Armed with her life savings and a desire to change the future for women, Mary Kay Ash founded Beauty by Mary Kay with children, Ben, Marilyn and Richard on September 13, 1963.  

Thinking Pink

Circa 1964

Mary Kay Ash begins an annual tradition of recognizing women's accomplishments in entrepreneurship while providing inspiration and business education for the coming year.  She calls it Seminar.  The company's first Seminar is held in the Company warehouse.  In the 1960s, most American bathrooms were white.  So pink was chosen for the Company's packaging to give women beauty products they could keep conveniently on their bathroom counters. 

Pink Goes Public

Circa 1968

In 1967, Mary Kay decided to give herself a special present by ordering a custom pink 1968 Cadillac sedan matching the color of her favorite lipstick to reward top sales consultants.  The tradition of awarding a pink car to top sellers has lasted for decades, transitioning through various shades and models including the electric pink pearl Cadillac Optig introduced for top salespeople.  

An American Icon .. The Pink Cadillac

Circa 1969

Mary Kay is the first to introduce the "career car" concept in the marketing world, making the pink Cadillac an iconic and synonymous symbol with the Mary Kay brand. The first five Cadillacs (Coupe de Ville) are awarded at the 1969 Seminar.  General Motors later named the color Mary Kay Pink Pearl and the exclusive shade is only available for Mary Kay.  This iconic symbol of sucess continues to inspire women to this day. 

Taking Flight

Circa 1970

The company opened a manufacturing facility in Dallas, Texas and calls it Cosmetic Creations.  The first diamond bumblebee pins are awarded at Seminar to recognize determined women who soared to new heights as Independent Beauty Consultants. The diamond bumblebee symbolizes someone who has "flown to the top". 

"Aerodynamically, the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn't know tht so it goes on flying anyway."

The Meaning Behind the Quote: 

Perseverance and Grit:  Mary Kay used the bumblebee as a signature emblem for her company and sales force to represent achieving the seemingly impossible.  

Ingnoring Self-Doubt:  Just as the bee is supposedly restricted by its body-to-wing ratio on paper, people can push past critics, societal expectations and personal limitations if they refuse to accept them. 

The Pinnacle of Success

Circa 1971

Mary Kay Ash and her son, Richard create the National Sales Director career path level, the pinnacle of success and leadership in the independend sales force.  Mary Kay Inc. opened in Australia, its first international subsidiary and first market in the Asia Pacific region.

Pink Hits the Highways

Circa 1972

Mary Kay's fleet of pink trucks debuts in the U.S. servicing the Western and Southern branches and becoming instantly recognizable sights on the nation's highways.

MKY on the NYSE

Circa 1976

Mary Kay Inc. is listed on the New York Stock Exchange as MKY and becomes the first company on the NYSE chaired by a woman.

In 1978, Mary Kay opened in Canada. In 1986, Mary Kay opened its first European market in Germany.  Also, in 1986, Mary Kay and several other successful entrepreneurial businesswomen are honored by President Reagan.  

Legacy of a Icon

Circa 1981 

Mary Kay Ash's autobiography published by Harper & Row debuted.  It sold more than 2 million copies.  In 2003, in honor of the company's 40th anniversary, the book is re-released as Miracles Happen:  The Life and Timeless Principles of the Founder of Mary Kay Inc. 

Mary Kay Museum

Circa 1993

The award-winning Mary Kay Museum opened in Dallas to celebrate the company's 30th anniversary.

New World Headquarters

Circa 1995

The Mary Kay Building opened as the new global headquarters in Addison, Texas. Mary Kay opened in China which eventually became one of the company's largest markets.

The Next Generation

Circa 2001

Mary Kay Ash, who brought to life her dream of enpowering women around the world passed on November 22, 2001 Thanksgiving day which was her favorite holiday.  Her son and co-founder continued her dream as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company.  

Forty and Fabulous

Circa 2003

Mary Kay Inc. celebrated its 40th anniversary with over 1 million independent sales force members in more than 30 markets worldwide. 

