A recording of this event is on Hagley's YouTube channel.

On October 7 Katina Manko will lead off the fall series with a talk based on her just-published book, Ding Dong! Avon Calling! The Women and Men of Avon Products, Incorporated. Founded in the late nineteenth century, Avon grew into a massive international direct sales company in which millions of "ambassadors of beauty" sat in their customers' living rooms equipped with sample cases, catalogues, and a conversational sales pitch. Avon was unique for its reliance on women as representatives, promising them not just sales positions, but a chance to have a business of their own. Drawing for the first time on company records she helped acquire for Hagley, Manko illuminates Avon's inner workings, uncovers the lives of its representatives, and shows how women slowly rose into management.

Katina Manko is an independent scholar specializing in US women's history. With a PhD from the Hagley Program at the University of Delaware, she currently teaches at the Yeshiva University High School for Girls. A talk she delivered about her discovery of the Avon collection can be found here.