To the best of my knowledge in 1957 Richland had only one beauty shop, and that was located next to Lynn and Isobel Klopp’s house on East Main Street, which is where we moved to their upstairs apartment in June of that year as soon as school ended.
I remembered the beautician’s name as Sally, but when I asked around a few months ago, nobody could recall her. Then I checked the 1950 census and I found a listing for Sallie Bowers who was a “Beauty operator” in a “Beauty Shop”. And that jogged my memory because the Sallie spelling seemed to be right as I vaguely recalled seeing it on the sign in front of her house.
So unless somebody can contradict me, I’m going with Sallie Bowers as the only beautician in Richland as of 1957.
As Richland had two barbers, my mother probably figured it could support more than one beautician. Of course, that she had grown up in Richland, and my father had grown up just outside the town, and they both knew lots of folks in the area also played a part in their decision to move to Richland.
But they needed to find a suitable house.
I remember going along when they took a look at the house half-way up the hill on West Main Street. The house, or half-a-house as we used to call it, as it was a duplex, was owned by a fellow who, if I recall correctly worked for the Lebanon Daily News. He and his wife had a son who I think was my age, Terry was his name, I think. Or maybe not. My memory is exceedingly vague. Except that Terry, if that was his name, was sort of a goofball.
What I do remember for certain is that the owner was selling his house directly without benefit of a realtor, as I remember him and my parents sitting down at his dining room table and he pulled out a pad and pencil as if he hadn’t even thought about the price, and he seemingly worked out the asking price right there in front of us.
I distinctly remember him saying, “Seventy five hundred dollars. I don’t see how I can go any lower than that.”
As far as I know, that’s what my parents paid for their first house. We moved in by the beginning of November.
And then the renovations began. There was a relatively large double living room in the front of the house, then a dining room, and a kitchen in the back. All the kitchen fixtures had to be moved into the dining room so that the kitchen could be turned into a beauty shop.
I think my mother got mainly, or perhaps totally, second hand equipment to start out. I remember that the two hair dryers seemed to be big clunky things. There was the big beautician’s chair and the sink with the hose and big vanity-like furniture with drawers and cabinets for storing equipment and supplies.
We had to get a washer and dryer in the basement because there would be a lot of towels to be washed and dried on a daily basis.
There was all sorts of equipment and supplies to be ordered. She had to establish relationships with suppliers and salesmen. I’m sure that Betts helped her out a lot during this phase, but I don’t remember any details, I just know that these things had to be done.
Oh, and a sliding vinyl door had to be installed so she could close off the shop from the rest of the house. There was a lot that had to be done.
And then before she could open up, she had to get her shop inspected and approved.
I recall that there was some problem in that the shop was either just a smidgen too small to pass or it just barely passed or perhaps the inspector was in a good mood and passed it. The square footage was right on the borderline somehow. I vaguely remember that it was touch and go whether it would pass, but it did.
And then there was one more thing to do before she could open for business.
The sign.
I don’t know where she had it made but I still remember my father hanging it out on our front porch:
Arlene’s Beauty Shop
Entrance in rear
I didn’t realize I had this picture or I would have used it in my Olive’s Cookies series. It’s Sally Ann Geiss doing her mother Olive’s hair in my mother’s beauty shop. I don’t know when it was taken.
