look for a groom for long, because there was little choice: Russian merchants and nobles who wanted to become related to the Brocards (Heinrich Brocard was already a millionaire) were not taken into account, so that same Ferran was chosen as a husband. who helped Brocard set up the production of “Flower” cologne.

Of course, the house of a true Frenchman should be distinguished by grace.

Brocard bought several paintings from the Flemish school back in the early 1870s.

He soon became the main competitor of Moscow collectors.

“Here,” the famous antique dealer Barykov told his customers, “they carry it and take it... When he (Brocard) is in Moscow, you won’t see many things either on Sukhareva or at the antique dealers on Pankratyevsky Lane: as soon as they buy something, they immediately drag it to Brokar, and he buys everything. And where does he have so much money? But since Brocard is not there, there are more things in the markets, and the prices are not the same: the sellers directly say: “Buy while Brocard is not in Moscow, but when Brocard comes, you won’t find them, and he will give a different price - much more expensive.” "".

Indeed, Brocard bought everything and never skimped. Once I bought a smoked board with some kind of design on Sukharevka, sat on it on the way home, and it broke in two. But it turned out that it was Durer’s original. Restoration was not the issue. Brocard not only loved art, he loved it very actively. There were terrible stories among Moscow collectors - about how the Frenchman himself covered up a cat in one of the old paintings that, in his opinion, did not fit into the composition, or how he “disguised” the lady in the portrait with what he thought was too indecent neckline. Starting with painting, the perfumer expanded his requests, buying sculpture, furniture, and candlesticks at the same time...

When the house was already overflowing with antiques in the early 1890s, the frightened Charlotte demanded that her husband either calm down his collecting fervor or allocate a separate room for the collection.

I no longer had the strength to calm down, I had to open my own gallery. And not just anywhere, but in the Upper Trading Rows (now GUM). If you believe the News of the Day newspaper, which published a report on the opening of a new elegant gallery on March 22, 1891, among the 5,000 pieces of art on display were: “... portraits of rulers and kings of all eras... masterpieces of painting from all schools, trends and eras... antique porcelain - Sevres, Saxon and Russian; sculptural groups from Sèvres; furniture in the Boulle style, jardiniere pouffe from the era of Catherine II; original shell paintings... earrings of all times... bronze statues of different times, between which are two figurines made of solid pieces of ivory... ivory items... miniatures, mosaics, ladies' trinkets of rare shapes, inlaid items... 1000 watercolors of various schools and eras, fabrics and embroidery from different times, silver-gilded harness with birch, a collection of ancient weapons... a Louis XVI living room, a white marble room set, panels and frescoes... a ladies' dining room set... a whole collection of candelabra, vases, clocks from different times, tapestries... snuff boxes, French fans... silver services, a ball with porcelain figurines... crystal, glass, coats of arms of various noble families..."

In terms of scope, the new gallery in Moscow was in third place, right after the Museum of Fine Arts and the Tretyakov Brothers Art Gallery, and even surpassed them in terms of attendance.

The apotheosis of Heinrich Brocard's work was the World Exhibition of 1900, held in his historical homeland - Paris. The products of the Brokar and Co. Partnership received the highest award there - the Grand Prix. Isn’t this the best evidence of the appreciation of the gift of our hero - a businessman and technologist, a brave innovator and a patriot of his second homeland - Russia.

Charlotte once asked her husband if he would like to return to Paris? To which he replied: “I will return to France to die, but I can only live and work in Russia.”

And so it happened... In mid-1899, doctors found Heinrich Brocard had cirrhosis of the liver and dropsy. They advised me to immediately go “to the waters,” which could extend my life by a year and a half. But he went to France. There Brocard, a Russian Frenchman, a millionaire, spent several months and returned to Moscow. I spent several months in Moscow and then went back to France. Genrikh Afanasyevich Brokar died on December 3, 1900 in Moscow. The funeral service was held for him in the Catholic Church of St. Louis, on Lubyanka. And they buried him in his homeland, in the town of Provins, near Paris, in the family crypt.

The Brocard and Co. partnership with a turnover of 2.5 million rubles passed to his widow Charlotte Andreevna.

Until the revolution, the Brocard business was continued by their sons. Charlotte Brocard did not live to see nationalization.

