Some of
the fondest memories of my childhood are those built around my mother's beauty shop....'The
Good Look Nook'. It began in one small room in North East, Maryland, then
moved on to Perryville,
and we lived there for nine years (my bedroom in
Perryville for nine
years, was upstairs, upper left corner of the picture.....directly above a
section of the shop).
Then my parents built a house in a
town called Colora,
Maryland...but I always told everyone it was in Rising
Sun,, which is
only a mile up the road. I don't know if Colora even shows up on the map. But
the shop was inside our home...it was a combination of an existing room and the
enclosed front porch. A bathroom was added later on. (this picture
was taken in November 1965 when the shop was just one room in Perryville)
I
loved the beauty shop. I loved the women
who would come in every week, sometimes twice a week. Those were back in the
days when it wasn't just about 'getting your hair done'...it was about
gossiping, complaining, friendship, the camaraderie between the ladies, and us!
It was about socializing between the classes. In a beauty shop, you
were 'one of the girls'.
Mom's shop was decorated in white and gold
colors...(tacky gold cherubs and sconces everywhere).....and a thick cigarette smoke
'fog' hung in the air like a pool
room. And the shop was filled with all the smells.....hair color, perms (which would make your
eyes water)....the hair spray, setting gels, and various perfumes that the
ladies wore. Mom had a Coke machine and the Lance cracker guy would come in
once a week to re-stock our crackers. And every week he would fill out the
invoice to read "Good Looking Nookie"....he never tired of that old
joke.
The girls would be sitting under dryers and
in other places in the shop....drinking little bottles of Coke or tall
glasses of iced tea from our house.....talking, laughing, showing off pictures,
or reading magazines. Some would bring in their own drinks and
lunch, or trays of food for everyone. It was a real social event...and on
certain nights 'the gang' would be there...the ones we were the
closest to...the ones we had the most fun with. They would stay in the shop till
real late at night. Mom would even go play Bingo
with a few of them on Tuesday nights.
I remember the
conversations about the 'controversial' Jacqueline Susann, and whichever book she had on the store shelves at the moment. The ladies of the shop would compare their own secrets
with what Jacqueline wrote. But for a long time, the hottest book was "Valley
Of The Dolls". They also loved romance novels or things that Truman
Capote would write. (this second picture is of Mom's 'Jacqueline
inspired' hair style)
I watched the ladies trade their own copies of
books with each other,
for the ones they hadn't read, yet. I also listened to all the 'reviews' on the
movies of the day...."Last Tango In Paris"...."The
Godfather"...."Doctor Zhivago"....."Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice"....
"The Graduate".... "Rosemary's Baby"....and "Love
Story".
"Love Story" would make you cry. Of course, it was also discussed as to how much
Ali McGraw 'cussed' through-out the entire movie.....but 'Jenny
dies'....bring your Kleenex! And no one ever quit talking about
"Gone With The Wind".....ever!
But
whatever was discussed, the favorites were always about the scandalous books,
movies, Television shows, or the local gossip. And those were also back in the days when
the store across the street from our beauty shop would still wrap 'feminine
products' in brown paper wrapping. Times sure were different then. Choices
were limited, as well....Kotex, Modess, or Tampax...that was it!
I remember the ladies being very
opinionated, but in 'favor' of all the scandalous events and films and
books. I don't remember anyone being upset about them. These women, once in the
shop, seemed to be 'empowered' together....agreeing with the changes of the world
and of the entertainment world. I could tell, even then, that many of those
women were not allowed to state such opinions at home. However, at the shop, they
could be who they wanted to be. They could agree with things....openly.
There were those who watched the daytime
soap operas, which my mom, at the time, didn't do...and some of the ladies would
go into our house so they could watch their favorite soap. They would also
discuss, in great detail, "Peyton
Place"...and why Mia Farrow cut her hair that
short...what was she thinking? But Mom, and Ermalee, would schedule their
appointments around when "Peyton Place" would come on so they could
rush in the house and see as much of it as possible, even if it meant turning
Mrs. Reynolds' hair dryer back another 15 minutes....shhhhhhhh!
