Avon Lady (An Investigation)

In this project, Norah dives into the urban exploration community’s notorious Avon Lady house. Norah aimed to figure out who the Avon Lady and mother of this family was, her motivations to participate in Avon, and the relationship between her, her husband, and their finances. Through investigating the letters, bank statements, personal objects, and photos left in the abandoned house, Norah discovered that the grandmother who lived in the home with them was a part of another company with a very similar structure: Dutchmaid Inc. This company would host “party-plan selling events” where “fashion stylists” would host parties and sell pre-made clothing and manuals to create the garments. This grandmother was one of the many women of the mid-1900s that found ways to make money through alternative paths, because women were not permitted to own credit cards. This practice was passed along to our Avon Lady. It was apparent by the amount of merchandise from Avon and how prevalent Avon was in general within the home that Avon Lady worked incredibly hard within the multi-level marketing brand to help her family, specifically her two sons who had a burning passion (and are very successful now) for bowling. This is a clear story of a dedicated mother loyal to her family and her work, traits and skills learned from a prevalent mother figure in her life. However, every bank statement Norah found in the house was under the husband’s name. Of course, we are assuming much and guessing at the timeline, but looking at the grandmother’s practices within Dutchmaid Inc., we can infer that these societal expectations and norms were passed down to Avon Lady. This is a perfect depiction of how women fought indirectly against gender discrimination within finances and ownership to provide for their families, but also how even after systemic legal inequality is corrected, stigmas and structural inequality remain and are often passed down. No matter the true story hidden within our hypotheticals, it is clear that both of these specific women were incredibly strong and successful at what they did, all for their family. Included in this series are images of the current state of the home, alongside found images and documents.