My step dad used to work in the beauty shop
on some Saturdays, which were usually mom's busiest days, and help her with
shampooing the ladies and rinsing perms and hair color. Well, this one woman, a
veterinarian's wife, was one of the ladies who shaved her eye-brows and
'penciled' them on. And I have to tell you, she did the best 'job' I had
ever seen.
Dad
was busy washing her hair and they were laughing and talking, like normal, and a
big blob of soap bubbles landed on her forehead...and dad thought nothing of it
and wiped it off....taking her eye-brow right off of her face. He was so
embarrassed that he didn't tell her....he didn't tell anyone.
She was a very proper, dignified, classy
woman. She was beautiful, and poised, like a model...and when she approached my
mother so she could sit in the chair, and was sporting only one eyebrow, Mom knew
what happened and yelled for my dad to come in there. He didn't want to face
this woman, who still didn't know what had happened, until she looked
into the mirror. Of course, she was great about it. We all laughed over that one
for a long time. (this is the lady I am talking about....bless
her heart)
Dad
was always pulling some sort of practical joke on the women....'whoopee
cushions', hand buzzers, the movie camera, beer in the beauty shop.....you just
never knew what he was going to do for entertainment. (this
is a picture of Jane, one of our regulars, who used to go on some of our
vacations with us) Dad was notorious with the camera...I
have dozens of pictures of women like this.
My
mom had pet Poodles....and she had a pack of 'em. They 'lived' in the
beauty shop with her...and whenever the ladies came in, the dogs would begin
barking. At first it was the 'alarm' bark, to let us know someone was
there...then it was the 'happy' bark, because they recognized the lady who had
just arrived. (this is Mom and her 'pack-o-Poodles'....please
don't make me explain the skull....) Mom actually had more
Poodles than what this picture shows....she had 17 of them...I'm not kidding
you.
There are many stories I could tell you
about those dogs, but the one that comes to mind is the most embarrassing, at
least for the poor unsuspecting woman. If you have a dog, then you know how this
is. But we always felt so sorry for the woman who would use the restroom...and
then, within minutes, we'd hear a huge commotion erupting among the rabid,
vicious Poodles, who were fighting over a thrown-away 'sanitary napkin'. How
embarrassing for everyone. And there they were....right in the middle of the
beauty shop, ripping this thing up like it was 'prey'. Then it was the awful
'decision' as to who would break up the dog fight and 'dispose' of the 'prey'
with dignity.
I guess it would be a toss up between that
story or when the 'girl' poodles would come in 'season' and decide that the
beauty shop would be a good place to 'make love' .....and they would always 'do
it' in groups, for reasons we never understood.
I can also remember when Robert Kennedy was
killed. His body was being transported by train, and rumor had it that when the
train would travel past train stations, if there were people there, they would
slow down. Well, we lived only a matter of yards away from the train tracks in
our back yard and sure enough, the train passed our way, but didn't really slow
down for us....they had fallen way behind schedule. I still have that day on 8mm
movie film. Several patrons from the shop came to sit and wait for the train
with us. We were seated on the ground and in chairs...it was a somber day for
all of us who were there.
Beauty shops were starting to branch out in what they sold 'over the
counter'...no longer where they confined to selling just hair products. I don't
remember a time when an Avon catalog wasn't sitting on the counter. And Mom
began to sell "Revlon"
make up...."Oleg
Cassini" panty hose, "Charlie"
perfume, and even 'edible
underwear'....I'm serious...my mom actually sold those things. My parents
were very liberal.
We also had very loyal patrons who
eventually died...and their families 'insisted' my mom do their hair for the
viewing. Oh, my!....those were very scary moments for me. To go into the funeral
parlor and have to help Mom with the hair of a deceased patron. I would be so
frightened. Mom would be upset over the death and I'd be scared to death...and
didn't want to touch them. (shudder) But
I did help, in spite of my fears....it was part of the job.
I
also enjoyed watching all the crazy hair-styles and fads that came and went. My
all-time favorite hair cut was "The Shag"...and I was among the first
in my school who actually had that hair cut. Everyone wanted "The
Shag"...it was carefree and quite 'daring' for the day. Me and my best
friend , Pat Hopps, were the only two girls in school with that hair cut. Her
Aunt Ermalee gave us our Shag haircuts....and she worked for us in the
shop. Pat and I were always doing something cool with our hair.
Anyway,
I also saw the "Farrah
Fawcett" hair style sweep the country. Recently I was quoted in the
local newspaper when they ran an article on "Farrah Hair"...I had
emailed the journalist who was covering the story and told her of some of our
adventures with "Farrah Hair"....here is the quote from the Spartanburg
Herald-Journal on November 17, 2001....
Cathy Palmer-Scruggs, 45, didn't enter
the contest but said she grew up with it because her mother was a
"beautician" who lived through the trend.
"I wish I had a dime for every person who walked through the doors and
asked for Farrah hair," she said in an e-mail about our contest.
"The saddest part is that not everyone could do Farrah hair. If their
hair was too thin, it would just lay there. "Brillo pad people"
(people
with kinky, curly hair) wanted it but that was not going to happen," she
wrote.
"People were so desperate to have that hair. Nothing mattered to them but
their hair. They assumed by having 'that' hair, they could do anything. Their
size, weight, clothing, face, even hair-length, did not matter to them. It was
as though, simply having Farrah hair, would transform their lives. And for
awhile it did."
