I was born with a good crop of black hair which fell out and was replaced by straight blond hair. When I was about three my hair became very curly then as the years passed it lost its curl, was wavy and became a mousy brown which became progressively darker after I had my girls. I had 'highlights' put in at one stage and then foils but now I've pretty much given up and have allowed it to go au naturel which means it is now mainly pepper with a bit of salt.
Mutti used to do my hair. The neighbours at Clitheroe would sometimes stand outside our flat and listen to her singing me folk songs as she brushed and plaited. She used to French braid my hair when it was long enough. It kept my hair neat and tidy all day and was much admired because the technique wasn't known in Mosman in those days.
I was about seven when I had my hair cut for the first time. I think it was because I was having swimming lessons. It was such a pain drying long hair, particularly because hair dryers weren't available and you had to use lots of towels and stand in front of the lighted oven which had the door open or flap your hair over a radiator.
Recently I looked at a photo of one of my birthday parties. Talk about a shocking haircut!!! It really looked like someone had taken to my head with a knife and fork. Hair was just cut, not styled. The boys at school had 'short back and sides' just like their fathers, that's if they were lucky and didn't have their hair cut at home in which case they looked as if moths had feasted.
I didn't like having my hair massacred and grew it longer again. At least it grew quickly and within a short while I was able to have pigtails and then plaits held in place with rubber bands resulting in split ends. At that time there weren't any alternatives.
Shampoos were very harsh in the 50's and 60's. A really common problem was dandruff. Everyone seemed to suffer from it. A product called 'Selsun' was supposed to fix it. It was nasty toxic stuff which had to be rubbed in and left for 5 minutes before being rinsed off thoroughly. I would be sitting on a stool hanging my head over the edge of the bath with the 'Selsun' in my hair, a towel over my shoulders, getting colder and colder until at last the five minutes would be up and we could wash the dreadful stuff off. I'm not sure how effective it was.
A lot of people washed their hair with soap in those days but then shampoo was increasingly advertised in magazines and on television. Perhaps I was unaware but I can't remember ever seeing conditioner being advertised because I'm sure I would have nagged to get some. They certainly didn't use it at the hairdresser's where my mother went for her 'shampoo and set' every week. Over the years I tried all sorts of shampoo from tubes of 'Luxacreme' to 'Pear's' and something that was hugely popular for a while that smelt of green apples.
In the 60's sometime a hand held dryer became available in the printing industry for drying negatives quickly. My father saw the possibilities and brought it home so that I could dry my hair more quickly on hair washing days. It's a shame that he didn't use the idea as a new business opportunity and introduce it to the hairdressing industry because someone else certainly did, but not for quite some time afterwards.
The dryer was pretty heavy and my mother would hold it while I brushed my hair. It was fabulous and I loved it.
As I grew older and was in high school I would put my hair in rollers when it was washed. First we had metal rollers and then there were plastic ones which had little spikes that gripped the hair but they still needed a special hair pin to keep them in place. You would wash your hair at night and go to bed with a head full of rollers covered with a scarf. It was agony.
One year when I was about 15 I got a hairdryer for my birthday. It came in its own case and consisted of the blowing apparatus which looked a little like a fan heater of today. Attached to that was a plastic hose which in turn was attached to a large plastic cap which you would carefully put on over your rollers before turning on the machine. I can remember sitting there at the table reading a magazine with the hot air ballooning the cap while my hair dried. It certainly made life a lot more convenient.
After the disastrous hair massacres when I was very young and when I decided to have a shorter style when I was at high school I had my hair cut at 'Raymond's' in Mosman where my mother went every week. Raymond was very pleasant and because he and his wife, who also worked there, were German we spoke German with them. You didn't have your hair washed before it was cut and Raymond asked me to come with dirty hair because it was easier to cut that way! Erk! Haven't things changed!
I had my hair styled at 'Raymond's' for my wedding. In those days my hair was shoulder length and parted at the side. It didn't suit me terribly well. I had had short hair with a fringe for ages before that and not long after we married I reverted to that style and have kept it ever since.
Over the years I have been to lots of different hairdressers but as soon as I find someone who does my hair the way I want it styled I stay a loyal customer. I stayed with Cathy for over 20 years until she left Canberra. I followed her from salon to salon and even to her home where she had a little salon downstairs for 'special' clients. I was really sad when she left. We had shared confidences over the years and became good friends, just as my mother had become good friends with Raymond.
It took lots of trial and effort to find a new stylist. I went to a well known and fairly exclusive salon in Canberra and thoroughly enjoyed being pampered there for quite a few years. Unfortunately when fortunes wane spending hundreds of dollars a year just isn't viable.
I was wondering what to do and mentioned my dilemma to the hairdresser who works two days a week at the nursing home where I am a volunteer. She offered to do my hair at a very generous rate.
I now wash my hair at home and Lisa, the hairdresser, cuts and styles it in her salon. I no longer have the relaxing head massages or sit in a reclining massaging chair but my husband says he thinks she is the best stylist I have ever had. I agree.
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