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Antique and Vintage Avon Bottles
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Avon Products, Inc., was launched in the late 19th century as California Perfume Company by a traveling book salesman named David H. McConnell. While roaming the United States with his books in tow, McConnell was tinkering with rose-scented
Avon Products, Inc., was launched in the late 19th century as California Perfume Company by a traveling book salesman named David H. McConnell. While roaming the United States with his books in tow, McConnell was tinkering with rose-scented perfume formulas. He noted that the ladies who answered the door were more interested in his homemade perfume samples than the volumes he was trying to sell. He started selling his perfume on the road as well, eventually settled with his new wife, Lucy, in New York City, and established a perfumery there in 1886.
While D.H. McConnell was working out of a small lab in downtown Manhattan, a business partner named C. L. Snyder was based in California and came up with the company's new name, California Perfume Company, or CPC, in 1892, inspired by the state's flower-dotted landscape. In the beginning, the CPC only offered five scents—White Rose, Violet, Heliotrope, Hyacinth, and Lily-of-the-Valley—but by 1896, the company had introduced 20 new fragrances. One of the CPC's first products was "The Little Dot Box," or "The Little Dot Set," which included three bottles of perfume and an atomizer. This set inspired CPC to introduce its hugely popular "Flowers" perfume box, another set with three perfumes and a "Perfect" atomizer, which the company sold between 1892 and 1922.
By 1897, CPC had opened a bigger lab in Suffern, New York, where the company could experiment with other cosmetics and toiletries, and D.H. McConnell hired top New York perfumer Adolph Goetting to run his chemistry lab. CPC fragrances included American Ideal, Bay Rum, Jardin D'Amour, Mission Garden, Narcissus, Natoma Rose, Trailing Arbutus, and Vernafleur. Eventually, the company expanded its product line to include shampoos, soaps, skin cream, dental products like "tooth tablets," powders, shaving cream, toilet waters, and flavoring extracts marketed under the name Perfection. While CPC's cosmetics were labeled with stunning lithographic lettering and images, the containers were standard mass-produced bottles, jars, and tins.
Early on, McConnell realized that women sold perfume to other women better than he ever could, so he began to recruit female sales agents. One of the women he met on the road was 50-year-old Persis Foster Eames ("P.F.E.") Albee, who ran a small store out of her home in Winchester, New Hampshire. McConnell hired her as his first sales representative, a.k.a., the first "Avon lady." A shrewd businesswoman, Albee became the CPC's "depot agent" for the region, recruiting and training other local saleswomen, and pioneering the multi-level-marketing business model that gave turn-of-the-century women a rare opportunity to become financially independent.
By the late 1910s, McConnell had more than 10,000 salesladies shilling his cosmetics around the country, with branches as far west as San Francisco. Then, McConnell visited a place that seemed even more romantic than California—William Shakespeare's birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon. In 1929, CPC released a line of products branded as Avon, and in 1932, CPC filed for a trademark of the name, to apply to toiletry products and cosmetics such as "perfumes, toilet waters, powder and rouge compacts, lipsticks." In 1938, a year after McConnell's death, the whole company was renamed Avon Products, Inc. Throughout the 20th century, Avon continue to expand into a multi-national corporation, with labs and salespeople all over the world.
It wasn't until the late 1960s that Avon perfume bottles were produced in novelty shapes like cars, dogs, and cats, which were specifically designed to be collected. But naturally, the antique CPC products and pre-'60s vintage Avon items—like the CPC Flowers set or the Avon Unforgettable crystal perfume bottle with the intaglio-cut crystal stopper—are the rarest and most coveted by collectors. That said, Avon's novelty perfume bottles, decanters, and containers have become icons of late 20th century kitsch. Today, as older collectors are starting to sell off their Avon pieces, these mass-produced vintage objects made from the '60s to the '80s aren't holding their monetary value—usually they sell for $5-$60—but they do have loads of nostalgic charm and make for an affordable hobby.
