Archief F 0123 - Beauty Counselors of Canada fonds

Headquartered in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, the Beauty Counselors corporation was founded in 1931 as a direct-sales cosmetics firm, in which individual saleswomen went door-to-door selling the company’s products on commission – likely basing its model on that of the successful Avon cosmetics line (established 1929) of the California Perfume Company. Competitor firm Mary Kay cosmetics would be founded in 1963 along similar lines. In each case, the sales model relied upon women’s ability to build non-threatening, personal relationships with other women, and thereby increase their direct-sales clientele over time. Unlike multi-level marketing schemes, Beauty Counselors did not require its saleswomen to recruit other saleswomen in order to profit off of their sales. At an unknown point prior to 1959 the firm set up a Canadian branch, known as Beauty Counselors of Canada, with its headquarters in Windsor, Ontario; David L. Gibson was President of the Canadian company ca. 1962-65, and was succeeded by Thomas Lyman. During this period, Gibson asked Sales Promotion Manager Doug Johnstone to get involved with the rose committee of the Greater Windsor Foundation. This resulted in a line of “Windsor Rose” products and support from the firm for rose-planting initiatives around the city.

In the USA, Rexall Drug & Chemical Company acquired Beauty Counselor in 1968, and in 1969 merged it with two other cosmetics companies to form Vanda Beauty Counselor. Vanda Beauty Counselor was still trademarking products in 1984, although it is unclear how long Beauty Counselor of Canada remained in business. Beauty Counselor saleswomen were provided with sales kits of samples, colour wheels and other information to help match products with customers, literature on improving their sales, and rewards (as sales incentives). Conventions brought together sales leaders, and long-serving saleswomen might accumulate charms for their Beauty Counselor charm bracelets through convention attendance or sales achievement. Beauty Counselor products included a variety of lipsticks, powders, mascaras, skin creams, and some non-cosmetic items such as teacups or spoons.

Sources: Contents of fonds; James Bennett, “Cosmetics and Skin – Timelines,” Cosmetic History and Makeup Studies Network, https://www.cosmeticsandskin.com/cosmetic-timeline.php ; paintedwomen Instagram post re: Beauty Counselor sales kit, 20 March 2019, https://www.instagram.com/paintedwomen/p/BvO-JrLAnUU/?img_index=1 ; Beauty Counselor of Canada and Beauty Counselor (US) items for sale on eBay, https://www.ebay.ca (all accessed 24 September 2024); Katina Manko, Ding Dong! Avon Calling! The Women and Men of Avon Products Incorporated (Oxford: Oxford Academic, 2021).