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Hairdressing & barbering

Pruden's did have a shop on the corner of Icknield st and Cberamden st in the sixties, on the same side as Bulpitt's.
I assume this was a men's barbers. If it was I used to go there in a lunch time when I was an apprentice at Wilmot Breedons in Camden St in the early 60's
 
I notice that a local hairdresser is offering "Hot towel shaves". Long time since I have seen that. I suppose they have introduced disposable razors. I last had such a shave in a village shop in the High Pyrenees, early 60's. Cost all of 6d!
Does anyone else remember when a hairdresser would pass a lighted taper over to seal the cut ends at the back of the neck?
I can remember the smell of burnt hair when other customers had it done but I have never had it done myself'
 
In the 50's my mom went to a hairdressers on the Wolverhampton Rd. opp. Warley Odeon. The ladies sat in cubicles with curtains all the way round. How times have changed!
 
I never had a pudding hair cut, but thinking about it was veering towards the pudding look. Always had a slide or have pictures of me with a ribbon when I was a child.
I remember my first professional hair cut at 15 at a hairdresser in Hawthorne Road, Kingstanding .Hair cut short in a style wasn’t I the bees knees. This was 1962/63
Then you needed rollers, and oh the pain sleeping in them At 16 want to go blonde, my Dad went ballistic, and so I kind of had it lighten bit by but, but never blonde until I was 45.
Husband pics when a child talk about short back and sides, and enough goo on to fry chips, this hair cut remained the same without the goo until it started to fallout, about the same time I went blonde.
So during the lockdowns we became inventive outcome the clippers for my husband seemed simple a no 1 or 2 not sure what, but it was like the next step up from shaving the head. Well after a few tries ,and a little uneven patches, my husband finally gave up on me Sent for some super duper clippers, and he now buzzes his own hair with the occasional tweak from me. He said he’s never going back to the barber as if £5 OAP rate will bankrupt a barber even in these hard times.
I let him cut my hair just once, my solution was to have it cut very short when lockdown was lifted , I know completely white, but have pink streaks in. Oldest son when I was freshly streaked pink says I look like a raspberry ripple, even though he’s 50 what do kids know.
Oh I brought rollers, but not to sleep in. So what goes around come around.
Husband looked horrified what you got in your hair.
All stay safe
Diane
 
I never had a pudding hair cut, but thinking about it was veering towards the pudding look. Always had a slide or have pictures of me with a ribbon when I was a child.
I remember my first professional hair cut at 15 at a hairdresser in Hawthorne Road, Kingstanding .Hair cut short in a style wasn’t I the bees knees. This was 1962/63
Then you needed rollers, and oh the pain sleeping in them At 16 want to go blonde, my Dad went ballistic, and so I kind of had it lighten bit by but, but never blonde until I was 45.
Husband pics when a child talk about short back and sides, and enough goo on to fry chips, this hair cut remained the same without the goo until it started to fallout, about the same time I went blonde.
So during the lockdowns we became inventive outcome the clippers for my husband seemed simple a no 1 or 2 not sure what, but it was like the next step up from shaving the head. Well after a few tries ,and a little uneven patches, my husband finally gave up on me Sent for some super duper clippers, and he now buzzes his own hair with the occasional tweak from me. He said he’s never going back to the barber as if £5 OAP rate will bankrupt a barber even in these hard times.
I let him cut my hair just once, my solution was to have it cut very short when lockdown was lifted , I know completely white, but have pink streaks in. Oldest son when I was freshly streaked pink says I look like a raspberry ripple, even though he’s 50 what do kids know.
Oh I brought rollers, but not to sleep in. So what goes around come around.
Husband looked horrified what you got in your hair.
All stay safe
Diane
hi..Diana ....since the LD i do my own now a number 0 all over, i try'd to shave my head one night,and when i got up in the morning there was blood all over my pillow.:worried: so never again .when i was a kid we had the basin cut,we looked like the 3 studges. then the short back and sided. and then a boston. .....no shampoo needed now just a quick wash with soap.
i sure have saved a lot of dosh.:grinning:
 
All my life I have hated having my hair cut, so as a child, I always had a "mommy-cut", but she didn't do too bad a job of it. But my childhood friends all knew that my mother cut both my hair and that of my younger brother, and somehow (probably because someone blabbed) I acquired the nickname "coconuthead" at school. I can't say that my head was shaped like a coconut because I've never seen two that looked the same! :) On the other hand........

