My 84 yr old mother still goes once a week to the "beauty parlor". And to my great annoyance, she still calls the hairdressers "beauty operators". Of course, she still says "pocketbook" too.

Hey Laurie B: I still go to the "beauty parlor" once
a week like your mom (never done my own hair) and I think I'm still a hip chick. I do say hairdresser vs. beauty operator but I also say pocketbook but pronounce it "pockabook" - It's a New Jersey thing.

Wherever I've lived in this country, it's always been "beauty parlor." Not that they were dumps, but "salon" would be a little pretentious for some of the places I've patronized!

My husband still says "ice box" for refrigerator and "ready teller" for ATM. And he's not that old!

I do occasionally see some ladies with teased and sprayed hair - I wonder where they get it? The Time Warp salon?

No, they probably go to my old hair dresser - I call him old not because of his age but because I quit going to him. Lovely salon and a real nice guy, but no matter what I said, I always left his shop with a stiff hat on my head. The cut was great, but who wants to leave a beauty salon to go home and wash their hair and re-style it? I should have known what I was getting into by the number of little old ladies among his customers - we all had the same hair when we left his shop, no matter what our age.

My mother loved going to the beauty shop - she didn't get to go very often until later in life when we children were grown - she had some great friends in her golden years and they all went to the same salon. She went once a week and practically spent the day there what with getting her hair done and catching up on all the gossip with her friends. Bless her heart, she had lovely white hair. Wish mine was as pretty as hers, but none of her daughters inherited it, unfortunately.

I really don't like going to the beauty shop myself - all I want is my hair cut short the way I like it. Oddly enough, though, I always enjoy seeing salons in TV shows and movies. "The Nanny" had funny beauty salon scenes, and "Murder She Wrote" frequently had scenes taking place in the town beauty shop. My all time favorite, of course, is "Steel Magnolias" - best beauty salon story ever.

Yes, we called it the beauty parlor and when I was a kid, all the beauty operators wore uniforms even if they had their own shops at home.

My Mom went once a week to get her hair done, as most of the ladies did. They would wear special caps or bonnets on their hair at night to keep it in place, used silk pillow cases because supposedly they would not crush their hairdos, and I remember some people swore by wrapping toilet paper around their hair at night and clipping it in place with those 3-inch metal hair clips to keep their 'do looking good. I went to the beauty parlor with her some times and I enjoyed it. There was a lot of interesting talk and people exchanged information about sales at different shops, recipes, etc. There probably was a lot of gossip, but I don't remember that. I loved reading the magazines.

I was a young teenager at that time with oily hair (and face) and I washed my hair every night - I remember my mom and older sisters telling me I was going to ruin my hair. At that time, there were still a lot of people who thought washing your hair every day took the body out of it and would dry it up.

My mother was so frugal, she would only go to the beauty school to get her hair done. For about $3, she would have it washed and set, then combed out in a "beehive." She'd wrap her hair in toilet paper to make it last for at least a week.

If she ever knew what I spend on my haircuts, color, and blowouts, she'd be rolling over in her grave.

My mother used to get the electric permanent. Said that the regular cold permanent would never take on her hair.

Oh...what memories with the head wrapped in toilet paper....
I always wondered what my Dad thought of waking up to my Mother in the toilet paper "look".
My Mother would do housework and fix breakfast with the toilet paper still on her head. And she would attempt intelligent conversations while looking like that. A cup of coffee and cigs topped off the early morning picture.
Then the beauty parlor....
A more toxic mixture could not be found anywhere else in town!! The hairspray (used in unholy large amounts) mixed with the cigarette smoke and then topped off with nail polish fumes and hair color dye!!! WOW......beauty could kill you back then.

My mother went to Bee's Beauty Shop every Tuesday. She wore her nice linen suit and gloves to go. Every night she put her hair in spongy rollers and wore a cap over her head.

I remember her washing my hair in the sink - it was always an event to get my hair washed. Then I got to go sit under the dryer in my sister's room. Later we got a new dryer - it looked like a little suitcase with a hose and then a bonnet cap. I still remember what it smelled like.

I also remember using Dippity-Do to put my hair in rollers, and also the spray stuff for when you didn't have time to wash it -- PSSSST -- which basically applied baby powder to the grease.

And let's not forget my favorite shampoo - Short -n- Sassy!

I love this string, and so funny given my current hair status as a man. (I do need to premise that, yes, I am gay, and I do look more feminine). Anyhow, I currently go to a woman's beauty shop and get my hair washed & set once a week. I'm only 54, but I have always preferred getting it done that way. I've only been getting it done once a week for about three years, previous to that it was about once a month. I remember when I first started getting it done I would get a lot of stares from the ladies, but after a few months and securing my own weekly spot, and being with the same ladies week-in & week-out, it's at a "normal" state. It is great being at the beauty shop for hours. Although it only takes about 2 1/2 hours to have my hair done, I usually stay another 1-2 hours chatting with the ladies. I remember a few times when my hairdresser was running very behind and I was sitting in the beauty shop with curlers in my hair, and a pink lace comb-out cape for almost two hours, and everytime a husband came in to pick his wife up, I would be met with a pretty long stare! My hairdresser ties on my scarf for me after my comb-out (and/or rain bonnet), and I bought satin pillow cases a while back, but I sleep sitting up to prevent my 'do from getting crushed, but all in all it's great not having to do my hair for almost an entire week. I have to do a little teasing here & there to spruce it up but it only takes 10-15 minutes a day. Anyhow, my favorite beauty parlor scenes are definitely in Steel Magnolias! I totally relate!!!