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thedrifter
02-21-06, 01:28 PM
Looking for a few good lipsticks? Pink station wagon serves as transport and billboard for Long Beach Island Avon lady
By TRISTAN SCHWEIGERStaff Writer, (609) 978-2015
Updated: Tuesday, February 21, 2006

— A bright pink Ford Escort probably isn't a typical vehicle for a former U.S. Marine to drive around in.

But then how many ex-Marines are independent sales representative for Avon — yes, “Avon calling,” that one — anyway? The Escort station wagon, parked in front of a single-story home on Long Beach Boulevard in Long Beach Township's Brant Beach section, is the delivery vehicle of Barbara Elfreth, who met her husband in the Marine Corps. She's a mother of two and an “Avon lady” now.

For anyone driving down the boulevard, the Elfreth home is hard to miss. In addition to the unique color scheme of the car parked in front — quite probably the only pink Ford Escort to be found anywhere on the 18-mile length of Long Beach Island — the Escort displays both of Elfreth's phone numbers, the phrases “buy … sell Avon” and “Keep America Beautiful” and a “Support Our Troops” ribbon.

“The pink has no relationship to anything with Avon. Pink is my happy color. I was married in pink. … I said I'd only move to the shore if we could have pink shutters,” Elfreth said, wearing a pink shirt and jacket at her home, which is, in fact, gray with pink shutters.

Elfreth admits the car and career combination are unusual. When asked how many Marines go on to Avon, she replied, “Very, very … probably none.” Although after considering the question for a while, she said the Marine Corps taught her values that have helped her succeed in the business, like dedication and loyalty.

Despite the door-to-door image that many have of an Avon lady, Elfreth said her business relies largely on distributing catalogues through the mail. But she uses the station wagon to carry orders to buyers on Long Beach Island and elsewhere in the area, and the vehicle is something of a personal billboard, both as she drives it
and as it sits parked at her house.

She said it's attracted many new customers for her, especially in the summer, when tourists driving up and down the boulevard notice it. Though it is out of commission right now with a broken crankshaft, Elfreth said she hopes to have a new Avon car soon, and will possibly keep the current one simply as an advertisement.

“It ran for 50,000 miles for me, and we're in the middle of making a Putz number two. We always called the car ‘Putz' because it always had a little trouble getting over the causeway,” Elfreth said.

Elfreth said she decided to start selling Avon after her family moved from Camden to LBI in 1998. She said she previously lived next door to a woman who sold Avon and ordered catalogues for herself after moving because she couldn't find a local Avon sales representative.

Elfreth said she soon decided to take on the job as it was a business that allowed her to set her own schedule and be available for her two children.

“It lets me do whatever I need to do with my kids,” she said.

Now her home is full of Avon products and catalogues ready for distribution. Elfreth said her husband, a union electrician, and her daughter, Elizabeth, and son, David, help her with the business.

As for the color of the car, Elfreth said she had it painted that way after her husband, Dave Elfreth, damaged one side of it while changing its oil. Rather than having it repainted its original color, she said, she took it to the body shop and had the paint mixer create a shade of pink to match a construction-paper sample she brought with her.

And when she gets her new car, Elfreth said, she plans on making it pink. In addition to her love of the color, also clear from her business e-mail address — happyinpink@comcast.net — the car's become well-known on the island.

“I don't know if it could be any other color at this point,” she said.

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Staff Photos by Bill Gross
Barbara Elfreth chose pink for her station wagon because she says, pink is her happy color. The ex-Marine once said she'd only move to the shore if she could have pink shutters.