A PODCAST FROM IMMORTAL PERFUMES
The Scent
Archive
Curious histories, bottled
EP 02 - APRIL 29, 2026
THE DOCTOR AND THE ATOMIZER
How a Civil War veteran in Toledo accidentally invented the perfume atomizer
Dr. Allen DeVilbiss was sick of shoving goose grease down his patients' throats to treat infections. So he built the first atomizer in his Toledo shed from an oil can and a rubber ball. His son Thomas turned this medical device into Art Deco masterpieces that would change how America wore perfume.
YOUR HOST
JT Siems
PERFUME HISTORIAN · EDUCATOR · WRITER
JT Siems is the founder of Immortal Perfumes, a Seattle-based literary micro-perfumery. Obsessed with history, she is a perfume historian, educator, writer, and international award-winning perfumer.
STORICAL FOOTNOTES: SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE SEARCHES FOR AGATHA CHRISTIE
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, was a RAGING spiritualist. When Agatha Christie mysteriously disappeared in 1926, the police investigators searching for her had no leads. So they turned to famed detective writers Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dorothy Sayers for fresh angles in their search. Sayers investigated the crime scene, Doyle hired a psychic.