Rapture
Avon (1961)

I tried the vintage version (is that all that's available now? Could be.) Wow, it’s a LOT like Handley Bourbon! Slightly animalic oakmoss, metallic edge, rich and sort of mysterious. Nice but maybe a touch too animalic for my tastes. I got it in a really cool bullet shaped bottle off ebay and if you are into strongly marked, elegant old fashioned ambers, this is one to find.

Rapture by Avon (1961) is an ambery, spiced, mossy, and rounded chypre experience, which these days sells for hundreds from the likes of Roja Parfums or Parfums MDCI. In fact, modern noses will more than likely identify this as an ancient cousin to Chypre Palatin by Parfums MDCI (2012), except with real sandalwood, real oakmoss, real myrrh, and Avon's patent in-house amber accord doing the talking. Perhaps a darker, denser progression away from Chypre de Coty (1917) or Guerlain Mitsouko (1919) as well, Avon Rapture avoids the animalic aspects of amber or civet for the most part, being a more-domesticated version of Estée Lauder Youth Dew (1953), plus a midway-point between something like Avon's own Topaze (1959) and the later Avon Timeless (1974). For the most part, there isn't much more to tell than that, beyond the advertising which promises escape from the drudgery and existential dread of mid-century suburban housewife living (oh no). Unlike Youth Dew, Rapture is basically offering the option of mental escape rather than rebellion against the status quo, in effect taking more of a pro-establishment stance towards the male patriarchy of the post-war period by telling women to mentally dissociate via perfume rather than fight back. You see an awful lot of women's market perfume from this period with similar marketing, which is a bit sad in a way. Oh well, let's not get too deep into -that- shall we?

The opening is rounded, sweet, and spicy. There isn't much by the way of fruit here like in Mitsouko, taking more of the spiced citrus route the genre-defining Coty pursues, but perhaps darker still. Orange notes (almost completely gone in my deep vintage sample) merge with cloves and muted spice. Iris and freesia are the main floral players here, no real rose or anything like that present, although I get some nondescript white floral going on in the heart. Avon Rapture may have enviable natural woods and mosses compared to modern perfumes, but where they clearly skimped on cost back then was the floral absolutes, which were at the time probably pricier to get a hold of in reliable quantities for the mass perfume brand due to the near-monopoly European oil houses or brands like Chanel had on the fields of Grasse and beyond. Black pepper and incense emerge next once the sweeter spices calm down, revealing an unfolding labdanum-heavy amber as per Avon's usual modus operandi, then a beautiful sandalwood and creamy oakmoss accord, finishing off with puffs of dry cedar, some patchouli, and assorted resins. This is a dense perfume that stays close, and lingers for hours on skin, but you will not make waves of sillage beyond an arm's length, so wear this only for yourself, not to impress. I'd also say Rapture is probably best enjoyed in colder temperatures due to heavy spice, woods, and musk. To modern noses, this will feel unisex; and to those with experience sampling niche, Rapture will come across like pure luxury for prices that will make you giggle.

The original market copy showed a woman in a flowing blue dress traipsing down a marble staircase into a well-kept lawn, like some wandering spirit in the gardens of Versailles. The blurb below the picture is also pretty indicative of the point to the scent, and is as follows: "You’ll be carried away with Rapture, the new fragrance by AVON. Be yourself with RAPTURE. Avon’s lovely new fragrance, and where will you be carried away, lost to the mood of the moment. With RAPTURE you’ll feel totally free but captivating-for RAPTURE is sensitive to you. Luxuriously packaged in shadowy blues and greens, RAPTURE has beautiful hopes-for you.” Some of the original baby-blue bottles showed two white doves exchanging an olive branch with each other, indicating that this may have also been for hopeless romantics wishing they didn't say "I do" at the altar, and were thus stuck for the next few decades rearing spawn for the stubborn, humorless, militaristic prick that stomps in the house every night demanding to know where supper is and why Timmy was sent home again from school. Oh well, all thoughts of nuclear family angst aside, you don't have to live in a split-level home at the end of a cul-de-sac or spend your free time watching daytime TV while clipping coupons to appreciate the subtle idyllic mastery at play from Avon Rapture. The anonymous perfumer on this sure knew how to bootleg France's best ideas and deliver them at swap-meet prices; and if anything, Rapture reminds you of what we once took for granted in the world of commercial perfumery. Thumbs up