• About
  • Login to comment
    • Facebook
    • RSS
    • Twitter

Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Menu ▼
  • Perfume Reviews
  • New Perfumes
  • Perfumers
  • Perfume Houses
  • Shop for perfume
  • Resources

True Love and Trulove Perfume

Posted by Angela on 30 April 2019 24 Comments

Looking to get him to ask you out? Desperate to regain your husband’s attention? Or maybe you simply want men killing each other to get at you? David J. Trulove can help.

David J. Trulove is the purported head of Trulove Perfume. Trulove perfume ads peppered comic books in the 1950s. Like many ads for fragrance today, they promise seduction and, curiously, bypass what the perfume actually smells like. But Mr. Trulove doesn’t mess around with fancy models in diaphonous gowns and vague references to the modern woman. No, he goes right to the meat: love and power.

A friend sent me a full-page ad for Trulove Perfume scanned from an old horror comic book. The ad features nine fragrances. Mr. Trulove offered his love potions at bargain prices — generally $2 each, or three bottles for $5 (except Fury, which commanded a full $3 a bottle) — with a money-back guarantee.

Let’s go through the Trulove oeuvre, starting with the most innocuous, and ending with something Lady Macbeth might have been afraid to wear.

As Robin pointed out when I forwarded her the ad, Red Rose is the only fragrance a person might dab on for her own pleasure. “You will thank your ‘Lucky Stars’ that you sent for Red Rose perfume when you SEE the way it will WIN YOU over.” Another benefit is that thanks to its name, we actually have an idea of what this one might smell like.

Now we venture toward seduction. Maybe you’re feeling like a doormat. Mr. Trulove will not have that. “Do YOU want to RULE MEN? Make them GIVE IN TO YOU? Then use BLACK TULIP Perfume NOW! BLACK TULIP has a languorous scent that has the POWER to OVERCOME MEN. Because BLACK TULIP is so strong, I advise you to use only 5 or 6 drops under the arms at night.” Wow!

It could be you don’t actually need to rule over men, you simply want them to obey you. If so, you’ll want to try Chez-Elle. “Do you want him to say, ‘Darling, I adore you. I worship you. I’ll do ANYTHING for you!’ […] Another woman told us that she blesses the day she first used CHEZ-ELLE because now her husband comes home at night to help her.” A scent that encourages your spouse to do chores? I’m not sure why more perfume houses haven’t worked that angle.

If you want to “make STRONG men WEAK,” you’ll want “…a little BLUE PASSION behind your ears. Do this for a few weeks and watch the way BLUE PASSION works for YOU.”

At last you’ve found the man of your dreams, but he’s a slippery one. “If you love a man who doesn’t want to say ‘Yes,’ use TRIKKY. Before he even knows what’s happening to him, he’ll be in your POWER. A slave to YOU.”

Time to reel in the loved one legally. Lovescent will do the job. “Certain perfumes seem to have a MAGIC-like POWER OVER MEN. LOVESCENT is one of these. MAKE him ask YOU to MARRY him.”

It’s not over yet. You’ve got to keep up his interest. Enter Mantrap. “A happily married woman once told me, ‘All my life I dreamed that someday I would find a perfume that could raise a man’s ardor. I wanted a passionate, pulse-stirring, maddening perfume that would make him pull me into his arms and say to me over and over again, “I love you, I love only YOU.”’ […] If you have the courage to try MANTRAP send me your name and address on the Order Card.”

Yikes, now hubby’s attention wanders! Trulove prescribes Gardenia. “Win back your HUSBAND with GARDENIA perfume. […] Apply GARDENIA over your body every night. See if it doesn’t make him want YOU, desire YOU with all the passion of a jealous lover.”

Now we come to the big one, the perfume worth its own storyline: Fury. “DEAR FRIEND: It was in a café in Singapore that I first met FURY. She was the most beautiful and exotic woman I have ever know. Men killed each other just for her favors. And when she beckoned, men leaped to obey. For this was the POWER OF FURY and no man dared to refuse her. […] But please use FURY carefully. It is very powerful.”

