ANN ARBOR – Join scent expert Michelle Krell Kydd at the Ann Arbor District Library’s Pittsfield Branch on Dec. 18 for a one-of-a-kind Smell & Tell inspired by Helen Keller.
During her lifetime, Keller, the American deaf-blind lecturer, author and activist, utilized her senses that were still intact to the fullest, including her sense of smell.
In 1950, Keller attended a smelling session with perfumer Michel Pasquier in Westport, Connecticut, in which she and a small group of women were tasked with identifying which flower inspired eight different unidentified perfumes.
Read: A conversation with ‘The Nose of Ann Arbor’
Keller wrote about the experience in the March 1951 edition of Ladies’ Home Journal and titled her article “The World Through Three Senses.”
Recreate this moment in history with Michelle Krell Kydd, who will provide similar fragrances using single floral notes, a sample of Pasquier’s Tobruk perfume from 1952 and a gift set by the perfumer that includes the very whiff satchets referenced by Keller in her article.
The event begins at 6:30 p.m. and lasts just over two hours. Just bring yourself, and a curious nose and mind.
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