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.... Tempus fugit .... Vintage Feeling für Fresh :) ..... (by IrisNobile)

Tosca Mäurer & Wirtz 1921 Parfum

8.5 / 10 36 Ratings

A popular perfume by Mäurer & Wirtz for women, released in 1921. The scent is floral-powdery. The longevity is above-average. The production was apparently discontinued.
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Main accords

Floral

Powdery

Spicy

Sweet

Citrus

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Aldehydes

Neroli

Bergamot

Lemon

Orange

Heart Notes

Jasmine

Lily of the valley

Narcissus

Ylang-ylang Rose

Rose

Base Notes

Labdanum

Ambergris

Patchouli

Vanilla

Ratings

Scent

8.536 Ratings

Longevity

8.530 Ratings

Sillage

7.231 Ratings

Bottle

7.131 Ratings

Submitted by Hasi · last update on 08/20/2025.

Source-backed & verified

Variant of the fragrance concentration

This is a variant of the perfume Tosca (Eau de Cologne) by Mäurer & Wirtz, which differs in concentration.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Tosca Eau de Parfum

Tosca Eau de Cologne

Tosca Eau de Toilette

Cuir Béluga Eau de Parfum

Reviews

5 in-depth fragrance descriptions

01/21/2022

10Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

Tofuwachtel
46 Reviews

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Tofuwachtel

Top Review 39

From Glücksburg ......

.......to Sonthofen. Almost everyone knew Tosca.

There was the shooting festival in Buderniederlitz. It was quite lively. That was several decades ago, and yet, sometimes people still talk about it today.

Erna, who was in service with teacher Jüllermann, was also there that evening. And his son. And she slapped him.

He was a bit tipsy and was shouting across the whole hall: Miss Erna, if you smell good, you look much prettier!

Erna swept across the dance floor and gave him a good smack. Her scent of soap and flowers lingered like fine powder in the air long after she had left the festival.

Her position was gone. Erna then joined a singing group. She had a wonderful and memorable voice.

Over the years, she made a name for herself. A really good one. In her own way, she was a star. She was known from Glücksburg to Sonthofen. She sang on all stages. Not just provincial or city theaters. Also at state theaters.

Her voice and her scent were legendary. And when she stepped onto the stage, she built herself up. Then she showed what she could do and what was inside her. And many were surprised.

She always smelled of a fine soap speckled with yellow and orange. It lay among her laundry.
And when the fine soap mist had receded somewhat, the flowers came. But nothing was really sweet. The blossoms were all under a warm, soft, spicy veil.
The rose had no thorns, and the lily of the valley chimed rather softly. Sure, there were other flowers, but they didn’t take the spotlight. The solo was only Erna. In any case, it felt like a softly sepia powdery image that still showed a bright golden shimmer. Just like her voice, her scent had an absolute recognizability. And both fit perfectly together.

She knew what she could do and would have made an absolutely perfect figure on the international stage. She never made that leap. And eventually, it fell. The final curtain.

Today, she sometimes picks up the old photos and smiles. Then she turns on the gramophone and sings once again her signature role with her unmistakably intense wonderful voice. Tosca.

Updated on 01/21/2022

07/11/2017

6Scent 7Longevity 6Sillage

loewenherz
920 Reviews

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loewenherz

Top Review 47

The Scent of Her Life

The woman from Caritas works quietly and methodically, each movement as if she has done it many times before. The small kitchen with the pots, their colorful enamel chipped yet still sparkling clean, one just like the other. The living room with the lace doily on the low coffee table featuring sailing ship motifs on the worn tiles. The hallway with the wardrobe, inside stacked neatly pressed sheets and dish towels, each edge razor-sharp on top of the other. And then the bedroom. The crocheted bedspread on the bed is smooth, the decorative pillows sit perfectly. On the nightstand stands the yellowed photo of a young man in uniform, smiling shyly from the fine frame made of gold-colored metal.

As she silently packs the last items into boxes and large bags - while the men next door smash the living room cabinet and throw its parts out the window into the container below on the street - she pauses briefly. Dust particles dance in the afternoon sun. Next to the young man in uniform stands a small bottle, containing barely more than a finger's breadth of dark golden liquid, the label faded. She twists off the cap, sniffs - and for a moment it feels as if she is only now delving deeply into the life of the woman who lived here - much deeper than when clearing out her laundry or looking at the young man who could be her husband or her brother. And she almost feels a little ashamed.

