Sepia Saturday: 12 July 2014


Alan at Sepia Saturday says:

Back in the Good Old Days/Bad Old Days (*) when you went to the Barbers/Hairdressers (*) you would have a short back and sides/full perm and manicure (*) in a dirty little back street shop/smart beauty salon (*). Our theme image for Sepia Saturday 236 - post your posts on or around the 12th July 2014 - shows a lady enjoying a manicure whilst her hair is under the dryer at a salon on Eighth Street, New York in 1942. The photograph is by Marjory Collins and is part of the Flickr Commons stream of the Library of Congress. As far as possible themes are concerned, there is hair/beauty/nails/hair dryers/strange headgear.

Oh doesn't this week's theme bring back lots of memories?  My mother's idea of heaven was to go to the hairdresser's.  She did this every week from memory on a Friday afternoon.  I was probably picked up from school and then we would go to Madame Dupal's upstairs in the arcade at Garema Place in Canberra for her blow dry and set.  You can see some photos of Garema Place back in the day here and here.  I would sit quietly and scour my favourite magazine Seventeen from cover to cover.

I managed to find an old issue of Seventeen on eBay a few years ago and treasure it. There is lots about makeup and hair in here to giggle at.



My friend Judith and I experimented with Mary Quant makeup quite a bit and my mother took these photos of us.  They're not sepia but I'm sure you'll forgive me.


Alex and Judith c1973



Alex and Judith c 1973

Mary Quant makeup kits were very special and had stick on jewels that glistened in the sun.  We thought we were the bees knees.

I also found these photos.  They are the kind that I remember my mother shrieking at my father saying "No don't !" as in "Don't take a photo of me looking like this!" but I'm glad he did.  We have very few photos of people "au naturel" - mostly we get all dressed up or make sure we have make up on before we let someone take a photo.


Alex and Barbara c1969

Here I am with my mother in our bathroom at 3 Nungara Street Aranda.  We thought that bathroom was so swish.  A great big mirror which helped make a small room look big.  The mirror cleverly concealed all the shelving you could want in a bathroom if you look at this next photo.




My mother went grey quite early in her life.  She had lots of fine hair but with not much body and so it had to be teased and curled on rollers or with bobby-pin curls within an inch of it's life to get her the required volume.  She used an eyebrow pencil and mascara because she said she didn't have much in that department whereas I inherited my father's long luscious eyelashes and "generous" eyebrows.

So that's the best you're going to get for hair and makeup photos from us.  Although here are a couple more that fit the theme/are dear to my heart.



This one is of my great-Uncle Ossie.  That's my paternal grandmother's handwriting at the bottom of the picture there.  It says "Ossie on trip with Ted going North".  Ted would have been her husband.  I often wonder what this was all about.  This would be Ossie Carrett - my grandmother's brother.  Ossie was born in 1910.  This photo reminds us that we don't always have access to the latest plumbing facilities when we're on the road and sometimes a dish will just have to do the job.  I'm guessing this was taken in the 1940s sometime but maybe it's later.

A bit like this photo from Picture Queensland of a woman washing her hair in the 1920s.


Hulett, L. E.John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland :ca. 1924


And then finally this one.  It's not sepia either but a favourite of mine.  It's my father-in-law who we lost too soon.  He's waiting to have his hair cut in the backyard of Charlton Street by my lovely sister-in-law Kath.

Bert Daw 1980s
What about you?  What memories/photos do you have of hair/makeup?  Check out Sepia Saturday for more...



Comments

La Nightingail said…
That last picture of your father-in-law is a charm! My mom had plenty of hair, but not much in the way of eyebrows or lashes. She penciled her brows & curled her lashes. I used to use her eyelash curler immediately after putting mascara on & would get black mascara all over the little rubber pieces on the curler. I don't know how many times she asked me not to use the curler if I was using mascara, but I kept doing it. Then one day I used it & cut my eyelashes off. The rubber pieces had come off & she deliberately didn't tell me. That was a hard lesson to learn, but I learned it well. Mom always said I had to learn things the hard way & I guess I did.
Alan Burnett said…
All are great photos but I love in particular that one of you and your mother in 1969 - there is just such a natural look of pleasure and fun on your face.
Kristin said…
I agree with Alan, you look so happy in that photo.
Postcardy said…
I love both of the bathroom photos.
21 Wits said…
How fun this was. I especially liked the second here photo, as the stores reminded me of my childhood days. I had to laugh at washing the hair on the chair, but I've seen it done in the middle of Lake Michigan (when I was a wee little girl) and I've done it camping before!
I really love the b&w photos of you two in the bathroom primping. Really classic. and the Mary Quant look - you nailed it.
Nancy
Ladies of the Grove
Alex Daw said…
I hear you. My life seems to have been about learning from experience...sigh. I'm glad you like the photo of Bert...it really captures his spirit. He was a lot of fun.
Alex Daw said…
Dear Alan - Thank you for your kind comments. I love that series of photos too. I'm not sure what Dad was trying to do that day - "A Day in the life of..." perhaps but he captured some good moments - ordinary moments but special if you know what I mean.
Alex Daw said…
Thanks Kristin. I can remember those times so clearly and yet they seem so long ago now. Unreal huh?
Alex Daw said…
Thanks Postcardy - I think they're a bit spesh too.
Alex Daw said…
Dear Karen - I'm so glad you checked those "here" photos out - I couldn't include them for copyright reasons but really wanted people to see them. I thought they were great.
Alex Daw said…
Thank you Ladies of the Grove. We had fun that day for sure.
Sharon said…
When I saw the prompt this week, I thought I had nothing. However reading the posts has brought me so many incidental memories about my grandmother, which I have written in my "Memories" journal.

I love you selection of photos. Yes the candid around home photos become very valuable. I keep thinking that I need to take more now............for future generations.
Anonymous said…
Great photos of your Mum in the bathroom. Hair memories - as a child boiling kettles of tank water to wash the hair as it was softer, rinsing it in lemon juice to bring out the lighter colours, and I washed my hair in a bucket when we were on a Four Wheel drive crossing of the continent like in the 1920's photo.
Anonymous said…
This is the second time I've tried to post this - it timed out before - often happens with blogspot sites.
Great shot of your Mum doing her face in the bathroom, although I bet she wasn't happy about it at the time. Hair memories - as a child - boiling tank water in the kettle to wash the hair as it was softer water, rinsing in lemon juice to bring out the lighter colors, and I washed my hair in a bucket like in the 1920's photo during a four wheel drive crossing the continent adventure a few years ago
Barbara Rogers said…
Most lovely post with great family photos...yes I remember cutting men's hair in the back yard, not that long ago!
Jofeath said…
Good old Garema Place had a lot more character in the 1960s than it does now. I think there was a cafe possibly called Rendezvous that we used to frequent as students, downstairs on the left of the square.
Alex Daw said…
Dear Sharon - I agreed. We should take more candid photos. They are precious.
Alex Daw said…
Thanks genepenn. It is funny thinking about all the things we tried to make our hair look better. Remember all the ads about one shampoo using eggs? I do.
Alex Daw said…
Thanks for persisting genepenn. I've got one of those annoying spam filters on - sorry. The minute I take it off, those spam messages coming flooding in.
Alex Daw said…
Thanks Barb. Yes I still cut my husband's hair in the backyard sunshine. It's a nice time to be together.
Alex Daw said…
Yes Jo and I understand the old Eros fountain has gone. What a shame! I don't remember Rendezvous but a friend and I recently shrieked with laughter that we both remembered the Italian shoe shop in the Arcade - Cignetti Boutique. Do you remember that one?

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