History of Elizabeth Arden

 Elizabeth Arden, originally named Florence Nightingale Graham, was the Canadian born fourth of five children of a Scottish grocer. She arrived in New York in 1908 and started anew the experimentations she had originally performed in the kitchen the house where she grew up.

With the help of a chemist friend she virtually originated the concept of a “beauty cream”. Her first product offerings were promoted through her Fifth Avenue Beauty “Salon”. She soon outgrew her single location salon and, because of the demand she had created, started to make her cosmetic creams available for resale by others, but only in the most prestigious and elegant retail environments worldwide. By the 1930's, it was said that there were only three American names known in every corner of the globe: Singer Sewing Machines, Coca-Cola, and Elizabeth Arden. Elizabeth Arden opened the Maine Chance Beauty Resort in 1934 and created and launched her first fragrance in 1935.

At the time of Miss Arden's death in October 1966, the Elizabeth Arden Company was grossing an estimated $60 million per year. In her lifetime, she built an empire consisting of 17 different Elizabeth Arden corporations and 40 Salons worldwide. Elizabeth Arden invented the American beauty industry.