When you start selling compacts sometimes some don't stay in your possession for long but they are still worthy of being noted and remembered, so at least you can say you use to own one. This Coty Sub-deb "Airspun" rogue compact has had a life - you can see that in the marked patina but even in use it's kept it's original stylised bright red puff and refill clip. The top design is simple - only an eagle and crown logo breaks the line detailing over the goldtone colouring. From the bottom we can clearly note this is was a container for the Dahlia shade, distributed by Coty, New York. It most probably dates to between the 1940s-60s [although I have occasionally seen similar compacts dated a decade earlier].
The refill clip is complete with a patent number - 1644085 which relates to a patent filed in the February of 1925 by a Philip A Reutter of Waterbury, Connecticut. Denoted as an invention for a "combined refill and puff holder" whereby replacing the need for separate instruments "in which the refill holder and the puff holder are combined ... so that both time and money [on the part of the manufacturer] is saved ...". This piece thus clips in place, still allowing the refilling of the compact once a powder/rogue is used while keeping the pan and puff in position. This is the first I've heard yet along seen of such a clip and was only referenced in other patents during the 1980s.
While the patent was drawn with a vanity case in mind, Reutter even noted in his patent propsal the refill clip could be used for single item cases such as this Coty rogue compact. The clip of which is drawn in detail in figure four.
If this is of your fancy, we're currently auctioning this item via eBay.
Google is a great place for researching American patent numbers and many are available free to download.
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