The scent is oily and carries the patina of the past - and hardly more than a hint of rose and jasmine - it must have been decades since it was poured out. And yet, it is as if a hundred little stories dance out of the bottle with the rubbed-off label - stories that no one will ever listen to again. Like the first time her mother caught her with lipstick and called her a fallen girl. The dance at the community hall when HE asked her if he could take her home. The wedding, very modest, yet the happiest day of her life. The roast beef in the fine restaurant with the snobbish waiters when he was promoted. The year when she went on holiday for the only time in her life to the Mediterranean in Italy.

The woman from Caritas hesitates. The men curse from the stairwell. There is no one who wants this little bottle, the photograph of the soldier in the gold frame, or the lace doily from the coffee table. Later, they will sort the items - now already faceless and nameless - from the bags and boxes and distribute them to the clothing bank, the small non-profit shop next to the rectory, and the container for the recycling center. Again, each movement as if she has done it many times before. Once more she sniffs the little bottle, then screws it shut and places it with the other items in the box. And a little bit it feels as if the woman who once lived here and whom she has never met is only now truly gone.

Conclusion: a small, ridiculed scent for many. For others, a whole life.

Updated on 07/12/2017

04/12/2018

9.5Scent 10Longevity 7Sillage

Ttfortwo
90 Reviews

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Ttfortwo

Top Review 31

Tosca EdP and Perfume - a small comparison

I have two old bottles of Tosca Extrait in my possession. Both liquids have taken on a dark amber hue and run viscously down the sides of the bottle. The older of the two, presumably from the 50s, is only suitable as a display piece - the scent has completely gone off. The slightly younger one probably dates from the 60s, maybe the early 70s. The top note has unfortunately also gone off here; it has taken on an unpleasant sharp, thin, cologne-like tone, which is worth weathering because from the heart note onwards it is completely intact and rewards with opulent powdery spice and a powerful deep organ note that lingers for hours.

Additionally, I have the current Eau de Parfum, which I am quite enthusiastic about: a dry-citrusy start with warm tempered aldehydes, then very quickly a seductive dry-warm powdery spice, really very dry and very warm. The heart note is first supported, then replaced by a sensual dark vanilla base. Great longevity, booming sillage - a powerhouse with unmistakably classic signature, not sweet, opulent, fabric-like dense and timelessly beautiful. I receive compliments quite often when I wear the EdP.

Still, I was curious and got a young version of the perfume over the Souk. A thank you to the lovely A. at this point.

And behold: Another new experience with Tosca and again a lovely one.

The young Tosca Extrait starts again with what makes the high Tosca recognizability: the typical warm tempered aldehyde accord. The dried citrus peel splendor of the EdP is also present, albeit significantly weaker. And where the EdP scores with powerful and dense powdery spice in the heart note, the perfume shows much more flowers; the heart note is more floral, it is a bit more delicate and airy, also seasoned more softly. There is a subtle unsweetened loveliness in the air, just a hint. This suggestion of powdery loveliness is something that the EdP and also my vintage Extrait completely lack. Only in the transition to the base note do the EdP and perfume align again, and the soft dark vanilla-amber base seems to be completely the same to me.

The young Tosca perfume is similarly long-lasting as the EdP and has - typical for extrait - a noticeably restrained sillage.

It feels a bit more modern. Is it more adapted? No, not really, it is still a nostalgic powerhouse (which I would prefer to wear in the evening), but a truly wonderful alternative to the EdP, because it is more restrained and also a bit more elegant.

Updated on 04/12/2018

07/17/2018

10Scent 8Longevity 6Sillage

Fabistinkt
32 Reviews

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Fabistinkt

Top Review 21

The Grande Dame of the Rhine

It was only a matter of time before I would turn my attention to the classic from the house of Mülhens / Mäurer & Wirtz. My first connection with Tosca was my mom's story about how she gifted my grandma a bottle of it for her birthday with her pocket money.
When I eventually tested it myself in the drugstore, it was of course immediately familiar - everyone has smelled it on a loyal wearer.
For a long time, I only owned a mini of the EdC from a flea market and a current EdP, which unfortunately constantly gave me headaches. However, the bargain-hunter and the old diva in me teamed up and last week bid on an even smaller bottle of pure perfume on eBay for a small price, which was waiting for me at the parcel station today.
The bottle is nearly square with a brown label (see photo No. 16 above). It lies in a little box, whose design strongly resembles that of the Kölnisch Wasser. I would be incredibly curious to know how old my little treasure actually is. There are countless different bottles to be found on the internet, and they seem to become more similar to the design of the Kölnisch Wasser the further back you go. My Tosca could therefore be from the 1950s, maybe even older (please, please, please!).

