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Direct selling

 Subject
Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings

Found in 4 Collections and/or Records:

Avon Products Inc. photographs and audiovisual materials

 Collection
Accession: 1997-209
Abstract:

Avon Products, Inc. is a manufacturer and direct selling company of beauty products. It is one of the oldest direct selling companies in America. The company was founded in 1886 by David H. McConnell (1856-1937) as the California Perfume Company (CPC). McConnell established a manufacturing headquarters and research laboratory in Suffern, New York, in the 1890s. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, CPC expanded its line of products to include cosmetics, household cleaners, food flavorings, and toiletries. The collection consists of photographs, negatives, slides, films, videos and sound recordings date from 1856 to 2000. The materials depict Avon products, their manufacture, packaging and sale, Avon employees and representatives and the offices, laboratories, factories and other structures owned by Avon Products, Inc. The collection is organized into ten series: Administration, Conferences, Non-sales employees, Domestic locations, International locations, Public relations, Sales managers and representatives, Selling methods and sales aids, Company history and philosophy, and Library, music, and museum.

Dates: 1858-2007

Inez M. Gossett's Avon Products, Inc. papers

 Collection
Accession: 2294
Abstract:

Inez M. Gossett (1907-2003) was employed by Avon Products, Inc. for thirty-one years. In 1939, she established the Atlanta City office. After the office closed, Gossett became a division sales counselor for district managers in Atlanta, Birmingham, New Orleans, and Memphis. Avon Products, Inc. is a manufacturer and direct selling company of beauty products. It is one of the oldest direct selling companies in the United States. This small collection documents the daily work of a city manager, most notably through Gossett's personal narrative, "A Week in the Life of a City Manager." As city manager, Gossett was responsible for hiring and training sales representatives. The collection contains sample sales representatives' contracts, order forms, and sales training materials.

Dates: 1920-1967

Ruth Leverenz Avon Products scrapbook

 Collection
Accession: 2014-259
Abstract:

Ruth (Bury) Leverenz (1912-2006) was a top Avon Sales Representative for twenty years, from 1958 to 1978. Avon Products, Inc. is a manufacturer and direct selling company of beauty products. For many years Leverenz was the number one sales representative in her district and won numerous sales campaigns. During Leverenz's time as an Avon Representative, she compiled sixty pages of historical communications from the company into a scrapbook. The collection provides insight into methods of direct selling, the daily work of an Avon representative, and the experience of women in small business.

Dates: 1958-1978; 1980

Zanol Products Company salesman's case and ephemera

 Collection
Accession: 1993-301
Abstract:

The Zanol Products Company was a door-to-door consumer goods distributor. Founded in Cincinnati, Ohio circa 1908, Zanol developed its own line of household products which the company sold directly to consumers via door-to-door representatives. This collection consists of one salesman's case containing pamphlets, trade cards, trade catalogs, sewing needle cases, books of blank order forms, and other ephemera from the Zanol Products Company.

Dates: 1926-1933