Crabtree & Evelyn

Crabtree & Evelyn is composed of the old word for the crabapple tree (a primitive variety of apple tree) and the name Evelyn as a tribute to John Evelyn. In the 17th century, the Englishman John Evelyn was a writer and garden lover and became posthumously famous for his diaries over several decades.

The Crabtree & Evelyn brand was founded in 1972 in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Cyrus Harvey, who specialized in the manufacture of fine natural and scented soaps. Harvey was inspired by the "still rooms": they date back to a time when living with nature and the garden was cultivated to the highest degree in England. Often English households had such a medicine chest, where plants were dried and flowers were distilled like fruits. Oil, soap, natural medicine and scented water production were common and part of daily life.

Very quickly the brand became popular and increasingly expanded its range. Today you can buy many beautiful and fragrant things from Crabtree & Evelyn: Cosmetic products, scented sachets, traditional English jams, potpourris, scented drawer paper, vacuum cleaner scenting powder - and also perfume. The packaging design borrows from drawings in old plant identification books, and Crabtree & Evelyn celebrates a distinctly British style with vintage charm, quite apart from the fact that the brand is a U.S. one.

Today, the former small family business has stores all over the world.