These were back in the days when your
patrons were your 'bread and butter'...you could count on them every
single week, no matter what. They would schedule an appointment around the
beginning of the week for the 'shampoo and set' and then schedule for
later in the week for a 'comb out'. That way they would look 'fresh' for the weekend. They came for their appointments in any
weather...rain, snow, ice, wind....it didn't matter. Many of them had a
'standing appointment'...same time, every week...and we never changed it unless
they asked us to....that was their time slot!
I liked listening to all the different
methods they had for preserving that massive 'hair sculpture' on their
head. One lady said she slept while sitting up...and she would have to. I never
figured out how she kept her balance. You would not believe how high her hair
was piled up, while shooting straight off the back of her head.....and she loved
it that way. There was no way she could lay her head down on a pillow. She often remarked
that the only time she would get to lay down was to lean back in our shampoo
bowl while getting her hair washed once a week. Another lady described how she
would wrap her hair in toilet paper. Another lady found that silk scarves worked
for her. (this is a picture of my mom, her brother, and
her sister. What were they thinking?)
I was a shampoo girl in Mom's shop for many
years. I have big, strong hands and they loved my shampoos. And remember,
back then, women would have their hair washed only once a week....and with all
the setting gels and hair spray, can you imagine how their head would itch? I
remember watching Mom run a pencil down through that 'big hair' in order to
scratch an itch on her scalp. So, I
would get in there and scrub 'em to death...and was 'tipped' very well for my
services. They appreciated feeling like they had been 'shampooed', and with me,
they did feel it!
These wonderful ladies were a huge part of
my life. They watched me grow up, they used to sample my cooking and baking, they
listened as I sang "Allegheny Moon", and played the organ. One of the
women taught me how to crochet when I was about ten years old. I still crochet
to this day, thanks to her. All of the major events of my life were shared
with those women. They encouraged me, taught me, cared for me, and talked to
me. (the woman in this picture is 'Pud'...and is pronounced as
though you are going to say the word 'pudding', only without the 'ing'....and
that is her youngest son, Tommy. I've known this woman for so long ...she was
with me when I had my Polio vaccination)
The lady who taught me to crochet was obese...and she was supposed to be on a diet...she was
always on a diet. Well,
we would get the biggest kick out of her. Her husband would drop her off to get
her hair done, and the first thing she did when he left was buy several Cokes
and several packs of Lance crackers and just eat the entire time she was
there. She would let me sit on her lap....and I loved her, too. She
worked as a waitress and she would always reach into her pocket and give me a
dime every week.
When I knew I would be going to Europe for 11 days, when I was 16 years old,
a very sweet woman, Jeanette, helped me by
giving me tips and hints for traveling abroad. She was born and raised in Paris,
France, and had a very thick French accent. She was also the first woman I ever knew to
have 'breast reduction' surgery.....and boy, that was talked
about for years....
Anyway, Jeanette was also one of the 'wealthiest' women to come into the shop. We all knew it...and it was
very obvious by the jewelry she wore and the car she drove and the things she
would talk about.....including her infamous 'theme parties'. I loved
her. I didn't care anything about her money .....she paid a lot of 'attention' to
me....and that was more priceless to me than any money she possessed. She
never bragged of her 'wealth'...she just looked very classy and 'comfortable',
but I would always hear the comments from the other ladies. In spite of the
gossip I heard from them, I always formed my own opinions of them.
Jeanette
did not have children of her own, and
she sort of put me 'under her wing'. I remember one time she told me she had flown home to
Paris, France and she was seated on the Concord right next to Marlon Brando...and
this was around the time of his controversial movie "Last Tango In
Paris".....and the buzz that went on about that......tsk, tsk, tsk....
I
also saw the ladies who were physically abused,
and our shop was a place where they came for friendship. No one 'did' their
own hair back in those days. So, they would always make their visits, no matter how bad
they looked....black eyes, missing teeth. Nothing stopped them from coming in. I
still have old 8mm movie film footage of one of the ladies who really took a
terrible beating from her husband. It took her weeks to heal those marks, and
she had a tooth knocked out from that particular beating. I remember the 'story' she told of wrecking on her bicycle.
(this is a picture of her
and my mom)
We also had the alcoholics and the drug
addicts, as well. Some of them would come in drunk and fall asleep under the
hair-dryer, and we would take turns as to who would wake them up. If we didn't
wake them up, only parts of their hair would be dry. I remember Mom and a few other
ladies swapping pain pills and nerve pills...I never really understood it, but I
did see it all the time. Diet pills and Valium were a big hit in the shop. Mom
lived on Lance crackers, coffee, cigarettes, and pills.
