CLEOPATRA'S BOUDOIR

The Nine Flags men?s shaving cologne collection came out in 1965, it was still being sold well into the early 1970s. It was distributed by the Colton company of Boston, Massachusetts and was marketed by Gillette in the United Kingdom. The bottles are also marked Essence Imported Blended in USA. I have also found reference to the Nine Flags men's soap set advertisement from 1972.

Each bottle held 2fl oz of cologne and was ball shaped and had a long neck covered with a brushed aluminum screw cap. The name of the cologne is on the bottle part of the cap and on the label on the base.

This ingenious collection was full of international flair and each cologne was named after its own country and scent. Each scent was tinted with a different color. I have also seen these in atomizer bottles, but more commonly in the splash type bottles.

Even commercials of the day featured such scenes as ethnic sexy women talking about which country has the best after shave lotion. Other commercials featured a sexy Italian couple, German couple and Swedish couple. One such commercial  showed a gift box that featured colognes  from nine countries¯three humorous vignettes of sample countries all include themen applying their colognes and their lady friend's reactions. For instance, one commercial features a sensuous woman in Italy embracing a  man saying "Marcello, I love you","...kiss me, you fool," for England, a fraulein in  Germany who declares unemotionally "Hans! I love you!"  while he clicks his heels and says "Of course you do,  you could not help yourself!", and a Swedish couple in  a sauna as the woman says "Oh,  Sven"¯as the blond in a towel jumps the handsome Swede.

These colognes are still very popular amongst men today and command very high prices on eBay. Prices range from $75-$350 for a single bottle.

The following countries/scents make up the Nine Flags Collection:

• Lichtenstein-Wild Cedar
• Luxembourg
• America-Mountain Green
• Hong Kong-Patcham
• Brazil-Aromatic Tabac
• England-Royal Saddle
• France-Panache
• Sweden-Clear Spruce
• Ireland-Green Moss
• Germany-Live Oak
• Spain-Manzanilla
• Italy-Dry Citrus
• Morocco-Sea Amber

The My Islands colognes came out around the same time and were also manufactured by Colton,distributed in the UK by Gilette. There were six different colognes named after famous islands.The bottles held 2.5 fl oz and were squat and ribbed, and their bases came up like a dome into the bottle. These bottles could then be stacked one atop the other. The caps were the same brushed aluminum but had rounded tops so that they would fit the bases of one another. These are very very rare compared to the Nine Flags colognes. I do not think they sold very well and were perhaps pulled from the market not long after they were launched. These bottles are so few and far between that I have only seen 2 in my life.

• Majorca
• Corfu
• Barbados
• Stromboli
• Skye
• Malaya