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“Soap and Hope”: Direct Sales and the Culture of Work and Capitalism in Postwar America

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“Soap and Hope”: Direct Sales and the Culture of Work and Capitalism in Postwar America “Soap and Hope”: Direct Sales and the Culture of Work and Capitalism in Postwar America By Jessica Kay Burch Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in History August, 2015 Nashville, Tennessee Approved: Sarah Igo, Ph.D. Katherine Crawford, Ph.D. Gary Gerstle, Ph.D. Paul Kramer, Ph.D. Bethany Moreton, Ph.D. Copyright © 2015 by Jessica Kay Burch All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my gratitude, first and foremost, to Sarah Igo. Sarah guided this project from its inception. She read countless drafts, gave generous and insightful comments, and always offered to do more. Over the past six years, Sarah was a constant source of encouragement, advice, and support. She is a model teacher, mentor, scholar, and human being. It has been my great privilege to work with and learn from her. I am grateful to the members of the dissertation committee: Sarah Igo, Gary Gerstle, Katherine Crawford, Paul Kramer, and Bethany Moreton. Inspiring teachers and scholars all, they pushed me to see the big picture and to make arguments that matter. Thank you to the History Department at Vanderbilt University, where I benefited from seminars with Sarah Igo, Gary Gerstle, Paul Kramer, Dan Usner, Leor Halevi, Jim Epstein, and Michael Bess. Gary Gerstle, who once warned that his Modern U.S. History seminar would be the nadir of my graduate experience, was especially influential in shaping me as an historian. My work has benefitted from the generosity of many institutions: the Smithsonian Institution; the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan; the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History at Duke University; and the Hagley Museum and Library. In addition to financial funding, archivists at each of the aforementioned libraries, as well as at the Federal Trade Commission archives and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, extended their expertise and hospitality. My thanks go especially to Roger Horowitz and the superb archivists at the Hagley Museum and Library. Special thanks go as well to Gary Wade and Pam Berrington at the Amway Corporation. Gary and Pam helped me gain access to Amway’s archival material, without which this project would be much different. The iii final year of writing was funded by a fellowship from the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities at Vanderbilt University. I wish to thank Mona Frederick for nurturing a space in which to write, share ideas, and form new and lasting bonds, both intellectual and personal, across the disciplines. Lastly, I extend deep and heartfelt thanks to my friends and collaborators. Jason Bates, Michell Chresfield, Alexander Jacobs, Matt Own, Ansley Quiros, Donika Ross, and Carly Rush read (and improved!) so many drafts of so many things. Michell Chresfield, Katie Davis, Aimee Schuster, Scott Stein, and the Strauss-Hagerty family provided company and entertainment on my various travels. Mary Bridges, Juliet Larkin-Gilmore, and Michell Chresfield provided needed breaks from writing. Cameron Burch, Amanda Day-Alonzo, and Elizabeth Buraglio supported me by just being who they are. Alex Jacobs dutifully and skillfully filled the role of interlocutor and coconspirator and, along with Adrianne Jacobs, supplied me with both intellectual and dietary sustenance. In the end, Carly Rush and Adam Burgos willed me to the finish line. Thank you; we did it. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF ABREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................ viii INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1. SELLING WORK: THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DIRECT SELLING COMPANIES, THE EMERGENCE OF DIRECT SALES AS A COMMERCIAL CATEGORY, AND THE STATUS OF SALES WORK IN THE NEW DEAL, 1910-1940 ................................................................................................................. 35 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 35 The Founding of the National Association of Direct Selling Companies ............................. 37 The NADSC, Anti-Peddling Ordinances, and the Emergence of a Commercial Sector ....... 41 Direct Selling and the New Deal ........................................................................................... 54 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 67 2. DIRECT SALES THE AMERICAN WAY: AMWAY AND THE REFRAMING OF WORK AS A CULTURAL AND IDEOLOGICAL GOOD, 1940-1973 ............................. 70 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 70 Striking Out in a New Direction ............................................................................................ 78 The Amway Opportunity ....................................................................................................... 86 Pioneers of Free Enterprise ................................................................................................... 98 Working for a Better Way of Life ....................................................................................... 109 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 116 3. “DON’T LET THE GOOD TIMES PASS YOU BY”: DIRECT SALES AND THE UNFAMILIAR STORY OF SUCCESS IN THE SEVENTIES ......................................... 118 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 118 Pivotal Decade ..................................................................................................................... 123 Opportunity in Crisis ........................................................................................................... 129 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 157 4. “FREE ENTERPRISE IN ACTION”: AMWAY AND THE POPULAR RHETORIC OF FREE-MARKET CONSERVATISM ................................................................................. 159 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 159 The Center of Free Enterprise ............................................................................................. 166 The ABC’s of American Capitalism ................................................................................... 177 Amway’s Anti-Poverty Program ......................................................................................... 182 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 189 v 5. “NOT AT HOME”: AMWAY, AVON, AND THE GENDER POLITICS OF DIRECT SELLING IN THE 1970s AND 1980s ................................................................................ 190 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 190 Crisis in Opportunity ........................................................................................................... 199 Opportunity Unlimited ........................................................................................................ 207 For Better or For Worse ...................................................................................................... 215 We Are Not Now, And Have Never Been a Member of NOW .......................................... 222 Women of Enterprise ........................................................................................................... 228 Home to Work ..................................................................................................................... 235 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 240 6. “MAKE A LIFE, NOT A LIVING”: DIRECT SELLERS, ENTREPRENERUSHIP, AND THE MEANING OF SUCCESS ......................................................................................... 242 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 242 Direct Sellers ....................................................................................................................... 247 Amway Distributors ............................................................................................................ 253 The Winners’ Circle ............................................................................................................ 259 Spinning Plates .................................................................................................................... 271 “It Was Not an Intelligent Decision” .................................................................................
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