In 1984, a first class stamp was 20 cents, a movie ticket was $2.50 and the average woman was considered ‘frigid’. Women had little validation when it came to matters of personal fulfillment with their sexual self and relationships. The ability to learn about and then shop for sexual enhancements products was limited to the male dominated world of adult bookstores. This lack of options motivated business owner Rina Valan to start Fantasia Home Parties, a home party service showcasing personal items for women. [Read Whole Article]

When Kathy Yellets, then a sales executive at Hewlett- Packard, began hawking Pampered Chef kitchen gear using the kind of home parties that made Tupperware and Mary Kay cosmetics famous, her friends were horrified. "They said, `Kathy, you have a master's degree. If you get a license plate that says Pampered Chef, we will disown you,' " recalls Yellets, of Darnestown, Md. Nine years later and it's Yellets, 51, who is having the last laugh. She doesn't drive a pink Cadillac, but she has long since left her high-pay, high-stress day job and last year pulled down $120,000 as a "kitchen consultant," doing two or three home parties a week and also collecting commissions on the sales of consultants working for her. [Read Whole Article]

As the sun slipped over the horizon on a recent Wednesday evening, a group of girlfriends came out to play poolside in Charleston. No one dipped in the water. There was no splashing. In fact, the pool was really quite incidental to the women’s purpose. The setting sang of sensuality. Platters of cut fruit and a smorgasbord of cookies, chips, dips and chocolate- covered tidbits graced the scene. Silky-smooth Mudslides were whipped up in a blender. But even these drinks and delicacies were only an appetizer for the evening’s main course – a full menu of items to make “dreams and fantasies come true.” This was a Fantasia Home Party – and their popularity is sky-rocketing on the East Coast and Staten Island. [Read Whole Article]

Sandi Bucci stands before a living roomful of women and wraps a white apron around herself as she instructs her guests to grab catalogs and order forms from the coffee table. On this bitter January night, the inviting scene in her North Brunswick home screams typical home-salesparty atmosphere: A scooped-out pumpernickel load filled with spinach dip sits at the center of the snack table, and wooden knickknacks that read "Home Sweet Home" hang above the front door. [Read Whole Article]

On any given weekend, in almost any town around here, you’ll find a group of women getting together at someone’s home for an in-house evening of fun, demonstrations and party sales. It could be Tupperware, Party Lite, or Pampered Chef, but these days, it could just as well be Fantasia or Passion. [Read Whole Article]