Pour Un Homme de Caron Caron 1934 Eau de Toilette

Once there was a lavender day, butterflies in the sky
You carried me on vanilla clouds
And I was meant for you
You are the One, you are no one
You are everything I think about

And if I believed in fairy tales, then I would surely know,
That all my dreams would come true

Don't listen to the crazy things I say
Lay me on musk pillows and never wake me up
Not a hundred and not a thousand years
You are the One, you are no one
You are everything I think about

For if I believed in fairy tales, then I would surely know,
That all my dreams would come true

In the morning, doubting, I slipped into the glass slipper
Lonely with your gentle voice
The heart so heavy with sweet sorrow
You are the One, you are no one
You are everything I think about

But if I believed in fairy tales, then I would surely know,
That all my dreams would come true

***

Have I mentioned that I consider Ernest Daltroff a genius? Probably. And probably not just once. Pour un Homme de Caron from 1934 is his first fragrance that Caron specifically marketed for the male clientele, which does not mean that it is the first scent from the house that men could wear - or that Pour un Homme de Caron wouldn't suit women.
With its softened lavender of vanilla and tonka, the fragrance holds sweet and bitter elements in perfect balance in the top note, gradually dissolving into ever gentler, subtly ambered musk clouds. This structure is as simple as it is brilliant, so to the point and recognizable that it has been copied countless times but never reached.
Could Ernest Daltroff have been inspired by Aimé Guerlain's Jicky Extrait? While the inner contradiction of its predecessor is missing just as much as the opulence or the civet claws, the gentle lavender-tonka-vanilla accord has been perfected, the idea reduced and refined to the point where there was nothing left to omit. All of this makes Pour un Homme de Caron timeless, anticipates a modern minimalism that one would not expect in the 1930s, and leaves me in awe.
For me, Pour un Homme de Caron, with its tender nature and gentle voice, is like the fairy tale prince among men's fragrances. Nothing I would want to wear myself, as the tonka vanilla musk becomes too sweet for me in the long run, but admittedly a scent I enjoy leaning on from time to time.

Thank you very much, dear Floyd, for reminding me of this old acquaintance and that I could really dedicate a few words to it.