Alexander and Emilius got down to business very energetically and by 1913 they ensured that the family firm received the highest title in Russia, “supplier to the court of His Imperial Majesty.” This was the year of celebration of the tercentenary of the Romanov dynasty. The Brocards could not ignore such an event, and for the anniversary the perfume went on sale, which later took first place in almost all international exhibitions. The perfume was called “The Empress’s Favorite Bouquet”

In 1917, the factory was nationalized: the legendary “Brocard Empire” turned into the “Zamoskvoretsky Perfume and Soap Factory No. 5.” Michel could not stand such disgrace and in 1922 made a proposal. It’s not a good idea to call a perfumery enterprise that recently had well-deserved world fame. If the Bolsheviks really want new traditions and solutions, let them call the factory “New Dawn”.

So, with the light hand of another old French perfumer, “Empire Brocard” became “New Dawn”. Michel made a new proposal: “The perfume “The Empress’s Favorite Bouquet” can be renamed “Red Moscow.” And the people in leather jackets agreed again.

The red and white packaging design proposed by the artist Evseev for the entire Red Moscow perfume line has remained unchanged since 1925. The figured bottle in the shape of the Kremlin Tower contains the dreams of Heinrich Brocard, Empress Maria Feodorovna and the dreams of many Russian beauties who have long departed from us. Now it’s hard to believe that the Russian perfume factory performed on par with the French ones and was awarded the highest awards at prestigious exhibitions.

Naturally, the manufacturing technology at New Dawn changed - the Soviet perfume industry was unable to preserve the legendary recipes. And today, the former perfume “The Empress’s Favorite Bouquet” now has a slightly bitter smell. In those years, “Red Moscow” turned from an expensive perfume for the elite into an affordable thing.

Moscow inhabitants Vostryshev Mikhail Ivanovich

Service to magical aromas. Perfumer Heinrich Afanasievich Brocard (1836–1900)

One of the cultural phenomena of the 19th century is the development of perfumery - the production of soap, lipstick, perfume, cologne, and powder. And if previously all these luxury goods came to Rus' from abroad, now in the cities of the Russian Empire there have appeared people nicknamed the French word “perfumer,” which is strange to the Russian ear. They tried to replace it with “dushmyanik”, but it didn’t take root because the incense was brought from abroad. From distant Paris came blush for the face, dough for hands, brain pomade for hair growth, water for rinsing the mouth and other similar products that a man would not have taken for free. Little by little, domestic manufacturers became bolder and began to produce something similar, but they could not compete with the Europeans, despite the cheapness of their products.

The first who taught Muscovites not to disdain domestic incense and hygiene products was the chief laboratory assistant of the Gike perfume factory, Genrikh Afanasyevich Brokar, who settled in the city in 1862. Having soon married Charlotte Rave, the daughter of a Belgian citizen who ran a store of surgical instruments on Nikitskaya Street, he began to think that it was time for him, a hereditary perfumer, to open his own establishment. I had to go to Paris to sell my invention there - a method for making canned perfume. With the money raised in 1864, Genrikh Afanasyevich opened a small workshop in Teply Lane. Apart from the owner, only two people worked in it - soap maker Alexey Burdokov and worker Gerasim. At first, all the equipment consisted of a stone mortar, a stove and three pans, with the help of which it was possible to prepare about a hundred pieces of soap a day.

Things went well, the buyers liked the soap, and soon Brocard was able to rent a larger premises on Zubovsky Boulevard, and in the fall of 1864 move to his own house behind the Serpukhov Gate, on the corner of Arsenyevsky Lane and Mytnaya Street. Here, the factory of the Brokar and Co. partnership, which over time became famous and huge in area, existed until 1922, when its premises were given to Goznak.

Heinrich Brocard traveled to France almost every year to learn about perfumery news and use it in his production. Thanks to his extensive knowledge, talent and love for his chosen profession, the factory received more and more income every year. Soaps “Children’s”, “Narodnoe”, “Cucumber”, thanks to their amazing quality and low cost, have become popular throughout Russia. For retail sales, Genrikh Afanasyevich opens stores in the houses of Bostanzhoglo on Nikolskaya Street and the Trinity Compound on Birzhevaya Square.

But what does a good product mean when there is no advertising! Brocard produced perfume sets in beautiful boxes, supplied bottles of perfume and cologne with colorful labels with drawings on themes of Russian life, and when the Russian-Turkish War of 1877–1878 broke out, he began producing soap and lipstick under the name “Bouquet of Plevna.” In order to attract the attention of ordinary people to his products, he did not spare money, and at the All-Russian Industrial Exhibition in Moscow in 1882 he even built a fountain from “Flower” cologne, where everyone could perfume for free not only their face, but also their dress or jacket. Thanks to the constant search for new scents, high-quality raw materials and the tireless work of hundreds of craftsmen, the Brocard and Co. 0 partnership receives gold medals for its products at world exhibitions in Paris, Boston, Antwerp, becomes a supplier to the Court of the Spanish King, and is awarded the highest award in Russia for the production of domestic goods - the right to depict the State Emblem on its products.