About the scent:
When you sniff the bottle and dab on a few drops, sunny, juicy citrus fruits waft into your nose. A true wonder after such a long time. Almost simultaneously, aldehydes spread out, as is fitting for a perfume from 1921, the same year Tosca's cousin Chanel No 5 made its debut. The aldehydes in Tosca are darker, smokier, and quite rubbery.
What follows, I can't quite reconcile with the fragrance pyramid: a spicy powderiness that I associate with cloves and iris. L'heure bleue by Guerlain (9 years older) and all the Carons of the time (En Avion, Fleurs de Rocaille) smell quite similar for a while.
The clovey powder is slowly and gently joined by the characteristic Tosca note, as found today in the weaker concentrations. Positively soapy, floral, and very classic, yet much more natural. Not for a second do I feel headaches threatening. The current versions could be attributed to synthetic substitutes.
I have not yet reached the base, which will be noted later.

Addendum to the base: beautifully vanilla-warm and ambered with a slight floral residue. It lasted all night and is now relatively weak.

All in all, Tosca is a sensational perfume, unbeatable in price and simultaneously high quality. I don't know how the pricing was in the past, but it was probably more affordable than most comparable scents from France, with which it can easily compete. Even the current versions in weaker concentration are top-notch and are terribly underestimated (and not everyone will get a headache from them). To smell different from the vanilla-fruity masses, no one needs to spend a fortune on Roja - the powdery old lady from Cologne does it for five euros.

Updated on 08/18/2018

01/07/2018

7.5Scent

Serafina
479 Reviews

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Serafina

Top Review 15

After many years...

...I still can't judge this fragrance completely objectively, but thanks to my experiences with Parfumo, I can now manage to set aside my prejudices a bit.

In my childhood, "Tosca" (at least the EDT and EDC) was banned in our home. My mother would grimace at the mere mention of the name (even though she surely thought of the opera of the same name, which she appreciated more). "Just never gift me that stuff! I can't stand it!" The reason for her rejection was that a former colleague had overdone it with the fragrance but apparently skipped deodorant, resulting in a highly unappealing combination...

For me as a child, "Tosca" was more the typical perfume of "our mothers" - if not mine, then at least that of a friend's mother from kindergarten and elementary school days. The friend's mother was a beautiful woman with natural elegance who placed great importance on looking impeccable herself and ensuring her daughter (who had to secure her tights with suspenders for a better fit even at preschool age) always looked tip-top. Although I didn't consciously smell "Tosca" on her, my friend had told me that her mother owned it. Back then, even this perfume probably represented a certain luxury in our small Upper Bavarian village, and the friend's mother likely used it sparingly - because despite all the emphasis on external appearances, her family was not really wealthy.

For years, I kept a wide berth from "Tosca," without really knowing it. When I did happen to get my hands on a bottle of the EDC or EDT, I detected - following my prejudices - something citrusy and cologne-like, which I found boring and dowdy.

But in my quest to expand my extrait collection, I eventually snagged some minis of "Tosca Extrait."

"Tosca Parfum" is a floral scent with a slightly soapy quality due to the aldehydes. I don't perceive it as citrusy (unlike the EDC and EDT), but that could also be due to the age of my extraits. The base is surprisingly dark for a mainstream fragrance from that era, I think.

Yes, "Tosca Parfum" has a slightly old-fashioned quality, which also makes it somewhat endearing and gives it a nostalgic charm - at least for someone whose childhood was in the 70s.

Updated on 01/07/2018

Statements

13 short views on the fragrance

JonasP1

2 years ago

9Scent 9Longevity 7Sillage

Warm me up
Vanilla-soft
With balsamic spice
Comfort me
Citrus-sprinkled
In aldehyde shine
Familiar scents
From Grandma's floral bag

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Melisse2

5 years ago

8.5Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

I didn't like it before, it smelled like grandma. After all the sweet fruity-florals and cookie gourmands, I think: grandma didn't have bad taste at all.

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