Rowland Holbrook Smith (1879-1920) was born on 14 December 1879 in New York City, USA.
Rowland's father, Alfred Holbrook Smith was president and founder of the Alfred H. Smith Company, which originally focused on importing brushes.
Later on the business was expanded to include the importation of toiletries, vanity boxes and perfumes.
Without doubt Stratton were the most successful brand of British powder compact. The quality of their enamel was clearly superior to the other British brands at the time. Vintage Stratton accessories are highly collectible today and many have proved to be a good investment.
With thanks to the material written by Juliette Edwards in her book The Stratton Identification Key, collectors can say for certain what model is rare, uncommon & common. Coupled with known years of availability it is possible to build a big picture of exactly how rare an item is.
