History & Civilisation
The town of Grasse holds a very special place in the area of France known as the ‘balcony of the Cote d’Azur. This town’s many diverse activities have ensured it a stability that is lacking in the other cities in the Maritime Alps region.
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The perfume industry developed in the 17th century with a fashion for scented leathers. The main plants required were: jasmine, which came from India from 1650 onwards; roses, cultivated in Grasse from 1650; and the tuberose, which arrived from Italy in around 1670.
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It was probably around the middle of the 17th century that the cultivation of plants for perfume production in this region intensified. The aromatic plants they used included roses, jasmine and tuberoses.
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The Association of Perfumed Glovemakers brought together 21 manufacturers in 1724 and as many as 70 in 1745. Gloves were scented not only for refinement, but also to remove stubborn odors from the skin.
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On the eve of the Revolution, Grasse had definitively overtaken Montpellier in the industry and had assembled all the elements of its future prosperity: trade in the raw materials, imported mainly from Italy and the Mediterranean; the cultivation of flowers on a vast scale; and the first factories and sales networks, which had already been established throughout Europe.
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The 18th century saw a decline in the demand for leather, due to the heavy taxation weighing on this activity and to customers’ growing indifference. On the other hand, the perfume industry saw an important and rapid growth: the 18th century represents the era of perfume. However, the revolution in 1789 delivered a tangible blow to the industry.
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Next, the industrial revolution intervened, redefining the future of the perfume industry. Grasse progressed from craftsmanship to industry when it began to specialize in producing the raw materials for perfumery and adapted the principles borne of the industrial revolution to fit this activity.
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The growing success of perfume expanded the need for fresh plant extracts. That is why, in a few years, the surrounding countryside became covered in perfumed plants of a universally acknowledged high standard.
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The 19th century represented the era of colonization and the division of the world by Europeans. Also at this time, perfume companies installed their factories at the edge of the town, in the disused convents that were closed down during the French Revolution.
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Production would continue to develop until in the 1930s, before declining once more. From 1930, local production perished in the face of foreign competition and, later, the introduction of synthesis.
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From the 1960s onwards, there was a boom in the food flavorings industry and the perfume makers of Grasse would involve themselves considerably in this field. The aromatic industries underwent a major crisis in the 1960s. They lost control of the international market in raw materials and the products of Grasse suffered from competition with synthetic perfumes.
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Today one of the towns in France with the highest salary per inhabitant, Grasse owes this result mainly to the internationally recognized quality of the natural essences produced in the Grasse factories and, consequently, to their high price.