Growing up in the 1960’s: Hair Stories

Today’s Quote:

Everyone seems NORMAL

until you get to know them.

My old high school chum and Facebook friend, Dan, posted this blurb on FB and it got me thinking about my childhood in the 1960s:

          "If you were raised on bologna, biscuits & gravy, fried potatoes & soup beans, played in the dirt,

           got your butt busted, had 3 TV channels & it quit at ten o'clock, school started with "The Pledge,"

           had a bedtime, rode in back of pickup trucks, recorded the top 40 from the radio on cassette tapes,

           drank from a hose, played in the creek, rode your bike all day without a helmet, and you still turned

           out OK, REPOST"

From 1964-1968, my brothers and I lived in a rented house in Temple City, CA with my mom. At first, we also had a live-in babysitter named Carlotta, who came from Mexico. For my first grade picture, Carlotta curled my hair and made me look cute, even though my front teeth were still coming in.

The next year, Carlotta was gone and my teeth were in. The current hairstyle was called the Pixie. Unfortunately, my mother tried to save money by cutting my hair herself. That would have been okay if she had haircutting scissors, but the only scissors she had were electric ones that she used to cut fabric. The result was a REALLY bad haircut and lots of tears on my part.

Another time, mom gave me a home perm called Lilt. That was another disaster. I mainly remember the strong aroma of the permanent solution. I am glad it wasn't successful or I may have had to sit through that again. Luckily, my mother did not get a job that had anything to do with hair. I'm just realizing now that these hair events are probably why I never wanted to go to a salon and managed to avoid them until my 8th grade graduation. Even though it was the beginning of a new decade, I still mistrusted the hair salon. Here I am on graduation day with my interesting hairdo and my brothers on either side of me.

 June 1971

 

As far as hair goes, I am glad the 60's are over!