Mid 1800s perfume forgeries

[botil]

One perfume bottle from my collection is embossed FARINA/VIS A VIS/LE MARCHE/ COLOGNE. Hinge mold, pontiled, sheared lib, aqua in color.
As Farina is a perfume company still existing in Cologne (Germany), I emailed them looking for information. As to my surprise the answer was that the bottle is one of the many forgeries of the 19th century. The original bottle must have written on it JEAN MARIE FARINA/VIS A VIS/LA PLACE JULIER.
Were forgeries usually done in hand blown glass bottles before 1900?
Nowadays forgeries are wadely done in perfumery, fashion, music, .....etc. as all we know.

 

[GuntherHess]

Look alike competitors bottles were pretty common with patent medicines in the 19th century USA. When ever one medicine started selling well you could be sure people would start making copycat products to try to cash in on other people's success.
Happened in the past, still happens today. Its just one of the sad aspects of human nature.