Birthday of Note: Steffen Arctander, Perfumer and Flavorist (September 9)

Steffen Arctander was born in Denmark on September 9, 1919. He is best known as the author of Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin, which was independently published in 1960. His birthday is the perfect time to reflect on his unique and atypical career. 

Arctander was one of the founders of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists of Denmark (Dansk Kosmetic-Kemisk Selskab) in 1955, when he was chief chemist and perfumer at Co-Ro Manufacturing (the company was focused on flavor essences for mineral water and ice cream during his tenure there). 

He moved to the United States two years later to join the perfume and essential oils division of the Colgate-Palmolive Company. He created the first college-level course in perfumery at Rutgers University the same year (1957). Rutgers currently offers four courses (master's degree level) related to fragrance and personal care, which is a testament to Steffen Arctander's legacy. 

The formation of International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) (the result of a merger between Polak and Schwarz, and Van Amerigen and Haebler in 1958) led to Arctander's role as perfumer and head of the odor quality control department at IFF in 1960. 

Four years later, Steffen Arctander was a contestant on To Tell the Truth, a popular game show that aired on WCBS-TV and taped in New York City. It was the closest Arctander got to fame as a member of the highly secretive flavor and fragrance industry. He was working for IFF at the time.

Arctander's success was shaped by interdisciplinary and autodidactic qualities that magnified his life's purpose on and off the lab bench. He could work on a mint toothpaste formula with the same interest, skill and finesse that he applied to the creation of Blue Diamond perfume* (a personal project). 

Job titles have a way of confining accomplished employees with more than one area of scientific expertise. It's hard to imagine this wasn't the case for Arctander. He understood and applied what it took to create a chemically balanced fine fragrance (perfume), a functional fragrance (e.g. scent used in soap, lotion, detergent) and a functional flavorant (e.g. beverages, toothpaste, extracts). 

What consumer products possessed the mark of his fragrant and flavorful handiwork? We'll never know or infer, as non-disclosure agreements are a permanent roadblock. 

Arctander's expertise in natural raw materials and chemistry allowed him to work across product types and by extension, disciplines. Hands-on experience in the field and the lab gave him latitude in his professional life, and a meaningful legacy after he died on October 29, 1982. 

Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin is more than a well-researched handbook; it's the essence of Steffen Arctander and as close as the reader will get to his biography. This is evident in content that bookends the monographs on natural raw materials. 

The beginning and end of the book is where the reader learns about the author's approach to fragrance creation and categorization, as well as international travel focused on existing and novel aromatic ingredients. The travel portion is scientifically informed, diaristic fieldwork. 

Happy Birthday, Steffen Arctander. Perhaps we'll know more about you on the anniversary of your birthday in 2023. We have history and memories for now.

Notes & Curiosities:

The image of Steffen Arctander that accompanies this post is from Volume 8, Number 3 edition of the Journal of Cosmetic Science.  The journal was published in 1957 and includes a wonderful article about Florence E. Wall, an award-winning female chemist. 

Steffen Arctander joined the British Intelligence Service during WWII, where he applied chemical expertise in explosives against the Nazis. 

*Steffen Arctander formulated a perfume called Blue Diamond that was released in 1979. There is little of it in circulation. An experiential account of its olfactory qualities is revealed in perfumer Ayala Moriel's Smelly Blog. BTW: Elizabeth Taylor's White Diamonds (perfumer Carlos Benaim, IFF) was released in 1991 and isn't related to Arctander's perfume. 

Steffen Arctander: Fragrance Expert and Game Show Contestant

Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin by Steffen Arctander is the go-to source for flavor and fragrance descriptions related to natural materials. Arctander described his book as "a one-volume dictionary form of [a] practical handbook", but Arctander's book is more than that; it's a dictionary of smells that accounts for a posthumous cult following among perfumers, flavorists, chefs and fragrance fans. So who was Steffen Arctander?

Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin was written to address needs that weren't met by existing trade publications of its time. Arctander was uniquely qualified to write the book as he was an authority on perfume and flavor chemistry, and travelled all over the globe in search of new scents and aromas. Steffen Arctander was a man of firsts. His accomplishments include teaching the first college course on perfume at Rutgers University in 1965. Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin was inspired by the needs of students studying perfume and flavor chemistry. Arctander articulates this in the book's preface:

During three years of lecturing at the University Extension Division, the author became aware of the fact that the perfumery and flavor literature does not include any work that describes the odor and flavor of the raw materials from nature in everyday words. There is no recent or up-to-date handbook of raw materials suggesting the use of the materials, the replacement of one material for another, the proportional strength of flavor materials, etc. Furthermore, there was no up-to-date work which gave any practical indication of availability and present world production of these materials. Export figures are obviously not always indicative of the true production. 

There's more to Steffen Arctander's history than admirers of Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin know. An article in the January 4, 1970 edition of The Central New Jersey Home News states; "At the start of WWII he [Steffen Arctander] joined the British Intelligence Service and did underground work while continuing to live a normal life during working hours. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1944, but escaped and continued his intelligence work until the German surrender." 