Genrikh Afanasyevich left this mortal coil on December 3, 1900, leaving to his children and companions a factory generating up to two million rubles in annual income. The widow turned his unique collection of paintings, porcelain, bronze, furniture, and ancient books into a permanent Moscow museum. Not only the foreign and democratic press published obituaries about him, but even conservatives, who disliked everything foreign, regretted the death of the enterprising Frenchman on the pages of newspapers.

“Yesterday in France in Cannes the funeral of Muscovite G. A. Brocard took place,” wrote a reporter from Moskovsky Listok. - I use the word “Muscovite” not without intention. A Frenchman by birth, a newcomer to Moscow, the late Brocard was nevertheless a Muscovite... This man, who enjoyed wide and good popularity in Moscow, had three main qualities: a strong industrial mind, a sincere love for art and a living kindness of soul.”

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The first perfumer of Russia

In the first half of the 19th century, someone was born in France who was to become one of the most famous, and then completely forgotten ladies' men. He pleased and continues to please absolutely all ladies and maidens, widows and even empresses, regardless of their age, marital status and, moreover, without ever meeting them.

Even as a child, Henri Brocard discovered an incredible gift; one day, Papa Brocard was throwing up his rosy-cheeked little one with great pleasure, and he was laughing in his father’s arms and suddenly asked:

Dad, what makes you smell so amazing?

“The gentle aroma of your mother’s perfume,” answered the father.

“Darling,” he turned to his wife, “look at the nose our baby has!” He will definitely become a perfumer!

Who else should he become if everyone in the Brocard family were excellent perfumers? - remarked Brocard’s aunt, who had previously been sitting quietly in a corner of an armchair.

But how to get to the heights of perfume fame and good income in France, where there are no fewer perfumers than Christmas trees in the forest?

The elder Brocard put his son on the floor, and his face darkened. Of course, the boy undoubtedly has talent, and his father will certainly pass on to him some of the secrets of their subtle, elegant art of composing exquisite aromas. But Aunt Janelle, whatever one may say, is right: it is not so easy for a perfumer to make his way in France, which is considered the leading perfume power, even with the solid support of the glorious name of his ancestors.

Aunt Janelle gave little Henri an idea: everyone can make a wish and see a magical prophetic dream on Christmas Eve, if the Lord sends him a blessing, and it just happened to be Christmas Eve. She suggested that he go to bed early and pray well before going to bed.

The morning came sunny, with a clear blue sky and invigorating coolness. Everyone in the family received gifts and gathered for a festive breakfast. Placing goose pate on little Henri's plate, old Janelle, as if by chance, asked what he saw in his dream? The kid replied that he saw an unfamiliar, huge city covered with snow. He doesn't know what it's called, but it's very far from Paris. And he also saw a strange bouquet of flowers: they gave off an unearthly aroma that made his head spin easily and pleasantly. The father asked if he remembered this smell, but the mother asked not to deprive the boy of a fairy tale.

Henri grew up as a smart and enterprising young man. He received a good education, understood chemistry, perfumery and commerce, but, as Janelle said, in France it turned out to be incredibly difficult to get to the top. Then young Henri Brocard decided to take a risk: he asked his father for money and said that he was leaving. The father asked where?

And Henri told his father that his friend Georges Nicole was going to Russia: he intended to establish fashionable dress shops in St. Petersburg. And he decided to keep him company on the road and open a perfume business in Moscow with production and its own trade.

The father, after thinking, agreed with the trip, hoping that his son would not disgrace the glorious name of Brokarov.

Andrei Afanasyevich (as the native of France, the son of the Parisian shopkeeper Atanas Brocard was sometimes called in Moscow) lived in Moscow for 39 years - from 1861 almost until his death in 1899. It was here that he achieved fantastic popularity and became one of the most successful entrepreneurs in post-reform Russia.

Russia really looked extremely attractive for perfumers. There were ancient bathhouse traditions in Rus'.
Representatives of all classes invariably once a week (usually on Saturday) visited the baths and steamed until exhaustion. But most Russians at that time washed themselves with lye, made homemade from stove ash. Good soap was imported from abroad and was available only to members of the upper class. And simpler people, at best, used a cleaning agent, the appearance of which became a proverb: “Soap is black, but washes white.”

