The ""Bonne Bell"" Story:
Bonne Bell is the story of a man who had a dream and the courage to pursue it and make it a reality. It is the story of Jesse G. Bell (J.G. Bell) - a man determined to make a success out of the business he founded.
On an April night in 1916, J. G. Bell, a young Kansas salesman, discovered the name ""Bonne Bell"" while reading the Saturday Evening Post. Bonne Bell is the heroine of Emerson Hough's novel ""The Man Next Door"". J.G. Bell and his wife, Mame, grew to love the character. When a daughter was born to them, it was just natural that they called her Bonne.
While working as a salesman for a Kansas City cosmetic company, J. G. Bell decided this was the type of business he wanted to start. In 1927, at the age of 37, he moved his family of five to Cleveland, Ohio, to start Bonne Bell.
J. G. Bell's first ""factory"" was the basement of his rented home. He made a few makeup items on a hot plate and sold them door-to-door. He would ask his customers, ""Are you interested in a package or a product?"" This disarming approach won over a loyal following and overcame the objection of buying face powder in a brown paper bag. In 1936, J.G. Bell purchased the formula for what became known as TEN-O-SIX from a Cleveland research chemist who had compounded it for a dermatologist. This product quickly won the acceptance of the public.
J.G. Bell also began to direct the Company toward the youth cosmetic market, long before the statisticians predicted its great potential. Step-by-step, a complete range of skin care products was developed.
Today, as then, the standards for products are high. Every preparation represents careful research and testing to assure high quality performance.
Bonne Bell is in its third generation of family leadership and is continuing to move toward the goal of being the preferred cosmetic brand for the world's teen and preteen market.
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