The Odor of Sanctity

Dr. Fred Hass is a devout Catholic with an interest in historic perfumes.  At least that's the cover story behind "The Pope's Cologne," which purports to be the private formula of Pius IX himself.

Although the wag who runs American Papist argues that "if anything deserves to be on the Syllabus of Errors, this is it," we disagree.  Fragrances associated with historical figures can be kind of cool.  Some time ago, we experimented with Caswell-Massey #6, reputed to have been shared by George Washington and the Marquis De Lafayette.  It was good stuff, even though in the end, we decided that we didn't want to smell like a dead war-hero.

This stuff claims to be a formula passed on by the family of the late Pope's friend and commander of the Papal Guard, Gen. Charles Charette.  Perhaps more to the point, it promises notes of violet and citrus -- classy stuff, although Father A. is more of a Bangalore sandalwood man.

Our problem isn't with the cologne, it's with Pio Nono.  Something about the disdain for modernity.  Or maybe it was the anti-Semitism.