Pink Doing Green

Circa 2010

Mary Kay Inc. planted 200, trees in the Bitterroot National Forest a part of the Pink Doing Green initiative.  The Bitterroot National Forest is a 1.587 million acre protected national forest in southwest Montana and eastern Idaho, managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The Pink Doing Green initiative is a corporate social responsibility and sustainability program run by Mary Kay, Inc.  Mary Kay Inc. is helping to plant nearly one million trees across five national forests in Montana, Idaho, Michigan, Colorado and California. Mary Kay Inc. also made a 5-year, $500,000 commitment as the lead corporate sponsor for the Lot Pines Forest Recovery Campaign to plant more than 4 million treees after one of the most destructiive wildfires in Texas history.

 

Harriet Nelson

(1909-1994)

Ozzie Nelson

(1906-1975)

Circa 1952

This American television sitcom aired on ABC from October 3, 1952 to April 23, 1966 and starred the real-life Nelson family.  After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television, where it continued its success, initially running simultaneously on radio and TV.  In terms of seasons, it was the longest-running live-action sitcom in American television history.  The series starred the entertainment duo of Ozzie Nelson and his wife, singer Harriet Nelson and their sons, David and Ricky.  Don DeFore had a recurring role as the Nelsons' neighbor, "Thorny" from 1952 to 1957. DeFore also portrayed George Baxter (Mr. B") in the television sitcom titled Hazel from 1961 to 1965. 

The show aired for 14 seasons with 435 episodes. Each show ran for 25 minutes and was filmed with a single-camera.  It became the first prime-time scripted series on american television to reach the 10-year milestone.  The series aimed for realism and featured exterior shots of the Nelsons' actual southern California home. Interior shots were filmed on General Service Studios' Stage 3.  Ozzie had the interior of the family's real-life home duplicated down to the pictures on the wall, furniture, rugs, drapes and even Harriet's knick-knacks.  

The first episode was titled "The Rivals" (Season 1, Episode 1).  Air date was October 3, 1952.  The plot summary was about David and his next-door neighbor, Will Thornberry compete for the attention of Nancy Baker regarding an upcoming dance. 

The last episode was titled "The Game Room" (Season 14, Episode 26) .. the final of 435 total episodes.  Air date was  March 26, 1966. The plot summary was about Ozzie and Harriet wanting to convert the boys' old bedroom into something new:  Harriest suggests a guest room, while Ozzie secretly tries to install a pool table and turn it into a game room.

Circa 1960

Ricky and David 

The Nelson Boys 

..every girl had a crush on them..

1822 Camino Palmero Street

Hollywood Hills

Los Angeles, California 

Ozzie and Harriet purchased this 1916 Cape Cod Colonial-style home in

November 1941. The Nelson family lived in the home for several decades serving as their residence for around 40 years and was the only home the couple ever owned.  The traditional Colonial-style home was built in 1916 and features 5 bedrooms, seven bathrooms, 3 fireplaces, a carved oak staircase, wood paneling, a swimming pool 

and a guest house.  It was designed by architects Frank T. Kegley and H. Scott Gerity and is a spacious 5,283-square-foot residence sitting on a nearly half an acre (21,000-square-foot lot). Their sons grew up at the property. 

The historic home with historic entertainment industry roots is best known as the real-life residence of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson and the exterior model for their iconic television sitcom, The Adventues of Ozzie and Harriet.

Ozzie was an American actor, filmmaker, musician and bandleader.  In October 1935, he married the band's vocalist, Harriet Hilliard (her father's middle name was Hilliard). Harriet was born Peggy Lou Snyder on July 18, 1909 in Des Moines, Iowa.  By 1932, she was performing in vaudeville when she met a saxophone-playing bandleader name Ozzie.  Nelson hired her to sing with his orchestra and the couple married three years later.

6260 Hollywood Boulevard 

(radio category)

Ozzie Nelson also has an individual star for television at 6555 Hollywood Boulevard.  Harriet Nelson has an individual star for televsion at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard. 

 

 

 

Circa 1953

Groucho Marx

(1890-1977)

Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian, actor, comic vocalist and game show host who performed in vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio and television.  A master of the one-line retort, he is considered one of America's greatest comedians.