We also saw the ladies who led 'alternative life-styles'...and though several of them never actually
admitted it, there were all the 'indications' and the whispers. My
parents didn't concern themselves with that bit of information, but some of the
ladies were horrified by it. We just tried to schedule their hair appointments
around each other.
We also suspected those who were having
affairs and those who were contemplating divorce. One woman managed to keep her
entire pregnancy a secret. She was a tiny little lady, quiet, but a regular....saw
her every week. I went to
school with her daughter. Anyway, one day her daughter called and cancelled her
appointment, her mom had just given birth to a baby boy the night before. WHAT? No
one even suspected she was pregnant! How on earth did she get that one
past us?
She never looked pregnant to us!
I've seen just about every walk of woman
imaginable. Women groomed themselves differently back then. They would shave off
their eye-brows and 'pencil' them in. Now....this could really liven
things up in the shop. Some of these ladies were not very consistent...and you never
knew how they were going to look from one week to the next....the 'deer
caught in the headlight' look....the 'surprised' look....the 'Groucho' look....the
'pitiful' look, or the 'scared' look. The trick was to
notlaugh at them when they got there. (this picture is of
Terry, a girl who worked for us for a few years....tweezing someone's eyebrows)
I can remember
during the daytime hours of New Year's Eve,
too....boy, that shop would be packed...and all of us were in there trying to
get them done and out of there. One New Year's Eve was on a Saturday, one
year....and Mom
did a record '51' patrons that
day....that was also talked about for
years. But the big hair-do that day was the classic Beehive, or some kind of 'up
do'....as long as it was 'big hair'....only this time,
they had these battery operated things that would light up these clear strands of
some sort of plastic. So, in the dark, these wisps of string would light up the
women's hair. (this is a picture of Mom with one of those 'light things' in
her hair)
To get those women
'done and gone', one of us
would shampoo them, another person would 'set the hair'....put them
under the dryer. And when their hair was dry, another person would do the 'teasing' of the hair....then, when their turn came, all my mom had to
do was sit them down and smooth out their hair, or 'sculpt' it into whatever style they were
getting. It was crazy in there...but a lot of fun and we were dead tired when it
was over....but Mom and Dad would still make it to the Fire House Dance that
night.
There
were so many hairstyles back then, but among the favorites was 'The Flip'...and
I saw so many variations of it. And everyone had the back of their hair teased
up high. The ideal length for 'The Flip' was around the shoulders.
That was the length everyone wanted. I have seen women 'covet' those
deep, fluffy flips....and trade secrets on how to achieve that look.
Then we have the fashions they would sport.
It was all I could do, at that young of age, not to stare. We have all seen the
woman with the really high 'Pope' hair....stark red....the classic 'Beehive' sculpture...and you could always count on a few of those
women to actually stick those 'pipe cleaner Bubble Bees' down into
their big Beehive hair-do....so they looked like they were 'suspended'....flying around their heads. Yeah, that was a real
'man magnet' there. What man isn't turned on by a woman sporting a 'Beehive' with fake Bumble Bees suspended around it? I
think that was 'early birth control'.
But these particular ladies, and we have
all seen them, would have those 'dagger nails'....at least four inches
of curled up, horrid finger nails with eight coats of nail polish on them. And
remember, this was long before acrylic nails were popular.....so, these ladies
really grew these things. They would be 'over-endowed' in the chest
area, and hide it under a huge sweater or sweat shirt. They would wear skin
tight slacks, or 'leggings' of some sort....little gold slippers, and
the biggest purse you've ever seen....more like a 'young suitcase', if you
ask me. They had tiny, thin lips, with red lipstick on them, blue or green eye
shadow, on just the lids, big chunky jewelry, and a fabulous and 'busy' cocktail ring. Their skin was white, their teeth were yellow,
and their facial features were very sharp....and they were always holding
a cup of 'cawfee', and calling you 'doll'.
They smoked too much, laughed too loud, and
spoke in a very "New Yawk" accent....they drove long Cadillacs, loved
Liberace, had a small dog, tolerated an unromantic husband, lived in a 'ranch style' home, played
'the numbers', and knew someone
named Bernice. God love those women!.....
