RT7d E. W. Hoyt & Co. Proprietary Perfume Stamp
E. W. Hoyt was one of the early pioneers in national magazine advertising (Presbrey 1929, p. 339). The company manufactured a German cologne in 3 sizes – trial, medium, and large, priced at 25 cents, 50 cents, and $1 respectively. The product is still on the shelf, no longer (since 1917) bearing the adjective German, but boasting of its birth in 1868. However, judging from the stamps used, the company entered business after 1871 (Koref 1983), when the government issued a generic issue for exclusive use by the proprietary companies. Hoyt used these stamps until 1877 (Toppan, Deats, and Holland), when the company had a die approved for one and four cent stamps, paying the duty on a 25 cent trial size and the $1 large bottle. E. W. Hoyt immediately trumpeted its stamp on the early trade cards, which were perfumed with the cologne, such as its 1881 message: “Ask for HOYT’S GERMAN COLOGNE, and before purchasing see that the name is blown in the bottle, the signature of the proprietors printed in red ink across the label, and as an additional guarantee of genuineness observe our PRIVATE United States Revenue Stamp over the cork.” The 50 cent bottle was probably introduced in 1880, when the company asked Butler and Carpenter, printer of the stamps, for a 2 cent private die.