In 1966, Avon introduced a cologne for men called Leather, which came in a boot-shaped bottle, which was the one of the earliest novelty decanters the company produced. In 1968, Avon found success again selling men's Sterling Six aftershave in a bottle shaped like classic roadster car, which is still among the most beloved modern Avon collectibles.
Because the figural perfume container sold so well, Avon came up with more whimsical ways to hold fragrances. Besides early cars, Avon made bottles for perfume, aftershave, cologne, bath oils, and lotions in the shapes of race cars, trucks, boats, and ships, which came in a range of glass colors including blue, emerald green, topaz, yellow, and smoky gray. Sometimes the lid is a part of the figure's design, in a plastic color that matches or contrasts with the glass. Eventually cars like the 1937 Cord, the 1958 Ford Edsel, and the 1967 VW Beetle were memorialized in Avon decanters.
Other figural Avon bottles were made in the shapes of people (for example, a Native American chief), as well as books, clocks, shoes, guns, cannons, horns, telephones, hammers, bells, keys, beer steins, smoking pipes, candles, gingerbread men, and tennis rackets. Animal-shaped perfume decanters were particularly popular—dozens of styles made to look like different breeds of cats, dogs, and horses were produced. Other Avon animal bottles looked like ducks, eagles, buffalo, moose, and hippos.
The mid-'60s-'80s are considered the heyday of Avon figurals, although they have been produced since. Figural Avon perfume bottles that were popular over the decades have names like Pink and Pretty Miss Kitty Decanter, Sweet Honesty Christmas Stocking, Cotillion American Belle, To a Wild Rose Hobnail Bell, and Pretty Peach Soda Decanter.
Bud Hastin first published his "Avon Collector's Encyclopedia" in 1969, almost as soon as Avon devotees started saving their cute perfume decanters that were shaped like automobiles and animals. Hastin can be credited with kicking off, or at least coalescing, the Avon collecting craze, but the only way the hobby could be lucrative for him was if it operated on a national scale. With that in mind, Hastin launched a national newsletter called "Avon Times" and brought together smaller collectors clubs under one organization, the National Association of Avon Collectors, which held its first convention in Kansas City in 1972.
For this convention, Hastin worked with Avon to create the first perfume bottle sold exclusively to club members for $10.95 each. At one point, the value of this first issue of the National Association of Avon Collectors club bottle series hit $250. While he was serving as the NAAC's chairman of the board, Hastin helped design an annual Avon bottle every year until 1986. After he retired from the club, Hastin launched his own bottle company called Collector's Art.
While Avon figural bottles will never be rare, condition does impact their value, and they are worth a lot more when they are in the original, unopened and undamaged box. In the '70s and '80s, Avon also began to produce jewelry, a glassware and dinnerware line called Cape Cod, collectible plates, nativity sets, Christmas ornaments and bells, candles, plush toys, dolls, figurines, and beer steins.
In addition to special bottles, Avon also made limited-edition plates and bells for the National Association of Avon Collectors club members. Gifts and awards made for Avon sales representatives, ranging from certificates and plaques to purses and scarves, is a whole other subset of Avon collecting. The figurines of the first Avon lady, Mrs. Albee—awarded at the annual Repfest—are often sold at an inflated value before the price goes down. The most important aspect in collecting California Perfume Company or Avon products is making sure the object bears the company's logo.
Continue readingAvon Products, Inc., was launched in the late 19th century as California Perfume Company by a traveling book salesman named David H. McConnell. While roaming the United States with his books in tow, McConnell was tinkering with rose-scented perfume formulas. He noted that the ladies who answered the door were more interested in his homemade perfume samples than the volumes he was trying to sell. He started selling his perfume on the road as well, eventually settled with his new wife, Lucy, in New York City, and established a perfumery there in 1886.