So I guess it was when I first started work that I first went to a barber and at the age of 16 got my first obligatory "Something for the weekend, sir?". That set my mind going with "does he think they only do it at the weekend?" or "does he think I'm a sex maniac?". :p National Service gave me my first experience of the "lawnmower cut" and the still cold air of a British late May as the wicked wind whistled around my ears on the parade ground!

By the 1960s, long hair was in, I had moved to Bournemouth, was working as a musician, and it was the in-thing to have longish hair. By 1969 I had my own business and thought it time to at least attempt to smarten myself up a little, although I employed a saleman so had little visual contact with my customers. On the main road just around the corner from my premises, Ann Diamond's sister had opened a unisex hairdressers and I vaguely knew her & her then husband, a semi-pro tenor sax player, so I waltzed in and said "Sue, can you do anything with this", pointing to my hair. She washed it and then said "Why are you still combing is backwards?". So Sue restyled it, not too short at the back, and she cut my hair for the next ten years, and it's bean a variant of that ever since.

To keep this tale shortish. I now have a young Greek lady, Eleni, who comes to the house - she's married with two young children - but during lockdown this has been strictly verboten, so now its getting rather long at the back and I need to give her a call. When the sun is out, she's cuts it on the verandah and the wind disposes of the unwanted hair, and right now I can't wait to get rid of it.

Maurice :cool:
 
In the early 60’s there were quite a lot of men’s hairdresser shops, all of them working full time. My local was Lanes on the corner of Turfpits Land and Perry Common Road, opposite the Golden Cross. These shops would do clipper style cuts all day long and the occasional shave. Lanes had three fulltime hairdressers whereas a young boy, whatever the style of haircut I asked for, I always ended up with a short back and sides.

The barber would spray it with water and Btylcreem and squeeze a little quiff on the firing. The hairs down the back of your neck would irritate you for the rest of the day. With the popularity of the Beatles, I popped in one days and asked for a Beatles cut. I ended up with short back and sides. I am sure my mate’s mom sent him back one day for not cutting it shout enough, so can understand why the barber would scalp you.

As the fashion for long hair grew, the barbers’ shops declined. Lanes Barbers took up permeant residence at Highcroft Hall Hospital cutting patents hair. The shops that survived were the once who adopted to the longer hairstyles, a good one was Brian’s on Stockland Green, he had a place above the ladies shop on Slade Road and then subsequently move to a shop on Marsh Lane opposite the Plaza.

Today, I go to the Turkish Barber in Moseley and have the full works. Head, beard and eyebrows followed by a hot towel wet shave. It quite a teat.
 
Then ...
A childhood memory is watching a barber light a taper and look as if he was going set fire to some bloke's hair. He was of course just singeing the ends.

In my late teens I thought I would be smart and visit a posh hair salon in Lewis's. The head barber looked at my scalp and said if I didn't have some 'electro treatment' he was offering I would be bald by the time I was 30. He was wrong!

Then National Service in the RAF where my first haircut was more like a sheep shearing session with the floor thick with hair.

I got married and my late wife being a hairdresser cut my hair at home for 40 years.

Now ...
I live alone and since lockdown I've trimmed my own hair with computer assistance.

My Kit
W10 computer with 24" screen.
C310 detachable webcam.
Swivel chair.
My late wife's adjustable clippers.

Method
Sit at the computer and do a twirl to see back and sides and record it to see what needs to be done.
Fix the webcam on stand behind chair to clearly see the back..
Set the clippers and trim the back with a clear view on screen and see my hands move the way I expect.
Set clippers to close-trim neck.
Reposition webcam for side views and clip as necessary.
Shower, tidy-up, and vacuum hairs off the keyboard etc ... this was the boring bit.
Put webcam back on the screen and record a twirl to see the result.

Marked myself 9/10 for most recent trim ...:)

I ruffle my hair each morning and if a bit sticks up on top I cut a tiny bit off ... little and often.

