Men's Cologne from the Past

Back in the 80's, it was very common for men to wear cologne. At the office, church, on dates, even a quick trip to the grocery store. It was simply expected. The large cologne manufacturers loved the income. To sweeten the deal, a lot of retailers would offer special promotions--usually a handbag in the same color canvas as their product and would include their logo embedded on the side. Good marketing and free advertising.

Here is the collection I gathered together over a few years. My favorite was Polo--the green bottle. If you look closely, you might notice it is almost empty. On trips to Europe I would buy several "foreign" colognes--while they were good, I brought them mostly for the novelty of a foreign made product. Wearing cologne was the thing to do--or the IN thing.

Enter 2002. All that changed. June 18th I had a 4 hour lower back surgery. After 6 days of hospital recovery, I came home. Upon entering the front door, I realized my nose was more sensitive than ever. So sensitive in fact, I had all the clothes washing detergent removed and started with some that was scent free. From that day forward, I have a major aversion to overwhelming smells--particularly colognes. I have not worn a cologne since. Even my body deodorant is scent free. It is so bad, that if someone in a restaurant has cologne on, I must move away. If a person enters the elevator I am on with cologne, i will get off the next first floor.

So, there you have it. A beautiful (and at the time very expensive) collection of cologne that I can not use. Check back with me 20 years from now and I bet the bottles will have the same amount as they do today!!