The Hagley Vault brings beauty home to you this week with a ca. 1950 look at lipstick manufacturing in an Avon Products plant in Canada.
The photograph is part of Hagley Library's collection of Avon Products Inc. photographs and audiovisual materials (Accession: 1997.209). The company was founded in 1886 by David H. McConnell (1856-1937) as the California Perfume Company (CPC). During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, CPC expanded its line of products to include cosmetics, household cleaners, food flavorings, and toiletries, and is now one of the oldest direct selling companies in America.
The collection, along with Hagley's collection of Avon Products Inc. records (Accession 2155) and our extensive collection of catalogs and pamphlets document the history and activities of the corporation since its founding. This particular photograph is part of a series that contains photographs and slides of manufacturing and shipping at international Avon facilities, including not just Canada, but also England, Ireland, Japan, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The majority of the photographs in this particular series show Avon employees at work and date from 1950 to 1996.
If you'd like to go get to know your Avon lady, our Digital Archives hosts a broad selection of images, written works, and commercials created by the company that are now part of Hagley Library's collections.