The real Shem-el-Nessim
Long-time NZBC readers may remember my short story ‘Shem-el-Nessim’, first posted here in instalments, back in 2006. Since then, it has appeared in print, in Zahir magazine in the US and a Postscripts anthology called ‘This Is The Summer of Love’ in the UK.The story was inspired by a framed advertisement from an old magazine for a real perfume called Shem-el-Nessim, made by the London company J. Grossmith and Son. Before writing it I did some internet research to attempt to find out whether the company still existed, what its address was in the 1920s when the story was set, and to try to find out as much as I could about the perfume’s history. At the time, other than some auctions of vintage packaging and advertising material on eBay, I couldn’t find much in the public domain. However, in the process, I did stumble on an unexpected link to the infamous occultist Aleister Crowley. That, of course, had to be included in the story.
You can imagine how pleased I was a couple of months ago to hear from a direct descendant of John Grossmith, Simon Brooke, who has recently re-launched Grossmith and its perfumes: “Your story is very special for me and I would very much like to know what inspired you,” Simon emailed.
He tells me Shem-el-Nessim is now the best seller of Grossmith’s three new launch scents, and today wrote with further news about the perfume and his connection with the Grossmith dynasty. Read on…
posted by Chris Bell at 11:21 PM
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