And I also remembered the time that the 'beauty shop days'
as we knew them.....ended. It all sort of started with "The Shag" (as
mentioned above)...it was THE
carefree hair to have...no setting, no special care...just wash it. We referred
to hair cuts like that as 'wash and wear hair'. That really cut out a lot of our
regulars. We only saw them when they needed a trim. As wonderful as that hair
style was, it was a sure-fire 'death sentence' to the old way of doing hair.
Then, the next 'death' of the steady beauty
shop business was the 'wash and wear perms' that were emerging. The old
way of doing a permanent was to do what was called a 'cold wave'....the cold
solutions were added and after the perm was finished, no matter what, you HAD to
set the hair in curlers in order to do anything with it. Well, the newer perms
were being created....'heat perms'....the kind that necessitated a hair dryer,
in order to activate them. They were kinder to the hair.....softer, and gave a
greater freedom in hair styles that had never been done before. It was to change
everything.
Everyone loved this new
freedom...they no longer had to schedule appointments for the beauty shop...they
no longer had to set aside funds for having their hair done. And any age
of person could wear these perms. This was such a God-send to so many
people...but it was killing us.
And there was a trade off....you
gave up the experience of being at the beauty shop, in order to have more
freedom with your hair. And even in the shop, we had to learn more about 'blow
drying' hair and curling irons so we could teach the patrons how to use them and
take care of their own hair. I saw so many women with curling iron burns
on their neck and forehead. New types of styling equipment were emerging and
there were so many to choose from.
We were having to stock the shop with
things we never had to worry about before...just to keep up with all the
changes. We even began piercing ears. I had my own ears pierced in my
mom's shop when I was 16 years old. But this was before the 'piercing guns'
became available. I had mine done by freezing my ear lobe and then having
Ermalee run a hypodermic needle through it. (shudder)
Even the hair supply places were
changing....new brushes were designed for blow-drying the hair, new curling
irons, new hair-dryers, new setting gels and lotions, new shampoos and
conditioners, because all this excessive heat was very damaging to the hair, not
to mention the frequent perms. So, this really increased other businesses.
People were getting these new perms and
then only coming in when they needed a new perm, or their hair trimmed.
These new changes were sweeping the country. People were now able to do their
'own' hair. So, there was only one thing to be done....raise the prices. And
prices have been going through the roof ever since.
I remember when "The Shag" first
came out, the Philadelphia hair salons were charging upwards of $75 for a Shag
hair cut....that was unheard of. My mother was still charging $2.75 for a
hair cut, and only charged this same $2.75 for giving the 'Shag' haircut. This
price raise would change beauty salons forever.
Men
began to also wear the 'newer' perms....and to me they all looked like 'Ronald
McDonald'. It was the 'Disco' era and balding men were discovering that a
'curly' perm would give them the 'illusion' of more hair. Thus came the infamous
"Unisex" beauty salons. Men were now coming to a woman's beauty shop.
It was such a difference. (this is a picture of my
step-dad, don't even get me
started...)
No one had to 'fuss' with their hair
anymore...just wash it, run a pick through it, and be on your way. Everyone,
young and old alike, were able to wear this perm, with as many variations as
there were people.
These new ways of doing hair 'liberated'
the general public, but was the 'death knell' of the good old days of the beauty
shop....the camaraderie, the routine, the bonding and friendships.....talking of
current events or the neighbors with the pregnant teenager....looking at the
latest line of 'Sarah
Coventry' ....supporting me in whatever I was selling for Girl Scouts or
school.....just being a team of good friends.
Those
days are so long gone, and I miss them. You could have a 'bonding' with your
patrons that just isn't there anymore today. There are so many hair-dressers and
so much competition.....beauty salons are set up in malls and most places are
just 'walk ins'. We had such closeness
with our patrons....and some of them came with us on vacations to Ocean
City, Maryland in the summers. I remember Mom lending her credit cards to a
few ladies....you could really do that back then.
They oftentimes traded their books
and purses and clothing....and everyone collected S&H
Green Stamps.
But
the regulars who still came in, and held true to their old ways of hair-styling,
would often remark on how much they missed the 'old days'. They would get such a
thrill from seeing each other and gossiping...and we always laughed....that shop
was always filled with laughter. Everyone missed the closeness we
used to have. We missed catching up with each other and discussing interesting
topics.
I listened to all the views on everything
from Women's Lib to Charles Manson, 'the pill', people who were 'shacking up
together', children born out of wedlock, Elvis, Woodstock, the make up Dustin
Hoffman wore for the movie "Little Big Man", Ermalee's face-lift, or
whether or not Marilyn Monroe committed suicide or was murdered.
Everyone
smoked...everyone drank....polyester 'pants suits' were all the rage, bed sheets
were starting to come out in designer colors, and everyone wanted the hottest
colors for their home....Avocado Green, Burnt Orange, Harvest Gold, or Poppy
Red. (this is a picture of my aunt, uncle, and
mother)
Shag carpeting was in style, living
room lamps and ash trays were huge, and pleated drapes were a 'must'....everyone
wanted 'the look' of the 60's and 70's in their homes. My parent's home still
looks like that....all the colors, all the decorations....nothing has changed to
this day.
I
remember that eye make-up was applied 'heavily', hair was teased high and big,
there were always lots of scandalous books to read, gossip to be heard,
and discussions to be built around the fact that Elizabeth Taylor was either
getting married or divorced....again.... the girl next door was pregnant....again...and
I know exactly where I was standing the day 'man landed on the moon'....and
how I wore my hair!
Beauty shops were starting to branch out in what they sold 'over the
counter'...no longer where they confined to selling just hair products. I don't
remember a time when an Avon catalog wasn't sitting on the counter. And Mom
began to sell "