Having settled in Russia, Henri Brocard worked for about a year and a half as a hired technologist in the representative office of one of the French perfume companies and invented a new method for making perfume concentrate. This was a very promising discovery, promising the author a substantial bonus. But he committed an act incomprehensible to his colleagues - he sold the invention to the perfume company "Ruhr Bertrand" for 25 thousand francs and, with the proceeds, and with secrets from his father and grandfather, opened a soap factory in Moscow. This is how Brocard found his market niche.

It should be noted that in Moscow, Anri Afanasyevich committed another extremely important act in his life. He married a Moscow young lady, Charlotte Reve, a Belgian by birth.From the very first minute, Henri was fascinated by her, but the problem was that the girl’s heart was already occupied by a famous singer. So did Brocard give up? Nothing happened! With the appearance of a lamb he brings on home concert brings a basket of wax violets and asks to put them on the piano. Oh those perfumers! Even Thais of Athens knew the secrets of bewitching smells. And what about the honeysuckle perfume with droplets of the king’s sweat, which the Marquise of Pompadour ordered from her chemists to keep Louis XV... Even Napoleon, who asked Josephine not to wash before their meetings, used two bottles of Cologne water per day (hence the name - cologne), invented by Florentine monks back in 1608. But perfumes could also become poison, as in the days of the royal poisoners of the Medici family. True, in the case of Henri Brocard, it didn’t come to this, thank God. As it turned out, the smell of violets has a detrimental effect on the ligaments, as a result, Mademoiselle Charlotte's beloved... disgraced himself by giving birth to a rooster. After which, naturally, he disappeared in an unknown direction. After a couple of months of continuous courtship, the cunning perfumer confessed his love to the girl. But the groom’s salary of one hundred and twenty rubles did not suit Thomas Rave at all: “Lotta is beyond your means!” However, Henri Brocard is not the man to stop halfway. He goes to France and, as already mentioned, sells his know-how there to the French company Ruhr Bertrand for twenty-five thousand francs. Henri Afanasyevich returns to Russia as a rich man, and in the fall of 1862, nineteen-year-old Charlotte gets married.

Perhaps this was the most successful step in Brocard’s life, which greatly influenced his business. Charlotte Andreevna had an excellent command of the Russian language and organically fit into Moscow reality. All her life she helped her husband in business: she came up with new brands, names of product groups, developed packaging designs and even negotiated with partners.

The factory of 25-year-old businessman Henri Brocard opened in 1864 in Teply Lane, Moscow. However, a factory is a strong word. The premises of the former stables were hastily prepared for production needs. And the first batches of soap came out of the walls, which smelled of horse manure. The owner himself directly supervised the technological process and was not afraid to get his hands dirty (lessons from American business had an impact). Besides him, two more took part in making soap - student Alexey Burdikov, a future famous master, and worker Gerasim.

Brocard's brainchild initially produced up to 60 bars of soap a day. The names of the first buyers - merchants Smirnov, have been preserved,
Dunaeva and Damtina. But no matter how hard the newly minted manufacturer tried, soap was not in demand.
enjoyed it. The proceeds amounted to two or three rubles. What to do? Charlotte intervened. Using the example of her friend Dolly, she knew that aristocrats use only soap ordered from France... So, the perfumer’s wife decides, we will focus on ordinary people. But here's the problem - they don't take soap at all. And then Charlotte comes up with an advertising and marketing ploy: she proposes to create cheap soap for kids in the form of bunnies, dogs and cats, and for older children - with letters of the alphabet! According to eyewitnesses, many young Muscovites learned to read using the “Brocard alphabet.” Brocard also prepared a lot of interesting things for adults. Initially, he relied on producing soap for all social groups. “Narodnoe” cost only a penny, but these were not frightening black shapeless pieces, but quite modern scented soap of a neat rectangular shape.
Quickly realizing that a fight with competitors could not be avoided (French and German soap began to be imported into Russia from abroad), Anri Afanasyevich mastered the production of figured products, giving them strange but memorable names. In addition, for adults, Charlotte came up with multi-colored soap in the form of vegetables. (By the way, it was the Brocards who first began to use environmentally friendly dyes of plant origin). Such soap could well serve, for example, as a gift for men selling at a fair... Agree, even in these days of perfume abundance, unusual soap is an excellent souvenir, both for a child and for an adult

Such a treasure cost Brocard only one kopeck.

