We continue our look at great American brands with a look at a cosmetics company that is commonly associated with the mid-century. The 136 year old company is Avon Cosmetics. The woman you see is from a 1953 Avon ad. Her look is classic and it is obvious that the purpose of the ad is to promote color in nails and lips.
Only Avon Brings this Color Magic to you in your Home
This 2 page ad from the May 1953 edition of Today’s Woman’s magazine talked of its team of Avon representatives who sold cosmetics directly to the customer in her home.
To obtain this service, simply call Western Union by number. Ask for Operator 25 and tell her you want to see the Avon representative.
The company’s direct-to-consumer business model started with its founding in 1886 when David McConnell sold books door to door in New York. He changed from selling books to perfumes and eventually established the company with the name Avon in the 1930’s. By the time the following ad appeared in the February 1948 edition of Good Housekeeping, Avon was an established brand.
Unlike other beauty company advertisers, there was never a consistent look with Avon ads. Note the differences in the ads below from the 1950’s and 1960’s.
It appears that the logo changed after 1959.
Although Avon is still in business, the company has changed significantly. According to Avon’s Wikipedia page, it is now considered a British multi-national company headquartered in London.
Avon Ads on MidCenturyPage.com
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