For the name alone, I wouldn’t mind a few drops of Trikky, and I admit to being curious about Fury, but I wear perfume for myself. David J. Trulove, if you’re listening, I could use a bottle of Meditation, the perfume that keeps the phone on silent, the bathwater hot, and magically surrounds me with vintage detective novels and old silk kimonos. 

Have any of you heard of Trulove? Do you know what these perfumes smell like?

Related...

From Paris to the Mall to the Drugstore: the Smell-Alike
Grandma Florine’s Perfume

Filed Under: perfume talk

Advertisement


24 Comments

Leave a comment, or read more about commenting at Now Smell This. Here's our privacy policy, and a handy emoticon chart.

  1. AnnieA says:
    30 April 2019 at 3:07 pm

    That is the most hilarious perfume ad copy! I can only hope the actual perfumes don’t turn out to be as big a disappointment as Sea Monkeys. Also missing from the line-up, possibly fitting in with the Meditation theme, is something like…Shoo Fly!

    “Is the hurly-burly of masculine attention getting to be too much? Are you happily encoupled, or just want to read your Sartre in peace at the cafe? Try Shoo Fly! Men will wander past without stopping to explain the subtext.”

    Log in to Reply
    • TeaInTheGarden says:
      30 April 2019 at 4:01 pm

      Your suggestion is awesome!

      Log in to Reply
      • Angela says:
        30 April 2019 at 11:31 pm

        Agreed!

        Log in to Reply
    • Angela says:
      30 April 2019 at 11:31 pm

      I think you’re on to something! Seriously. And the name is brilliant.

      Log in to Reply
    • Koyel says:
      1 May 2019 at 1:20 pm

      Hilarious!

      Log in to Reply
  2. Filomena says:
    30 April 2019 at 3:08 pm

    I have never heard of Truelove Perfume. If it were not funny, I would really be annoyed with these ads. It goes to show what women have been enduring for years as a “secondary” person.

    Log in to Reply
    • Angela says:
      30 April 2019 at 11:32 pm

      Thank goodness the ad is something to ponder and be amazed at these days.

      Log in to Reply
  3. Regina says:
    30 April 2019 at 3:55 pm

    “Never date someone you have to talk into it” has long been one of my staunchest mottoes… but now I think I must add “never date someone you have to trick into it with perfume.” What will become of the relationship once reformulation inevitably comes?

    Log in to Reply
    • lillyjo says:
      30 April 2019 at 4:08 pm

      I’m so glad I had already gulped down my diet coke before reading this, because LOL ?

      Log in to Reply
      • Angela says:
        30 April 2019 at 11:34 pm

        I know! She has a great point.

        Log in to Reply
    • Angela says:
      30 April 2019 at 11:33 pm

      That’s why you get the 3 bottle deal!

      Log in to Reply
    • Koyel says:
      1 May 2019 at 1:21 pm

      Ahahaha!

      Log in to Reply
  4. TeaInTheGarden says:
    30 April 2019 at 4:16 pm

    Angela, thanks for this! Your commentary is wonderful!

    Log in to Reply
    • Angela says:
      30 April 2019 at 11:34 pm

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it!

      Log in to Reply
  5. singlemalt says:
    30 April 2019 at 5:43 pm

    Egads! On the back of a 1950’s horror comic? Did women read this stuff. I thought the market for that were 10year old boys. Maybe Mom read it as she cleaned up. But this was a great fun read.

    Log in to Reply
    • Angela says:
      30 April 2019 at 11:35 pm

      It’s strange, isn’t it? I bet the ads were in the “confessional” comics, too.

      Log in to Reply
    • Oakland Fresca says:
      1 May 2019 at 10:51 am

      I am thinking maybe it was crypto-male directed? Want to feel power over other men? The counterpoint to Charles Atlas’ “The INSULT that made a man out of Mac!” https://www.neogaf.com/threads/classic-comic-ads.1097960/

      Log in to Reply
      • Angela says:
        1 May 2019 at 10:58 am

        Oh, now that’s an interesting take on it!

        Log in to Reply
  6. Coumarin says:
    30 April 2019 at 8:42 pm

    I want some! I’m looking on Etsy right now.

