Avon Lady Out Of Jail Niece Will Help Resolve Long Legal Fight Over Cda Woman’s In-Home Business

Avon lady Rose Christmann walked out of jail Friday afternoon, free but unemployed.

The 74-year-old rode home to her dark cosmetics den, where an Avon sandwich board and her trademark “Open” sign were no longer visible.

“They had to wheel her out in a wheelchair,” said niece Jane Pittsley. “She’s not doing good at all. She just kept shaking.”

Christmann was sentenced Thursday to jail time for ignoring a 1995 court order banning her from selling cosmetics from her home.

She only had to serve one day of the 50-day sentence, but it was a long 24 hours, Pittsley said.

Within minutes of entering the jail, Christmann collapsed and was rushed to Kootenai Medical Center, complaining of breathing trouble. A few hours later she had stabilized and was returned to jail.

“We had no other problems,” a jail commander said Friday.

Part of Christmann’s sentence also requires her to shut down her Best Avenue in-home cosmetics boutique or risk a return to jail to complete her sentence. Judge Craig Kosonen said Christmann could still peddle her powders door-to-door or by telephone.

Christmann says she needs the store to make a living; she’s too old and her legs too tired for traveling sales, she said.

But Pittsley plans to march her aunt down to City Hall in coming weeks to seek a better solution to Christmann’s problem.

Christmann and the city have battled for eight years over the Avon shop.

City laws prohibit commercial activity in a residential area without special permission. Christmann was denied that permission twice - in 1988 and 1989 - but has not sought it since.

“I told her to quit listening to everybody who tells her to do illegal stuff and just listen to me,” Pittsley said. “We’re going to try to make it right.”

, DataTimes