Here is a very large & very handsome flapjack powder compact dating from the late 1950s/early 1960s. This has a peach enamel background with dark raspberry pink roses & dark green leaves in an all-over design. This compact measures 10.3cms in diameter, one of the largest I have seen, & and roughly 1.2cm thick in the centre (4 1/8 x 1/2) & has intact hinges & clasps on the exterior, which are all in good working order. This one has been designed to take loose powder & it comes with its original sifter. It has its original white lining paper in the powder well. I love this for its pretty retro 1950s floral roses design such an utterly 1950s sort of look, & the fact that it is over 4 wide - it feels really substantial, & very flat & tactile. No signature on this, but it is identical in the outer case size, shape & catch / hinge detailing to another compact I have, that has an inner lid with the Mascot signature, so this one could possibly be a Mascot compact that has lost its powder puff that would identify it as such. CONDITION:- This compact is in very good condition even though it has lost its original felt slipcover cover long ago. It has the original sifter inside, which dates it to the 1950s, or before, as after that, they invented the cream powder refill which didn’t need a sifter & could drop in & out when it was used. The era of the loose powder was at an end the minute someone came up with that idea, although most compacts could be used for either for a good long while - well into the 1960s anyway. The mirror has a bit of a stain, see photo no: 5 - which doesn’t stop you from seeing your reflection, but it’s impossibly to remove as it’s inside the mirror glass. Otherwise, save for a few minor surface scratches to the enamel front & to the brass surface on the back, which would indicate normal wear & tear, this is a really nice collector’s item. MASCOT This was the compact trademark of AS Brown of England. They were manufacturing compacts as early as the 1940s & signed ASB. They began using the Mascot tradename in 1950. I have a theory that they made compacts for High St chain Boots the Chemist too - I have had several compacts from the 1950s, with exactly the same label inside but with the name ‘Boots’ done in the same script lettering, which is definitely not the famous script Boots logo either. Perhaps they had the contract for a while, & it’s nothing new for outside companies like Mascot to make own brand items for the UK High St. chains like Boots, M&S & C&A. Mascot were also very famous for compacts shaped as handbags which were manufactured during the 1950s. The AS Brown company bought the Kigu Co in 1977, & continued producing compacts into the 1980s. Mascot ? Large Flapjack Lacquered Brass Powder Compact With Peach Enamel & Raspberry Pink Roses Design, Vintage 1950S
