One of the first places I came across a photo of Sheila Johnson was in the pages of Avon catalogs my mother brought home when I was in high school. She'd give the catalogs to me and ask me if I wanted anything from it, like the novelty car-shaped cologne decanters or something like that. I was too busy falling in love with the gorgeous women in the pages of the catalog to notice anything else, as Sheila Johnson was one of those women . . . even if she was only credited as "Model."
Some of these pictures of Ms. Johnson, whom I'm connected to on Facebook, are pictures I remember from those catalogs my mother brought home. Others, like this 1979 Avon photo, are pictures I came across only recently.
Avon sold costume jewelry as well as cosmetics and men's grooming products, and Sheila Johnson modeled many of its jewelry products just as she did for Napier. The photo below is from 1981.
Here's another 1981 photo of Sheila (Ms. Johnson to you), a closeup. I remember this one very well. :-)
I like to think of Sheila as a model and not specifically as a black model, but of course Avon made cosmetics products exclusively for black women in recognition of different needs for darker skin. This 1982 catalog picture was used directly market such products.
And finally, here's another costume-jewelry pose from an August 1984 Avon catalog, emphasizing the earrings Sheila is wearing.
Sheila Johnson was practically an exclusive Avon spokesmodel back in the day, so these five photos are only a small sample of her work with the company. I have many more on tap, which I hope to show you in the future. :-)
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