Groucho was the third born of the Marx Brothers with whom he appeared in three Broadway shows and thirteen feature films, usually portraying a fast-talking, slightly shady protagonist and frequent foil to the antics of his brothers, Chico and Harpo.  He also had a successful solo career, primarily on radio and television, most notably as the host of the quiz-interview show You Bet Your Life.  In 1947, Marx was asked to host the radio quiz program.  It was broadcast by ABC and then CBS before moving to NBC.  It moved from radio to television on October 5, 1950 and ran for eleven years.  It was largely sponsored by DeSoto automobiles and Marx sometimes appeared in the commercials.*  Filmed before an audience, the show consisted of Marx bantering with the contestants and ab-libbing jokes before briefly quizzing them.  The announcer for the show was George Fenneman.  The show was responsible for popularizing the phrases "Say the secret word and the duck will come down and give you fifty dollars".

You Bet Your Life proved to be one of the most popular on television by the mid-1950s, garnering a #1 rating in 1953.  With George Fenneman as his announcer and straight man.  The show ran for 11 seasons until it was canceled in 1961.  *Ironically, longtime major sponsor, automobile marque DeSoto went out of business for declining sales that same year. For the DeSoto ads, Marx would sometimes say:  Tell'em Groucho sent you".

George Fenneman

(1919-1997)

George Watt Fenneman was an American radio and television announcer.  Fenneman is best remembered as the show announcer and straight man on You Bet Your Life.

"There never was a comedian who was any good unless he had a good straight man and George was straight on all four sides".

Groucho Marx 

Circa 1976

During Fenneman's career he was one of a pair of announcers on Dragnet starring Jack Webb.  It was Fenneman's voice which announced "The story you are about to see is true.  The names have been changed to protect the innocent". Fenneman was also an announcer on television shows including The Life of Riley, The Jim Nabors Hour, The Donny & Marie Show and The Simpsons. 

Circa 1958

Fenneman married his college sweetheart, Margaret "Peggy" Jane Clifford in 1943.  

Both Marx and Fenneman have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

 

My Three Sons

Clockwise from left:  William Frawley, Tim Considine, Fred MacMurray, Don Grady and Stanley Livingston

My Three Sons was an American television sitcom that aired from September 29, 1960 to April 13, 1972.  The series was filmed in black-and-white and broadcast on ABC during its first five seasons before moving to CBS for the remaning seven seasons which was filmed in color.  The show chronicled the life of widow and aeronautical engineer Steven Douglas played by Fred MacMurray as he raises three sons.

The series originally featured William Frawley as the boy's maternal grandfather and live-in housekeeper, William Michael Francis "Bub" O'Casey.  

The set was part of the Desilu Studio lot which also housed other productions and the interior scenes were filmed on a soundstage. It set near other famous TV houses of that era.

The series was a cornerstone of the ABC and CBS lineup in the 1960s, Disney producer Bill Walsh often mused on whether the concept of the show was inspired by the film The Shaggy Dog as in his view they shared "the same dog, the same kids and Fred MacMurray".

 

Bungalow Heaven is a quiet, close-knit neighborhood of historic early 20th century bungalow homes, many built during the Arts & Crafts period.  The Landmark District, the first of its kind in Pasadena, California was created in 1989 to preserve the historic significance of these homes.  In 2008, Bungalow Heaven was listed in the National Registry of Historic Places and designated as one of the "10 great places in America" by the American Planning Association.

The neighborhood has been known as Bungalow Heaven since the 1970s.  Coined by the city planner, the name reflects the abundance of one-and-two-story Craftsman homes in the compact, six-block-by-six-block neighborhood.  The first house dates to 1888, but most of the bungalows were built between 1905 and 1920.  Mature street trees and front porches provide abundant shade and opportunities for people watching.

Landscaping and gardening are neighborhood pastimes with most homes growing Pasadena's famous roses.  The weather and soil contribute to an abundance of homegrown fruit and vegetables that neighbors readily share.

This oak-lined street is typical of Bungalow Heaven. 

An ideal setting for neighborhood walks and visiting with neighbors.

