I have bought some old powder boxes and perfume bottles from years ago, I am not sure if they are from 30's, 40's or 50's although one powder box by Coty is featured in the ad I have from 1946.Powder boxes are not the same thing as a compact, right? Are you talking about those round two-piece boxes that held loose face powder and maybe a puff???
The makeup-related items that have survived to become collectible antiques are usually the pieces that are decorated. Decorative tins and boxes could be reused - once they were empty - as containers for one small item or another. They dressed up the bureau or vanity. The more ornate perfume bottles would have been considered collectibles when new. Lipstick tubes, however, couldn't really be reused once they were empty, so it kind of makes sense that they're a little more unusual to find these days than powder boxes or perfume bottles.
