It repackaged its cosmetics in new blue-lidded bottles and jars with Coty written in tall letters on the label.Ĭoty’s skin-care range at the time included Cleansing Cream, Skin Freshner, Conditioning Cream, Foundation Cream, Foundation Lotion, Eye Cream and Creamy Hand Lotion. The new legislation and the improved economic situation seems to have stimulated the company to refresh its product line in 1940. These laws had a dramatic effect on the way American companies named and advertised their cosmetics.įortunately, Coty had generally refrained from making outrageous claims for its products and avoided contentious names such as ‘Skin Food’ so the changes it needed to make to comply with the new legislation were minimal. Like other American cosmetic companies, Coty had to deal with the ramifications of the Wheeler-Lea Act and the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&CA) which passed into law in the United States in 1938. New American legislation was another matter. However, the company had stocks in reserve and was able to maintain perfume production for the moment cosmetics, such as face powders, were largely unaffected. Other family members such a Yvonne Cotnareanu, Léon Cotnareanu and Roland Coty were made or continued on as directors.Ĭoty production in America was cut off from supplies of essential oils normally sourced from France. Brooks had been made president of both companies. He had been very helpful to Yvonne, Léon and their families during their displacement from France.īy 1941, Léon’s brother Philip Cortney had become vice-chairman of Coty, Inc. Levy – who was by now in his early sixties – retired and Grover A. United StatesĪlthough the United States did not enter the Second World War until December, 1941, world events precipitated a number of management changes at Coty, Inc. They also used their face powder machinery to grind fine chemicals for explosives. In Britain, Coty contributed to the war effort by making foot powders, solid fuel tablets for cooking and camouflage creams for the troops. The company was also alerting trade outlets to counterfeit Coty powders. After Stratford House was bombed the company offices were moved to 41 High Street, Leighton-Buzzard where they remained for the duration of the war.Ībove: 1944 Trade advertising displaying wartime packaging for Coty England powders. By 1941, Coty England had moved some of its manufacturing from London to Leighton-Buzzard in Bedfordshire and Glasgow in Scotland. protested but there was little it could do.Ĭoty England also suffered as it came under increasing regulation as government edicts regarding concentration of industries, price controls, restrictions on output, and repurposing of factories took effect and supplies of essential oils were cut off. For example, Coty operations in France were shut down until it was ‘aryanised’ and allowed to trade again. According to an FBI informant, Léon’s younger brother, Philippe Cotnareanu – who changed his name to Philip Cortney – later smuggled $500,000 in American currency from Vichy France into the United States (FBI Silvermaster file, 1946).ĭespite the fact that Coty subsidiaries in France, Italy and Romania were owned by Coty U.S., and America was not then at war with Germany, these companies were either seized or interfered with by the German government. Some of the Coty fortune may have followed later. Unable to get residency in America for two years they departed for Canada and lived in Quebec until they were allowed to settle in the United States (Toledano & Coty, 2009). After crossing the border the family made their way to Lisbon and from there flew to New York. Yvonne took her jewellery to the bank, hid other valuables behind a new wall in the cellar at the Coty home in the Avenue Raphael and then the family drove to the Spanish border. Léon was Jewish so the situation was dire. When France capitulated to the Germans in June, 1940, Yvonne and her second husband Léon Cotnareanu were still in Paris.
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