AVON FIRSTS

Avon Beginnings
Avon started out as the California Perfume Company when founder, Mr. David
McConnell, 28 of New York, NY, USA discovered that the rose oil perfumes he was
giving away were the reason people were buying his books.

The company was named Avon in 1939, after the river that runs through Stratford-On-
Avon in the English Midlands. The name is a tribute to McConnell's favorite playwright,
William Shakespeare, who hailed from the town.

Women have been selling Avon since 1886 - 34 years before women in the US won the
right to vote! Mrs. P.F.E. Albee of Winchester, New Hampshire pioneered the company's
now-famous direct-selling method, and her name is still honored today in the company.
Avon's sales Representatives - men and women - to now number almost five million, and
Avon products are sold in over 100 countries around the world.

Avon Firsts

1886

California Perfume Company (CPC) founded in New York City by David H.

McConnell.
First Avon Sales Representative, Mrs. P.F.E. Albee
First product produced called the Little Dot Perfume Set included five fragrances:
Violet, White Rose, Heliotrope, Lily-of-the-Valley, and Hyacinth

1896

First catalog issued (text only) Nov. 2.

1897

First laboratory built in Suffern, NY.

First $500 day (recorded in December.)

1905

First print ads published in Good Housekeeping Magazine.

First color catalog - CP Book - (October)

1914

First international office opened: Montreal, Canada. Manufacturing starts in 1915.

1916

California Perfume Company first incorporated in New York State.

1920

First time sales top $1 million.

1931

First time Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval awarded to 11 CPC products. In

subsequent years, guarantee extended to all applicable products.

1939

California Perfume Company name changed to Avon Products, Inc. (10/6/39.)

1942

First war contract: 40 percent of Suffern's output devoted to military

manufacturing, expanded to 50 percent in 1943.

1946

First OTC (over-the-counter) offering of stock to public.

1950

First cream sachet featured in To A Wild Rose fragrance.

1953

First television advertising launched.

1964

Avon listed on New York Stock Exchange, trading starts April 20.

1972

First time sales top $1 billion.

1973

Computer program first developed to store ingredient formulations (on file for
FDA.)
1979

Avon's first year as participant in the annual Tournament of Roses Parade in

Pasadena, CA (participation ends after 1982 parade.)

1986

Avon celebrates its centennial: 1886-1986

1987

First Spanish-language television commercial begins airing in October.

1989

Avon becomes the first major cosmetics manufacturer to announce a permanent

end to animal testing in the safety testing of its products.

1991

Avon becomes the first beauty company to bring the alpha hydroxy (AHA)
technology to the mass market with the launch of a breakthrough perfecting
cream, Anew Perfecting Complex for Face.

1992

Avon U.K. launches the companys first womens health care initiative to raise
funds and awareness for breast cancer.

1993

Avon launches its first women's health care initiative program in the U.S. with the
"Breast Cancer Awareness Crusade" enlisting over 500,000 U.S. Sales
Representatives to raise awareness and funds through the sale of 'pink ribbon'
products.

1996

For the first time in its history, Avon Products becomes an official Olympic
sponsor during the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, GA.

1998

First 10K race of Avon Running Global Womens Circuit (March.)

 First Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day fundraising walk takes place in southern
California.

1999

Avon names its first-ever female CEO with the appointment of Andrea Jung in
November.

Avon Announces its first ever global advertising campaign. The campaign themed
'Lets Talk', focuses on Avons unique relationships with women around the world
as well as its latest beauty product innovations.

Avon awards first multi-million grants for breast cancer research and clinical care.

First Global Championship 10K race of Avon Running Global Womens Circuit
(New York City); running great Telga Loroupe finishes first.

2000

Avon signs tennis greats, Venus and Serena Williams, to be the companys first
global celebrity spokespersons to promote Avon and its products through Avons
'Lets Talk' advertising campaign.

2001

More Avon sales brochures printed annually than U.S. $100 bills printed by the
Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

2003

Avon launches mark. (TM) mark is the makeup you can buy and sell, and was
created in celebration of young women making their mark in the world today.
mark is providing millions of women with an opportunity to buy and sell makeup
they love and ultimately, to become the CEO of their own beauty business.

2004

Avon launches its first-ever Mens Catalog, called M, which offers 16-pages of
mens grooming products and accessories
Avon Foundation launches its new domestic violence program, Speak Out Against
Domestic Violence with celebrity spokesperson Salma Hayek

2005

Avon is the first company to be selected by the Chinese government to test direct
selling in Beijing, Tianjin, and Guangdong Province in China.
 The first fragrance in the newly-launched Today.Tomorrow.Always trilogy wins a
FiFi Award.