2022-11-08 Guide to the Débutante Cosmetics Advertisements, 1949-1950 SPEC.RARE.MMS.0357 Finding aid prepared by Lindsay Resnick Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections
1858 Neil Avenue Columbus, OH, 43210
2022 November This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2022-11-10T08:33-0500 English Describing Archives: A Content Standard Débutante Cosmetics Advertisements SPEC.RARE.MMS.0357 Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections MMS 16 0.02 Cubic feet 1949-1950 In 1906, Alfred C. Fuller founded the Fuller Brush Company in Hartford, Connecticut. Fuller Brush employed door-to-door salesmen to sell various types of brushes including brooms and hairbrushes. The company later employed saleswomen using the same door-to-door method to sell cosmetics. The Débutante Cosmetics Advertisements, dated 1949-1950, contains eleven advertising leaflets produced by the Fuller Brush Company to promote its "Débutante" cosmetics line, manufactured by Dagett & Ramsdell, Incorporated. (1) letter file folder English Acquisitions Information

Accession No. 2022.0065: Purchase, 2022 October

 Preferred Citation

[identification of item], Débutante Cosmetics Advertisements, SPEC.RARE.MMS.0357, Rare Books & Manuscripts Library, Ohio State University

 Access to Materials

Materials in this collection are available for use, but may be used in the Thompson Library Special Collections reading room only.

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 Processing Information

Processed by: Lindsay Resnick, 2022 November; Finding aid written by: Lindsay Resnick, 2022 November

 Historical Note

In 1906, Alfred C. Fuller founded the Fuller Brush Company in Hartford, Connecticut. Fuller Brush employed door-to-door salesmen to sell various types of brushes including brooms and hairbrushes. During World War II, the company began hiring women to distribute Daggett & Ramsdell's "Débutante" cosmetics line, which included makeup, perfumes, cold creams, deodorants, and soaps, door-to-door. The relationship between Fuller and Dagett & Ramsdell ended in the mid-to-late 1950s, but it is unclear exactly when.

 Scope and Contents

The Débutante Cosmetics Advertisements, dated 1949-1950, contains eleven advertising leaflets produced by the Fuller Brush Company to promote its "Débutante" cosmetics line, manufactured by Dagett & Ramsdell, Incorporated. Most, if not all, of these leaflets were likely the property of Dorothy J. Austin (born 1918), a Fuller Brush Company door-to-door saleswoman in Niskayuna, New York. Salespeople would distribute the advertisements to customers when they made house calls. The advertisements promote various products in the Débutante line, including makeup, perfume, soaps, nail polish, cold cream, hair products, and deodorants. While most of the advertisements focus on seasonal products, one is a color chart displaying available shades, and another promotes a 1950 film entitled The Fuller Brush Girl, starring Lucille Ball.

 Daggett & Ramsdell, Inc. Fuller Brush Company Advertisements Advertising--Cosmetics--20th century Door-to-door selling--20th century Leaflets (printed works)