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Avon 1979 President Washington Bust Decanter — Wild Country After Shave, Original Patriotic Box, Full Bottle

$18.00 Only one available

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Retro (1970s–1980s) Glass, Plastic Very Good
HABC-VR-0001
An Avon 1979 figural bust decanter in the form of George Washington — the bottle is gold-toned, modeled as Washington's profile bust on a square plinth, and arrived from a Lexington, North Carolina estate find with its original patriotic presentation box intact and the bottle still full of the original aftershave.

Highlights

  • Maker: Avon Products, Inc., New York
  • Issue: President Washington Wild Country After Shave decanter, 1979
  • Capacity: 6 fl. oz. — bottle is full with the original aftershave inside
  • Form: Gold-toned figural bust of Washington on a square plinth base, tabletop scale
  • Box: Original Avon presentation box — full-color illustrated front panel of Washington and a Revolutionary scene, with Thomas Jefferson's 1814 tribute on the reverse
  • Provenance: From a Lexington, North Carolina estate

Condition

Bottle: excellent — the gold finish is bright and uniform, the original Avon paper label is intact and legible, and the contents are full. Box: honest age wear with rubbing along the corners and edges and small tears at the seams; the printed artwork on both panels is fully legible and the box remains structurally sound.
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Avon 1979 President Washington Bust Decanter — Wild Country After Shave, Original Patriotic Box, Full Bottle

1979 (date embossed in glass)

Americana — Bicentennial-Era Avon Decanter

Avon began in 1886 as the California Perfume Company, founded in New York by a door-to-door book seller who'd noticed his complimentary perfume samples were what people wanted. The company turned a hundred and forty this year. Their figural decanter line — running from the 1960s through the 1980s — became one of the great American collecting hobbies, putting affordable themed bottles on a million side tables and giving generations of customers something to keep, trade, and pass on. Presidential decanters were a small but distinctive part of that catalogue: this Washington bust, issued in 1979 as a Wild Country After Shave bottle, had a companion Abraham Lincoln released the same season.

This particular piece arrived from a Lexington, North Carolina estate, with its original printed presentation box still standing alongside the bottle — front panel showing Washington in profile against a Revolutionary scene, his signature reproduced in cursive below the artwork; reverse panel carrying Thomas Jefferson's 1814 tribute about the man who 'was, indeed, in every sense of the words, a wise, a good, and a great man.' The bottle is full and the gold-tone finish is unblemished. The box is honestly worn — corners rubbed, edges softened from forty-five years of being moved and admired — but the artwork is intact and the whole presentation reads as it was meant to: a small ceremonial keepsake about a founding figure, made by an American company that understood the value of a story you could hold in your hand.

Materials Gold-toned glass bottle with original paper label, plus original Avon printed cardboard presentation box with full-color illustrated panels.
Care Display dry and out of direct sunlight. Vintage aftershave inside the bottle is for display only — not for application.
From the Research Archives
vintagerose.us Catalog No. HABC-VR-0001 • April 2026

Specifications

Dimensions
10 × 8 × 6 in
Weight
2 lbs
SKU
HABC-VR-0001
An Avon President Washington Wild Country After Shave decanter, issued in 1979 — a gold-toned figural bottle modeled as the bust of George Washington, set on a square plinth base. The original Avon paper label on the underside is intact and reads in full: "Avon / President Washington / Wild Country After Shave / 6 fl. oz. / Avon Products, Inc., N.Y., N.Y. 10019," with the year 1979 embossed into the glass. The piece arrived with its original Avon presentation box from a Lexington, North Carolina estate. The front panel carries a full-color illustration of Washington — standing in white-and-red profile, surrounded by Revolutionary-era figures and a glimpse of artillery and tents under a stormy sky — with his signature reproduced in cursive at the foot. The reverse panel bears a printed tribute from Thomas Jefferson, dated 1814: "He was incapable of fear, meeting personal dangers with the calmest unconcern… He was, indeed, in every sense of the words, a wise, a good, and a great man." It is the kind of object Avon was loved for in the 1970s — a small ceremonial keepsake about a founding figure, offered through a beauty company that understood the value of a story you could hold in your hand. Avon was founded in 1886 as the California Perfume Company and turned a hundred and forty this year. Their figural decanter program, running from the 1960s through the 1980s, gave shape to America's enthusiasm for collecting — affordable, themed pieces made for the side table or the curio shelf. The President Washington decanter sat in a small presidential series alongside an Abraham Lincoln companion piece. Both are sought after now for the storytelling they carry in a modest amount of space.

Details

  • Maker: Avon Products, Inc., New York, N.Y.
  • Issue: President Washington Wild Country After Shave decanter, 1979 (date embossed in glass)
  • Capacity: 6 fluid ounces — bottle is full with the original Avon aftershave
  • Form: Gold-toned figural bust of Washington on a square plinth base
  • Box: Original Avon presentation box; full-color illustrated front panel and Jefferson tribute on the reverse
  • Series: Part of Avon's small presidential decanter series, paired with an Abraham Lincoln companion
  • Provenance: Acquired from a Lexington, North Carolina estate

Condition

The bottle is in excellent condition — the gold-tone finish is bright and uniform with no chips or losses, the original Avon paper label is intact and legible, and the bottle is full with the original aftershave inside. The presentation box shows honest age wear: rubbing along the edges and corners, small tears at the seams, and softening of the cardboard from years of being handled and moved. The printed artwork on both panels remains fully legible and the box is structurally sound. This is what forty-five years of careful keeping looks like.

Care

Display dry and out of direct sunlight to preserve the printed box artwork. The bottle contents are vintage 1979 aftershave — for display only, not for application.

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