Roger Moore aka James Bond, 007

                            

What kind of intelligence work did Steffen Arctander do? He was an instructor in high explosives and incendiary bombs for the British Intelligence Service. Steffen Arctander was a chemist, perfumer and man of intrigue on the right side of history. It's enough to make anyone read his dictionary of smells from cover to cover looking for clues related to Arctander's life off of the lab bench.

Anyone who worked in intelligence would be a natural fit for a secretive industry like flavors and fragrances. Arctander calls out the industry's hush-hush quality as fact in his book, "The perfume and flavor trade has been veiled and concealed for decades, if not for centuries." Perfume is a commodity subject to strict confidentiality. It still is, with one exception; the identity of perfumers is no longer hidden. This wasn't the case when Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin was written.

Today's fans of Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origins are familiar with Steffen Arctander's body of work, but there's little in the way of media that gives us a sense of who he was as a living breathing human being. I did a little research and came across something I did not expect to find. On June 22, 1964 Steffen Arctander was a contestant on a game show called To Tell the Truth. 

Arctander's appearance on To Tell the Truth was a surprising find, but it makes sense. His reputation in the industry was tied to stellar academic chops, so his appearance as a "perfume expert" wasn't a threat to industry confidentiality agreements. Steffen Arctander had the kind of cachet that gets a person invited to parties. It's easy to imagine someone inviting him to be a guest on a popular 1960s game show.

What did it take for Steffen Arctander to get "approval" from his employer to be on national television? Did producers of the show or one of the celebrity panelists know or hear about him? We may never know the answer to these questions, but we do know what questions were asked of Steffen Arctander on June 22, 1964 when he was a guest on To Tell the Truth. 

The formula for To Tell the Truth is simple. Four celebrity panelists interview three contestants, two of whom are imposters. The host of the show moderates a conversation between panelists and contestants so the person who isn't an imposter can be identified. Questions informed by the identity of the true contestant enliven the conversation. There are 16 questions in this episode, but only 15 were answered. The panelists were Orson Bean, Kitty Carlisle, Tom Poston and Phyllis Newman. 

Orson Bean asks: How many musk seeds would it take to make a jar of perfume? I mean, how do you crush those little things down? What do you do with them? Tell me about the citronella grass? Is that the same stuff you use to keep bugs away? Why does it suddenly smell good when you put it into perfume? Evening in Weinspar. That’s a perfume not too well known. Do you know which company makes it? 

Kitty Carlisle inquires: 
Where does Attar of Roses come from? Where does ambergris come from? Can you tell me what happens in Grasse, in France? Can you tell me what flower has never been approximated in a perfume? Can you tell me what kind of a fixative creates the longevity of a perfume? 

Tom Poston asks: What’s the origin of your name, Arctander? Is yours a United States Company? What is the largest...? [The query is cut as Poston is out of time.] 

Phyllis Newman probes: What is your company? What are some of the brand names it makes? Who makes L'Interdit? Do you want to plug anybody? [One of the contestants would rather not say due to ethical concerns, which prompts Newman's interrogation.] Why ethical? It’s something that’s sold, you know, over the counter.

Listening to To Tell the Truth contestants attempt to convince celebrity panelists that they're the real Steffen Arctander is theater for perfume lovers and fragrance trivia buffs. His appearance on a game show offers something his book does not: a sing-song Danish accent that colors his speech, a reserved manner with a penchant for precision, and mischievous micro expressions when he answers questions about perfumery that are definitely tells. 

Watching Steffen Arctander on a game show like To Tell the Truth is the closest fans of Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin will get to experiencing Arctander's humanity. Though his earthly journey ended in 1982, he continues to answer our questions every time we consult his dictionary of smells. It's an incredible legacy.

Research Notes: 

If you're an astrology aficionado you're probably not surprised to discover that Steffen Arctander, fragrance expert, man of intrigue and To Tell the Truth game show contestant was a Virgo (a man of nines, born in Denmark on September 9, 1919 who died in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 29, 1982). Virgo's characteristic qualities of curiosity, attention to detail, and keen powers of observation characterize his book. You can practically smell them. 

The official biography for Steffen Arctander as read by host Bob Collyer on To Tell the Truth reads:   

I, Steffen Arctander am an authority on perfume. My company supplies the basic essences to many of the great perfume houses both here and abroad. I travel all over the world in search of new scents and aromas. The musk seed from the West Indies, oakmoss from the Mediterranean, cognac oil from the Rhine and citronella grass from Indonesia. As a perfumer I can create a scent which will project a specific image whether it be sophisticated, innocent or mysterious. Next fall I will be teaching the only college course in the world on perfume. 

Steffen Arctander was working for International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) when he appeared on To Tell the Truth. His work history includes the Colgate-Palmolive Company and a successful independent consultancy.

Steffen Arctander's brother was a Danish architect Philip Arctander (1916-1994) who is known for designing the Clam Chair (Muslingestol). Philip was Director of the Danish Building Research Institute from 1968 to 1981 and worked with the United Nations on initiatives to support affordable housing.    

Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin (1960) is free to view in multiple formats on the Internet Archive. The book is also available on HathiTrust, but you can't download a book in its entirety unless you're affiliated with a partner institution.

The orange To Tell the Truth GIF is designed by BuddyBoy600 on Deviant Art. It's fan art.