“With this penny you will get your million!” - said Charlotte, and she turned out to be right. Penny soap began to enjoy unprecedented popularity. And behind him came Grandfather’s coconut for five kopecks. In addition, Brocard invented the round soap “Sharom”, which, together with “Narodny”, received a silver medal at the Exhibition of Russian Production in Moscow in 1865. Soap "Ball" was made in the form of a ball 1 inch in diameter, "Cucumber" was shaped like a real cucumber and was also green in color. At different times, such varieties as “Yantarnoe”, “Medovoe”, “Rozovoe”, “Greek” and “Spermaceti” entered the market. The last two were more expensive (40-60 kopecks per piece) and became popular among the wealthiest public. Quite quickly, the walls of the former stables became too small for the growing business. Brocard moved production first to Zubovsky Boulevard, then to Presnya. And in 1869, a specially built factory for the production of cosmetic and perfume products was opened behind the Serpukhov outpost. Fragrant goods are still produced there to this day. Now this is JSC “New Dawn”, well known in the country.

The success of Brocard's undertaking was fantastic. Wholesalers spent day and night near the factory gates, trying to quickly order a new batch of soap, shampoo or lipstick (Anri Afanasyevich also began producing these products for the general consumer masses). The products of the Moscow factory began to conquer the all-Russian market. It is not surprising that fakes appeared. Brocard quickly figured out how to deal with them by introducing a special label for all types of his goods. This was the first time the marking was used in Russia.

Already in the 70s, Henri Brocard thought about expanding his business. In his thoughts, the project of producing perfume and cologne loomed more and more clearly. It was a completely different business. Wealthy buyers had long been accustomed to foreign products, but commoners could not afford cologne. It was necessary to solve two problems: reduce production costs and push aside foreign competitors by coming up with some unusual promotion. Brocard coped with the first task quite easily, using the knowledge gained in the USA on modernizing the technological process.

Another spectacular reception brought Henri Brocard a lot of new customers.

He learned that the daughter of Emperor Alexander II, the Grand Duchess and Duchess of Edinburgh, was arriving in Moscow.
Brocard, with some difficulty, made his way to the reception at the Grand Kremlin Palace and presented the aristocrat with an unusual gift. The bouquet of daffodils, roses and violets produced at his enterprise was lifeless. All the details - petals, stems, flowers - turned out to be made of...wax and decorated with jewelry. But the wax bouquet exuded a subtle fragrance. Violets smelled like violets, roses smelled like roses, and daffodils, as you might guess, smelled like daffodils. The industrialist never revealed his know-how. And it wasn’t necessary. Maria Alexandrovna was extremely touched by the gift. After a short period of time, Henri Brocard became the official supplier of the court of the Duchess of Edinburgh, and later of the Russian imperial house and the Spanish royal court.

In 1869, Brocard's enterprise turned into a powerful factory: boilers, machines.
The production of “Blush” lipstick and “Swan’s Down” powder begins. The Brokars have children - daughter Zhenechka, sons Alexander and Emilius. Anri Afanasyevich has been working in the laboratory since early morning. He is truly a great perfumer, but he is absolutely not interested in sales. And then Charlotte decides that she can do without intermediaries (after all, they only profit from her husband’s talent), so she needs her own store. In 1872, the first Brokarov brand store opened magnificently on Nikolskaya Street. Charlotte is tireless. She comes up with paper wrapping for the product, draws sketches herself (why not a design bureau!), even attractive advertisements in newspapers are the work of her hands.

Meanwhile, production continued to expand: Charlotte Andreevna is enthusiastically engaged in the arrangement of two new buildings. But this is not enough for her - she needs a second one store, and at the insistence of his wife in 1887, Fragrant Henri, as he was nicknamed, opened another store in Kitai-Gorod on Birzhevaya Square. For the opening, Charlotte came up with a new surprise: soap, lipstick, perfume, cologne, sachet, cream - only ten products in one box. And most importantly - a fantastic price of one ruble. The public, fueled by advertising, almost demolished the newly opened store. Before the police arrived, two thousand sets had been sold! “This is a success,” the wife rejoiced. “This is glory...” answered the satisfied husband. And my wife, like a real advertiser, called the set nothing less than “Glory.” But real glory fell on the Brocard house when Anri Afanasyevich invented the “Floral” cologne.

