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Strange request: Preservation Foundation seeks info on Tucson perfume company

Magnifying Glass
Posted at 1:42 PM, May 06, 2024
and last updated 2024-05-06 16:47:21-04

The Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation has a Strange request.

The nonprofit is looking for examples of bottles from a Tucson company that made perfumes and cosmetics.

The name of the business: Strange Laboratories.

Launched by Major M.A. Strange, a British war vet living in Tucson, in 1943, Strange Laboratories (which also advertised as By Strange), was producing seven perfumes, seven colognes, three dusting powders, a White Jade lotion and a Bali Gold Sunscreen by the late 1940s, all out of a building on North Stone Avenue, Downtown.

At least one of Strange's products, a lanolin derivative skin cleanser, was being sold in 650 drug department stores across the country, according to a 1949 article in the Arizona Daily Star.

"Despite its disappearance from the scene, we believe that the scents and stories of 'By Strange' still linger in the memories of Tucson locals," read the post from the Preservation Foundation, calling for bottles, advertisements and any possible connections or stories about the company.

The Foundation asked anyone connected to share stories on social media using the hashtag #unearthbystrange. You can read more about what they want through their Facebook page.