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John Blocki

John Blocki
John Blocki.jpg
Born (1845-06-15)June 15, 1845
Hansewalde, Prussia
Died May 7, 1934(1934-05-07) (aged 88)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Occupation perfumer
Known for flower-in-the-bottle floral waters and perfumes

John Blocki (15 June 1845 – 7 May 1934) was one of America's pioneer perfumers. His perfumes and cosmetics were widely sold and his unique presentation earned him a U.S. patent for perfumery packaging. He was well-known in the trade for his leadership and commitment to the advancement of the American perfume industry.

John Blocki was born on a feudal estate near Königsberg, Prussia in 1845. His parents were Friedrich Wilhelm Blocki, a Prussian and Polish noble, and Emma (Doehling) of Pomerania. In 1850, the Friedrich Blockis with their six sons, two daughters, tutor, governess and several servants left the turbulence in Prussia for America.

The voyage took six weeks and ended in a shipwreck off the shore of Sheboygan, Wisconsin where the family decided to settle. The only item salvaged from the shipwreck was a piano. It was the first piano in the state and people would come from miles around to hear Emma Blocki play on Sundays.

Blocki was educated in the public and private schools in Wisconsin and afterwards moved to Chicago where he lived the rest of his life. He married an English woman, Emma Leadbeater, in 1867. They had two children, Frederick William and Jeanette (a twin, Irene, died very young).

In 1859 when he was fourteen years old, Blocki apprenticed as a chemist with pharmacist F.A. Wheeler in Sheboygan. Blocki's older brother, William, had moved to Chicago to begin his pharmacy career as a clerk for Edwin Oscar Gale; the Gale drugstore was founded in 1847 making it one of the oldest apothecaries in Chicago. William Blocki became a full partner in the business which changed its name to Gale & Blocki and grew to several stores including a prime location in the historic Palmer House Hotel (now the Palmer House Hilton).

Blocki moved to Chicago in 1862 and joined the drug firm of Fuller, French and Fuller; this was his first and only employer. On August 12, 1865, at the age of twenty, Blocki established his own retail and wholesale drug firm known as Blocki, Dietzsche & Co. The firm specialized in high quality chemicals, perfumes, essences and essential oils. The business was destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 but quickly reopened at a new location in one of the few surviving business buildings in the city.

Having accomplished himself as a chemist, Blocki sharpened his business skills by calling on large retailers in a wholesale capacity. From 1885 to 1895 he was appointed to represent the old New York house of Lehn & Fink in Chicago and vicinity. This endeavor was a success and Blocki became known as one of the best wholesale druggists in the country for his unusually strong ability to memorize market quotations.


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