I’m pretty sure it’s been a thing since cologne was invented.

FWIW I went to high school in the early-mid 00s, and during those days, it wasn’t cologne - it was Axe body spray. My friends and I would joke about there being ads in the future similar to the, “Did you work at such-and-such and develop mesothelioma? You may be entitled to compensation.” Except instead of asbestos filling your lungs and giving you a disease, it’s Axe. That crap was in the air perpetually.

It's not just young men. There are men and women of all ages who wear too much perfume or cologne. I seem to be allergic to some of them, because I will often have my sinuses suddenly clog up, get a massive headache and swelling in my throat from smelling them.

On multiple occasions at work, it's been so bad that I have to go ask a coworker to take over helping a customer because their perfume is giving me such a severe reaction. Then the perfume continues to linger for hours after they are gone.

1200BCE Mesopotamia?

I remember in highschool that some of the other boys seemed to think AXE body spray was an adequate substitute for showering regularly.

It's not. It just makes you smell like AXE and BO.

holy shit, cologne !!! thank you. damn

I would say it probably started sometime in the 17 or 1800s when they first started powdering their noses and throwing a ton of perfume and cologne.

When they stopped washing their assholes.