This collection, digitized here in its entirety, consists of black-and-white print photographs of the Norda Essential Oil and Chemical Company manufacturing and laboratory facilities in Boonton, New Jersey, circa 1950's. The collection is essentially divided into two parts: the first half of the photographs documents the plant's equipment and supplies, while the second half depicts the laboratory facilities and steps in the manufacturing process, such as compounding, fractionation, and analytical testing. The equipment pictured includes vacuum stills, autoclaves, centrifuges, and spices used in the production of perfumes and essential oils, as well as specialty apparatus like refractometers and micro-stills.
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Stainless Steel Reactor
- 1950s
View of a stainless steel reactor at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey.
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Spice Storage
- 1950s
Interior view of the spice storage area at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey, showing sacks of spices used in the manufacture of perfumes and essential oils.
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Soap Perfume Base Department
- 1950s
Interior view of the Soap Perfume Base Department at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey.
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Refractometer
- 1950s
View of a chemist checking the refractive index of an oil sample in a refractometer at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey.
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Production Compounding
- 1950s
View of production compounding of perfume bases at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey.
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Production Compounding
- 1950s
View of production compounding of perfume bases at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey.
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Production Compounding
- 1950s
View of production compounding at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey.
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Polariscope
- 1950s
View of a chemist checking the optical rotation of an oil sample on a polariscope at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey.
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Perfumers at Work
- 1950s
View of perfumers at work preparing and compounding test samples at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey.
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Perfume Research Team
- 1950s
View of the perfume research team at work in the laboratory at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey.
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Oil Sample - Gravity Check
- 1950s
View of a chemist checking the specific gravity of a sample of essential oil at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey.
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Oil Sample - Analytical Testing
- 1950s
View of a chemist preparing regents for analytical testing of oil samples at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey.
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Norda Plant
- 1950s
Exterior view of the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey. Photograph includes view of smokestack and water tower branded with "Norda," as well as neighboring railroad tracks.
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Micro-still
- 1950s
View of a chemist checking temperature changes on a micro-still in the laboratory at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey.
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Master Perfumer
- 1950s
View of a master perfumer pouring a sample of essential oil at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey.
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Master Perfumer
- 1950s
View of a master perfumer checking test samples of perfume compounds at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey.
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Interior of Building #1
- 1950s
Interior view of building #1 at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey, showing various machinery used in the manufacture of perfumes and essential oils.
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Hydroxy Equipment
- 1950s
View of hydroxy equipment at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey.
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Hydroxy Building
- 1950s
Exterior view of the hydroxy building at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey.
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Fractionation
- 1950s
View of the fractionation of an essential oil for the production of a terpeneless product in the laboratory at the Norda Company plant in Boonton, New Jersey.
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