Compiled by PHYL CLARKE

CAN YOU BELIEVE Avon has been calling for 125 years? The beauty powerhouse that sells 3.5 billion products a year to 300 million customers was founded in California by a door-to-door bookseller – Irishman David McConnell. His flexible sales model offered women financial independence at a time when they didn’t even have the vote.

The first Avon Lady was 50-year-old mother of two, Mrs P.F.E. Albee, who played a major part in developing the system and helped McConnell to recruit and train agents to expand the business. The year 1896 saw the publication of the first brochure – today 1 billion brochures are delivered each year.

So what was it like to work for Avon in Ireland? Sheila Morgan joined the company as a manager in 1972, looking after between 60 and 150 representatives (the numbers soared at Christmas). “It was an ideal way for a married woman with kids to work. The hours were great, I could be home in time for the kids coming home from school in the afternoon and go out again in the evening. It was a great company to work for – the managers were given cars, and if you made your target, you’d get a gold bracelet; the next time, you might get a charm to put on the bracelet.” As befitted their status, managers had to be impeccably turned out and had to wear a hat.

“The reps came from all walks of life – when you went to visit them in Ballymun flats [one of Morgan’s favourites], they’d always have a bowl of soup waiting for you.” Morgan still uses some of the products – the shower gels, linen sprays and her favourite, the Rich Moisture cream, which she’s been using for more than 30 years, and she reckons its better than any of the company’s newer skincare products.

Elizabeth Higgins was a representative in Dublin during the 1970s. With a young family and a husband who travelled for work, she loved the flexibility of being her own boss and organising visits in her own time. On starting, she was advised by her manager to “set herself a target and achieve it” – her first was a new washing machine. She would call to neighbours with a vanity case full of samples and leave them with a brochure, which she would collect a few days later with their order. “They loved having the products delivered to their door as many of them had small children, and found it difficult to get out to the shops.”

Attending group meetings in the Gresham hotel was a monthly highlight. “We were asked to submit ideas, and the best ones got a prize – I still have the bone china tea set I won, although the tea pot is long gone.”

Her best seller? A skin cream that came in a green jar. “It absorbed quickly, so make-up could be applied almost immediately, and I was surprised to discover that some of the husbands were using it as an after-shave balm.”

Today Avon sells four lipsticks and two mascaras every second. The company claims that more women wear its nail enamel than any other brand and that it sells more fragrance than any other company.

The business of beauty might have made Avon’s name, but philanthropic ventures that support women have always been a priority for this company. It has raised $800 million worldwide for women’s charities. Locally, Ireland’s Breast Cancer Crusade has benefited to the tune of almost €1 million and the company also supports the Women’s Aid organisation. So happy birthday Avon – and keep ringing those doorbells.

Avon firsts

The first major cosmetic company to end testing on animals

The first to use Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA) in 1992

The first beauty company to launch an e-commerce site

The first to use stabilised Retinol, in 1986

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