While D.H. McConnell was working out of a small lab in downtown Manhattan, a business partner named C. L. Snyder was based in California and came up with the company's new name, California Perfume Company, or CPC, in 1892, inspired by the state's flower-dotted landscape. In the beginning, the CPC only offered five scents—White Rose, Violet, Heliotrope, Hyacinth, and Lily-of-the-Valley—but by 1896, the company had introduced 20 new fragrances. One of the CPC's first products was "The Little Dot Box," or "The Little Dot Set," which included three bottles of perfume and an atomizer. This set inspired CPC to introduce its hugely popular "Flowers" perfume box, another set with three perfumes and a "Perfect" atomizer, which the company sold between 1892 and 1922.
By 1897, CPC had opened a bigger lab in Suffern, New York, where the company could experiment with other cosmetics and toiletries, and D.H. McConnell hired top New York perfumer Adolph Goetting to run his chemistry lab. CPC fragrances included American Ideal, Bay Rum, Jardin D'Amour, Mission Garden, Narcissus, Natoma Rose, Trailing Arbutus, and Vernafleur. Eventually, the company expanded its product line to include shampoos, soaps, skin cream, dental products like "tooth tablets," powders, shaving cream, toilet waters, and flavoring extracts marketed under the name Perfection. While CPC's cosmetics were labeled with stunning lithographic lettering and...
Avon Products, Inc., was launched in the late 19th century as California Perfume Company by a traveling book salesman named David H. McConnell. While roaming the United States with his books in tow, McConnell was tinkering with rose-scented perfume formulas. He noted that the ladies who answered the door were more interested in his homemade perfume samples than the volumes he was trying to sell. He started selling his perfume on the road as well, eventually settled with his new wife, Lucy, in New York City, and established a perfumery there in 1886.
While D.H. McConnell was working out of a small lab in downtown Manhattan, a business partner named C. L. Snyder was based in California and came up with the company's new name, California Perfume Company, or CPC, in 1892, inspired by the state's flower-dotted landscape. In the beginning, the CPC only offered five scents—White Rose, Violet, Heliotrope, Hyacinth, and Lily-of-the-Valley—but by 1896, the company had introduced 20 new fragrances. One of the CPC's first products was "The Little Dot Box," or "The Little Dot Set," which included three bottles of perfume and an atomizer. This set inspired CPC to introduce its hugely popular "Flowers" perfume box, another set with three perfumes and a "Perfect" atomizer, which the company sold between 1892 and 1922.
By 1897, CPC had opened a bigger lab in Suffern, New York, where the company could experiment with other cosmetics and toiletries, and D.H. McConnell hired top New York perfumer Adolph Goetting to run his chemistry lab. CPC fragrances included American Ideal, Bay Rum, Jardin D'Amour, Mission Garden, Narcissus, Natoma Rose, Trailing Arbutus, and Vernafleur. Eventually, the company expanded its product line to include shampoos, soaps, skin cream, dental products like "tooth tablets," powders, shaving cream, toilet waters, and flavoring extracts marketed under the name Perfection. While CPC's cosmetics were labeled with stunning lithographic lettering and images, the containers were standard mass-produced bottles, jars, and tins.
Early on, McConnell realized that women sold perfume to other women better than he ever could, so he began to recruit female sales agents. One of the women he met on the road was 50-year-old Persis Foster Eames ("P.F.E.") Albee, who ran a small store out of her home in Winchester, New Hampshire. McConnell hired her as his first sales representative, a.k.a., the first "Avon lady." A shrewd businesswoman, Albee became the CPC's "depot agent" for the region, recruiting and training other local saleswomen, and pioneering the multi-level-marketing business model that gave turn-of-the-century women a rare opportunity to become financially independent.
By the late 1910s, McConnell had more than 10,000 salesladies shilling his cosmetics around the country, with branches as far west as San Francisco. Then, McConnell visited a place that seemed even more romantic than California—William Shakespeare's birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon. In 1929, CPC released a line of products branded as Avon, and in 1932, CPC filed for a trademark of the name, to apply to toiletry products and cosmetics such as "perfumes, toilet waters, powder and rouge compacts, lipsticks." In 1938, a year after McConnell's death, the whole company was renamed Avon Products, Inc. Throughout the 20th century, Avon continue to expand into a multi-national corporation, with labs and salespeople all over the world.
