Born in Newport, Rhode Island, before the American Revolution, Caswell-Massey started as "Dr. Hunter's Apothecary." Dr William Hunter offered primarily medical and formulary services, including his own proprietary formulations; as well as medicinal items, oils, and remedies imported from Europe.

Optimally situated on the eastern seaboard, Newport connected the new world and the old through trade. Highly sought after resources passed through the port, allowing the development of our best-known fragrances and formulas, some of which we still offer today.

Dr. Hunter would soon create a uniquely American fragrance that would gain almost instant popularity among the newly forming nation's elites: Number Six Eau de Parfum. Debuting in 1772, the new fragrance was bold yet sophisticated—resonated with the emerging American spirit.

Number Six achieved legendary status when soon-to-be first president George Washington discovered and purchased the fragrance for his personal use when visiting Newport in 1781.

Enduring the American Revolutionary war, and after Dr. Hunter’s passing in 1777, the business passed through the hands of various loyal stewards. Notably: Williams Hunter Jr., Charles Feke, William S.N. Allen, Dr. Rowland Hazard, Henry Quincy Mack, and a young Phillip Caswell.

The company refines its identity as a supplier of refined grooming goods for elite American households and sheds the medical device business.

By the late 19th century, the company becomes synonymous with American refinement. It operated out of elegant locations in New York, culminating in a Fifth Avenue flagship known for its Victorian interiors and white-gloved service.

Another notable fragrance is introduced, ‘Jockey Club’. An early bottle of Jockey Club is shown as part of the Smithsonian Collection. You can still visit and see the bottle at the Smithsonian today.

The same fragrance, Caswell-Massey Jockey Club, would become a favorite of John F. Kennedy 100 years later.

Caswell-Massey becomes well-established as a popular destination in New York City.

Product services include bespoke perfume service, cucumber cold cream, shaving implements, powders and pot-pourri are popular with many notable New Yorkers, Broadway stars, and celebrities converged.

Caswell-Massey continues to attract notable New Yorkers as loyal clientele, including musicians like Cole Porter and George Gershwin, and film stars John Barrymore, Errol Flynn, Judy Garland, Katharine Hepburn, and Greta Garbo.

President and Mrs. Dwight Eisenhower brought Caswell-Massey’s Almond Bar Soap to the White House. It would remain the company's best-selling soap to this day.

Try our modern Almond Soap today.

Favored by JFK, Jockey Club is equal parts clubhouse polish and East‑Coast swagger. Sold today in the official White House store, Jockey Club sealed its status as a presidential favorite with one of the most charismatic presidents in American history.

Learn more about Jockey Club

The Official White House Gift Shop

In an effort to introduce more sustainable practices in the production of fragrances, Caswell-Massey converts to completely biodegradable packaging and begins to utilize a cutting-edge Fragrance Capture Technology which allows fragrances to be made without crushing the flowers for their oils. This process is used to create all of the floral NYBG Scents.

Learn more about the fragrance capture technology here.

Reviving and reformulating popular fragrance recipes, Caswell-Massey now offers a complete line of modern-classic fragrances, bath soaps, body-care, and men's grooming essentials. Continuing to offer the most popular and the storied scents like Number Six and Jockey Club in their classic forms from the 1900's, Caswell-Massey serves some of the most loyal legacy customers of any American brand.

Spanning ten generations, Caswell-Massey continues to curate the American luxury dream through the experience of scents found nowhere else.