Haircuts and Hair Styles

Our father was the barber when we were young. We (the three of us) looked alike with the “Buster Brown” bangs and short hair. Mom would wash our hair with rain water collected in the large rain barrel. She said the rainwater was “soft” and made our hair shiny.

I do remember going to the barber shop with my dad when he would get a personal shave with hot towels and just his nose sticking out. It was a privilege just to watch. And the barber was friendly!

When I was in Jr. High, I wanted to look like the other girls with curls and wavy hair. I asked my friend how she achieved such lovely curls. “My mother ties them up in rags”, so I tried - what a disaster!!

Next we had a ‘bob’ with “shingles up” the back. I did go to my father’s barber to have the shingle style. This was my style for a while.

Later on I did my own thing which was everything from “spit curls” to bobby pin curls.

I kept a conservative hair style from then on — especially when I went into nurses’ training. Keeping hair short, shiny and clean was essential!

After I was married, I ventured to a beauty shop for my “First Perm”. Horrors — It was a wonder I wasn’t electrocuted. A huge apparatus was put over your head with lots of wires and clips hanging down. I did achieve a lot of frizz curls but at least I survived.

Since then I have gone to Beauty shops for a good perm and have learned to manage my hair in suitable style. I colored my hair in my fifties until I got tired of that. Now I’m a nice “little old lady” with white hair and glad I still have hair!!!!

Elsie Johnson
Southbury, CT © 2015

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