Dakota Datebook: Rosie the Avon Lady

May 28, 2018 — In 1986 on this date, a 90-year-old Avon lady appeared on NBC’s “Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.” She was Rosie Gries of Goodrich, N.D., and she called it the second biggest highlight of her life. Her best biggest highlight was when she got to travel free of charge to the national Avon convention in Morton Grove, Ill.

Gries had been selling Avon cosmetics for 48 years, and she made...