Similar in nature to the nineteenth century confidence in Phrenology as an indicator of personality and character, this descriptive (short) chapter from a barber’s manual from turn of the century (circa 1900) illustrates the Victorian-era suggestion that hair color is indicative of character. Did Mr. Bridgeford, Barber College teacher, accurately connect your hair’s nature to your personality traits?
The Victorian era brought about a new business in the United States–shops that offered ladies’ hairdressing. This skill may have been offered by ladies’ maids inside well-to-do households, but in America, women needed an equivalent of barbers to meet their own needs. Come see about training to become a Ladies’ Hairdresser, a touch of Victorian humor, newspaper ads from the Old West, and more! The blog article series of “Barber Shops in the Old West” continues.
Men’s hairstyles of the Victorian Era are identified in photographs from the era, including one barber school’s style plate images. Includes vintage recipes for styling products like Bay Rum and Macassar oil.
The Old West Barber Shop Blog Series continues. This article includes images of historic barber chairs, an antique towel steamer (and hot water dispenser), line art of the era illustrating the pedestal used in lieu of a barber’s chair, images from mail-order catalogues showing tools of the trade available for home purchase, and patents for barber chairs and devices. This series’ upcoming posts will detail Victorian-era men’s hairstyles, bath houses, bath tubs, shower baths, ingenious furniture-bath-tub combinations, and ladies’ hair salons.
Old West (and simply Victorian-American) Barber Shops offered shaves as well as haircut services. This article focuses on straight-blade razors of the era, how a barber shaved his patrons with a straight blade, and how to strop (sharpen) a straight-blade razor. This article is part of a many-part blog series about Victorian-era Barber Shops and Ladies Hair Salons.