    Log in to Reply
    • Angela says:
      30 April 2019 at 11:35 pm

      If you find some, please please please report back on how it smells!

      Log in to Reply
  7. Koyel says:
    1 May 2019 at 1:22 pm

    Angela, this post is wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing this with us and for your excellent commentary! I’m very curious to try some, but I bet they were pretty meh, particularly compared to the hilarity of the copy :)

    Log in to Reply
    • Angela says:
      1 May 2019 at 4:06 pm

      The copy is kind of brilliant, really! They varied the descriptions so that some spoke directly to the reader while others quoted letters or told stories. But you’re right–the fragrances could never have lived up to it.

      Log in to Reply
  8. hajusuuri says:
    2 May 2019 at 12:28 pm

    Ha! Hove Perfumery in New Orleans carries a perfume called Mantrap!

    Log in to Reply
    • Angela says:
      2 May 2019 at 1:00 pm

      That’s hilarious

      Log in to Reply

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Advertisement

Search

From NST at Twitter

  • "LVMH's record-breaking results driven by Sephora" (cosmetics business) https://t.co/NKkwcZBJeW,
  • "‘Bionic nose’ may help people experiencing smell loss, researchers say" (washington post) https://t.co/M9nX7UVMpS,
  • "It costs up to $100,000 a kilo and Queensland farmers are growing it for luxury perfume" (sydney morning herald) https://t.co/gs8w4s7zpS,
  • "Francis Kurkdjian, creator of Baccarat Rouge 540: ‘People went crazy and it sold out immediately’" (el pais) https://t.co/cxGHgzgFd3,
  • "Yves Saint Laurent Launches New Perfume-Inspired NFTs" (business2community) https://t.co/dOaVNjWgsd https://t.co/vQs5nmJ1yH,

Browse by...

Topic

Perfume talk New fragrances
Shopping Books :: News
Body products Home fragrance
Polls Another subject

Date

December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022

Prior months

Author

Robin Jessica
Angela Kevin
Erin Guest Author

Tag

Celebrity perfumes
Cheap thrills
Collector bottles
Perfumista tip series
Video
The complete tag index

Recent reviews

Atelier Cologne Love Osmanthus
Moschino Toy Boy
Arquiste Misfit
Diptyque Eau Capitale
Zoologist Bee
Parfum d’Empire Immortelle Corse
Comme des Garcons Series 10 Clash
Frédéric Malle Rose & Cuir
L’Artisan Parfumeur Le Chant de Camargue
Yves Saint Laurent Grain de Poudre
Régime des Fleurs Chloë Sevigny Little Flower
Chanel 1957
Gallivant Los Angeles
Amouage Portrayal Woman

Blogroll

Bois de Jasmin
Grain de Musc
Perfume Posse
The Non-Blonde
More blogs...

Perfumista lists

100 fragrances every perfumista should try
And 25 more fragrances every perfumista should smell
50 masculine fragrances every perfumista should try
26 vintage fragrances every perfumista should try
25 rose fragrances every perfumista should try
11 Cheap Perfumes Beauty Outsiders Love

Favorite posts

The Great Perfume Reduction Plan
Why I Love Old School Chypres
New to perfume and want to learn more?
How to make fragrance last through the day
Fragrance concentrations: sorting it all out
On reformulations, or why your favorite perfume doesn’t smell like it used to
How to get fragrance samples
Perfume for Life: How Long Will Your Fragrance Collection Last?

Upcoming

List of upcoming Friday projects

4 January ~ damage poll
4 February ~ winter reading poll

TBA April ~ swap meet

Back to Top

Home
About Now Smell This :: Privacy Policy

Shop for Perfume Online
Perfume Shopping in New York
Perfume Shopping in London
Perfume Reviews
New Perfumes
General Perfume Articles
The Monday Mail

Glossary of Perfume Terms
Perfume FAQ
Perfume Links
Perfume Books
Fragrance Awards

Noses ~ Perfumers A-E :: F-K :: L-S :: T-Z

Perfume Houses A-B :: C :: D-E :: F-G
H-J :: K-L :: M :: N-O :: P :: Q-R :: S
T :: U-Z

Copyright © 2005-2023 Now Smell This. All rights reserved.