When lockdown ends I will go back to the barbers .. they do the tidy up .. :grinning:
 
Phil,

I amazed that you can use clippers on the back your head. I would need to be double-jointed and have no arthritis. Jan has offered to "have-a-go", but I'm a bit wary of that - a bit like getting the roofer to do brain surgery. I will leave it until sometime next week when I have a free diary and then get my usual Greek girl to do it. You must be exceptionally good in reversing into very narrow driveways on a foggy night! :)

Maurice :cool:
 
I amazed that you can use clippers on the back your head. I would need to be double-jointed and have no arthritis. Jan has offered to "have-a-go", but I'm a bit wary of that - a bit like getting the roofer to do brain surgery. I will leave it until sometime next week when I have a free diary and then get my usual Greek girl to do it. You must be exceptionally good in reversing into very narrow driveways on a foggy night! :)

Maurice :
Hi Maurice. What do you pay the Greek girl? This leads to the oldest joke in the world: "what's a Grecian Urn?" Answer, "about 10 drachmas a day". It would be Euros, of course, nowadays.
 
Phil,

I amazed that you can use clippers on the back your head. I would need to be double-jointed and have no arthritis. Jan has offered to "have-a-go", but I'm a bit wary of that - a bit like getting the roofer to do brain surgery. I will leave it until sometime next week when I have a free diary and then get my usual Greek girl to do it. You must be exceptionally good in reversing into very narrow driveways on a foggy night! :)

Maurice :cool:
Hi Maurice,

I've done 3 computer assisted haircuts during lockdown, the 1st was a learning curve, the 2nd better, and the 3rd good. I can presently reach the back of my head without problems.

To trim the back near the top I set a medium number on the clippers and have found I can now be quite bold with the trim when I was initially timid. I turn sidewards and look at it with a Logitech app which takes a quick screenshot and make adjustment trims as necessary. The computer screen allows a perfect view of the back of my head whereas a mirror is not much use.

Lower down on the back I set a closer number on the clippers and trim looking at the results on screen.

On my upper neck I take the guard off the clippers and trim away. For my lower neck I use my electric razor.

The sides are more difficult because my ears get in the way.

I did a twirl on Zoom the other night and relatives were impressed and I don't think they were just being polite!

I would much prefer to go to the barbers but don't have that choice at present.

Phil .... :)
 
On my first visit to a hairdresser I took a picture from a magazine (Petticoat). I obviously came out looking nothing like it and my mom let me loose on my own hair after that, just trimming here and there to keep the shape. I have only ever been to the hairdesser a few times. Years ago I wanted a perm and the girl went off on her break and forgot me, I have had sensitive scalp ever since. My ponytail doesn't need much attention, sometimes it's a bun! I used to have a "Purdey" style from the Avengers too, it was quite easy to do.
Arthritic fingers are a problem though.

I've bought some new clippers for my husband as last time the slider-thing moved and he got a tramline up the back before I realised!! Good job he has a hat and we're indoors most of the time.
rosie.
 
Dave,

She asks for 10 euros, but she has a little salon in Neapoli 7 minutes away by car/taxi, so I always give her a fair tip as I recoup that that from the saved taxi fare. We're both happy with that arrangement.

Well done, Phil, I wish I had your confidence. They've just put the whole province into Red zone lockdown tomorrow again, so I doubt if Eleni will be able to come next week. So maybe a hedgetrimmer might be more use! :)

Maurice :cool:
 
Grew up with "short back & sides". After moving to Moseley 50+ years ago used to visit "Tom's" in York Rd [Tom passed away a long time ago] until the Covid lockdown. My son has long cut his own hair [very short all over] and volunteered to do mine. He made a very good job of it - still "short back & sides". Can't see any reason to go back to a barbers now.
 
Talking of having a hair cut when you started work brings back memories. I was 15 when I started work and soon after went to a barbers on Icknield Port Road. As he cut my hair he suddenly asked "Is your father bald ?" Yes I said. "Well you will be before you're thirty" At 15 that was not what I wanted to hear so never went to him again. BUT, he was right !!! Now my wife cuts what bit I have but for some reason she wont let me cut hers, haha. Stood behind her the other day and asked if I was hurting her. She asked why and I told her that's what the sergeant used to say while doing national service, when we needed a haircut.. By the way our local barbers been charging pensioners £10 for some time now even before pandemic.
 
i think I will be doing the job permanently if the barber starts charging £10, there's not much left to cut!!
 
£8 for pensioners from my local barbers, Monday to Friday. I give a £2 tip to make it up to £10. Saturday is full price for everybody, about £12. We men are very lucky as women could easily pay £40 to £50 but then they might have colouring, styling etc. My barber is also very fast, usually spending about 5 minutes to trim the limited hair that I possess. Women seem to spend between 30 minutes to 1 hour with their hairdresser. Dave.
 
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