 

What Happened to the Avon Lady?

For a few decades in post-war Britain, one sound would send women to the front door faster than the milkman or the postman:  "Ding dong Avon calling!"  Avon's long-running TV campaign (1954-1967) turned the Avon Lady into a minor celebrity.  A neatly dressed emissary of affordable glamour who arrived with a suitcase full of lipstick and a reassuring smile. 

The Avon door-to-door sales began because founder David H. McConnell discovered that women were highly successful at selling perfume to other women in their homes, a ground breaking career opportunity at a time when most women worked only within the domestic sphere.

Avon began in 1886 when founder David H. McConnell, a door-to-door book salesman in New York City, noticed that the free perfume samples he gave out with a purchase were often more popular than the books.  He quickly noticed that women were far more interested in his homemade perfumes than the books they were supposed to be buying!

The Empowerment Factor:  

The model exploded because it offered women a rare chance to earn their own income, run a flexible business and financial independence decades before they even had the right to vote. 

When  McConnell founded the California Perfume Company*, he hired Mrs. Persis Foster Eames Albee of Winchester, New Hampshire as the first "Avon Lady". She traveled by horse and buggy pioneering the door-to-door system and recruiting a network of other female representatives. In 1897 into the 1900s, the company opened its first laboratory in Suffern, New York, launched its first magazine called Outlook in 1905 and printed its first product catalogues in 1906.  

*McConnell started the new business in a small office at 126 Chambers Street in Manhattan.  McConnell changed the company name in 1892.  His business partner suggested calling it the "California Perfume Company" as he was living in California at the time and suggested the name because of the abundance of flowers in California.  In 1939, the California Perfume Company changed its name to Avon Products, Inc.

Mrs. P.F.E. Albee did not just sell perfume she engineered a duplicable business system that allowed the company to grow rapidly.  Over her 12-year tenure, she personally recruited and trained more than 5,000 female agents.  Albee started by traveling the country to secure "General Agents".  She would book a room in a local hotel, display her perfume sets and invite respected local women to meet her.  Once she found a capable leader, she apointed that woman to run that specific territory.  She outfitted women with the California Perfume Company's first major product, the Little Dot Perfume Set.  It was affordable, packaged beautifully and served as a non-intimidating entry-level product for new sellers to pitch to neighbors.  Albee's genius lay in weaponizing the existing social structures of the late 19th century.  Because middle-class women regularly hosted tea parties, church socials and parlor visits Albee taught her agents to seamlessly weave product demonstrations into daily social calls.  A women selling wasn't viewed as a traveling salesman, but as a trusted friend sharing a luxury. 

The slogan, "Avon calling" changed the psychology of door-to-door sales.  In the 1950s, uninvited door-to-door salesmen were often viewed with suspicion.  The "Ding-dong! Avon calling" campaign re-framed the interaction entirely.  The commercials portrayed the Avon Lady as a polite, stylish welcome guest bringing "culture and class" directly to a homemaker's living room.  

The jingle was so memorable that it became a cultural shorthand for the decade.  By standardizing the greeting, Avon created an immediate sense of familarity.  When a representative actually rang a phyical doorbell, housewives already knew the exact script and felt safe opening the front door. 

David H. McConnell

(1858-1937)

The name Avon was inspired by Stratford-on-Avon, the English birthplace of founder David Hall McConnell's favorite playwright, William Shakespeare. The name was officially changed to Avon Products, Inc. in 1939.  The word Avon itself comes from the Celtic and Welsh word afon, which simply means "river".

In 1946, Avon went public on the New York Stock Exchange. It launched the Avon Foundation in 1955 and the iconic "Ding Dong", Avon Calling!" ad campaign which cemented the "Avon Lady" in American culture.  The classic product Skin-So-Soft debuted in 1961.  

In 1999, Andrea Jung was appointed as Avon's first female CEO. 

Today, Avon still exists though only online through digital catalogues, but the woman with the suitcase and the brochure is mostly gone.  She remains a cultural icon:  a reminder of a time when selling lipstick door-to-door could feel like liberation and when a simple "ding dong" could make you feel glamorous.