It wasn't until the late 1960s that Avon perfume bottles were produced in novelty shapes like cars, dogs, and cats, which were specifically designed to be collected. But naturally, the antique CPC products and pre-'60s vintage Avon items—like the CPC Flowers set or the Avon Unforgettable crystal perfume bottle with the intaglio-cut crystal stopper—are the rarest and most coveted by collectors. That said, Avon's novelty perfume bottles, decanters, and containers have become icons of late 20th century kitsch. Today, as older collectors are starting to sell off their Avon pieces, these mass-produced vintage objects made from the '60s to the '80s aren't holding their monetary value—usually they sell for $5-$60—but they do have loads of nostalgic charm and make for an affordable hobby.
In 1966, Avon introduced a cologne for men called Leather, which came in a boot-shaped bottle, which was the one of the earliest novelty decanters the company produced. In 1968, Avon found success again selling men's Sterling Six aftershave in a bottle shaped like classic roadster car, which is still among the most beloved modern Avon collectibles.
Because the figural perfume container sold so well, Avon came up with more whimsical ways to hold fragrances. Besides early cars, Avon made bottles for perfume, aftershave, cologne, bath oils, and lotions in the shapes of race cars, trucks, boats, and ships, which came in a range of glass colors including blue, emerald green, topaz, yellow, and smoky gray. Sometimes the lid is a part of the figure's design, in a plastic color that matches or contrasts with the glass. Eventually cars like the 1937 Cord, the 1958 Ford Edsel, and the 1967 VW Beetle were memorialized in Avon decanters.
Other figural Avon bottles were made in the shapes of people (for example, a Native American chief), as well as books, clocks, shoes, guns, cannons, horns, telephones, hammers, bells, keys, beer steins, smoking pipes, candles, gingerbread men, and tennis rackets. Animal-shaped perfume decanters were particularly popular—dozens of styles made to look like different breeds of cats, dogs, and horses were produced. Other Avon animal bottles looked like ducks, eagles, buffalo, moose, and hippos.
The mid-'60s-'80s are considered the heyday of Avon figurals, although they have been produced since. Figural Avon perfume bottles that were popular over the decades have names like Pink and Pretty Miss Kitty Decanter, Sweet Honesty Christmas Stocking, Cotillion American Belle, To a Wild Rose Hobnail Bell, and Pretty Peach Soda Decanter.
Bud Hastin first published his "Avon Collector's Encyclopedia" in 1969, almost as soon as Avon devotees started saving their cute perfume decanters that were shaped like automobiles and animals. Hastin can be credited with kicking off, or at least coalescing, the Avon collecting craze, but the only way the hobby could be lucrative for him was if it operated on a national scale. With that in mind, Hastin launched a national newsletter called "Avon Times" and brought together smaller collectors clubs under one organization, the National Association of Avon Collectors, which held its first convention in Kansas City in 1972.
For this convention, Hastin worked with Avon to create the first perfume bottle sold exclusively to club members for $10.95 each. At one point, the value of this first issue of the National Association of Avon Collectors club bottle series hit $250. While he was serving as the NAAC's chairman of the board, Hastin helped design an annual Avon bottle every year until 1986. After he retired from the club, Hastin launched his own bottle company called Collector's Art.
While Avon figural bottles will never be rare, condition does impact their value, and they are worth a lot more when they are in the original, unopened and undamaged box. In the '70s and '80s, Avon also began to produce jewelry, a glassware and dinnerware line called Cape Cod, collectible plates, nativity sets, Christmas ornaments and bells, candles, plush toys, dolls, figurines, and beer steins.
In addition to special bottles, Avon also made limited-edition plates and bells for the National Association of Avon Collectors club members. Gifts and awards made for Avon sales representatives, ranging from certificates and plaques to purses and scarves, is a whole other subset of Avon collecting. The figurines of the first Avon lady, Mrs. Albee—awarded at the annual Repfest—are often sold at an inflated value before the price goes down. The most important aspect in collecting California Perfume Company or Avon products is making sure the object bears the company's logo.
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