But with the second... The sensation of the First All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition (1882 g.) became a fountain that flowed in the center of the pavilion. Its jets emitted an unusual aroma. Henri Brocard, having invested a lot of money in the creation of the fountain, made the right decision. His new product - Floral cologne - was presented in an extremely impressive and effective way. The streams of cologne, figuratively speaking, brainwashed potential consumers. Newspapers of that time wrote a lot about how visitors to the exhibition collected free cologne in jars and bottles specially brought from home, and the most liberated ones dipped their jackets into the fountain. The exhibition ended, and shop clerks, middle and low-level officials, merchants and artisans - the main contingent of consumers of Brokar's products - wandered around Moscow for a long time, smelling the scent of "Flower".

With the help of this unusual campaign, “Flower” cologne quickly conquered Moscow, and subsequently Russia. Newspapers of that time wrote about the fountain as a miracle from the fairy tale about Tsar Saltan!Other brands followed Tsvetochny. Brocard skillfully used the political situation for his own purposes. So, at the height of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877 - 1878. Lipstick and soap "Bouquet of Plevna" became very popular.

Anri Afanasyevich, in addition to his amazing gift as a marketer, had extraordinary organizational skills. There were practically no strikes at his enterprises. In the explosive Russian Empire, where social pairs were not fundamentally pitted against each other, he easily found a common language with the workers. Brocard's lowest paid worker received 15 rubles a month. To understand the scale of salary deductions, let us inform you that at that time in Moscow you could have a hearty lunch for just 10 kopecks. In addition, all employees of Brokar enterprises received monthly free sets of their own products according to the number of family members. Moreover, if an employee suddenly preferred another perfume and cosmetic brand, Anri Afanasyevich paid him 75% of the expenses for soap and cologne.

He attracted everyone's attention, pulled him towards him like a magnet, and people took off their outer clothes to dip them in the fragrant waters. The matter again came to the attention of the mounted police, but the law enforcement officers had no time for people - they themselves strove to try the new product. The advertising achieved its goal - “Flower” became the first mass-produced cologne in Russia. No matter how many times they released it, it was still not enough. In 1883, at the All-Russian Exhibition in Moscow, the cologne received a gold medal... In 1899, Brocard's creation again received the Grand Prix. But, despite the splendor and obvious recognition of the Brocard perfume house, the position of French perfumery was too strong in Russia. What does a marketing and advertising director do in such unsolvable cases? Intentionally going to create a scandal. And Charlotte decided to make a substitution: she poured her perfume into bottles of the famous French company Luben. The next day, “Parisian” perfumes were literally swept off the counter, while real French ones in Brocard packaging were sniffed and turned away. A week later, Charlotte “repented” in the newspapers of her deliberate deception - the bad smell was... of French perfume.

The scandal turned out to be unimaginable, Brocard even hid in his laboratory. And only Charlotte Andreevna was happy: a foreigner by origin, she was Russian in spirit and proved to the Russians themselves that their perfumes were no worse, if not better, than foreign ones! The scandal also bore fruit in financial terms - according to the books, the turnover approached a million. It was a nice gift for their silver wedding! Anri Afanasyevich also did not sit idle: he created a magnificent perfume with the smell of lilac - “Persian lilac”. And this work has already been truly appreciated by the French: the perfume received not only popularity, but also the highest award - the Grand Gold Medal in the section of elegant and hygienic perfumery at the World Exhibition in Paris. So Brocard returned to France in his own way... Charlotte once asked her husband if he would like to return to Paris. To which he replied: “I will return to France to die, but I can only live and work in Russia.” And so it happened - at the insistence of doctors, Henri Brocard left for Cannes, where he died in December 1899.

In 1891 – 1892, an exhibition of a collection of paintings by Anri Afanasyevich was opened in the Upper Trading Rows, which was
arranged at the highest level. The famous journalist V. A. Gilyarovsky wrote poems about this event: “Well, let’s repeat it one glass at a time and watch again, drunk Raphael, Titian. Under the influence of Polugar, we are all Brocard rarities...”

The Brokar and Co. partnership with a turnover of two and a half million rubles was transferred to the widow Charlotte Andreevna. And in 1913, Brocard’s comrade-in-arms, perfumer August Michel, created the perfume “The Empress’s Favorite Bouquet” for the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov, which, by the way, not only the royal family was delighted with. The perfumes were destined for a long life, and they came to us already under the name “Red Moscow”, but Russia’s first professional marketing and advertising director, Charlotte Brocard, did not live to see this. She also did not know that the family brainchild had been nationalized and called “New Dawn.” And only the busts of husband and wife Brokar, sculptor Anna Semyonovna Golubkina, flaunt in the Tretyakov Gallery, perpetuating the memory of these wonderful people.