Why “Beauty Shop?”

Where do you go to hear (or tell) a good story? Perhaps that’s something you need a ticket for, as there are many a good professional storytellers and entertainers. Maybe you tune into your favorite podcast platform while in the car. Or maybe, just maybe, you are like most of us and intercept all kinds of tales from the comfort of your own home. Some of my favorite stories were indeed told in my childhood home, but not around the dinner table or at bedtime like others. In stead, those stories were accompanied by the white noise of a blowdryer, the sounds of water sloshing around a shampoo bowl, and dialogue and sound effects from The Price Is Right. That’s right, I’m talking about a hairdresser, a salon, or, to me, a beauty shop.

Mamie’s Beauty Shop, to be exact. Mamie, the lady who raised me, ran a hair salon out of her home. From the time I was barely able to walk, I was sitting on her customers’ laps, charming and chatting. When imagining a hair salon, most folks think of “hair and gossip.” And there was that. But even more, there were stories, shared recipes, expressed political opinions, movies and music discussion, friendship, and so much more. My interaction with Mamie’s “ladies” definitely put me on the track for loving good conversation.

Well, Mamie is gone now, and her shop is no longer a shop. But the memories and the stories? Those are still here. While removing the 40 year old, hairspray-coated wallpaper, I thought, “If these walls could talk, oh the stories they could tell!” Well friends, that’s why I created this site: I’d like to provide a voice for the walls, and will be sharing anything and everything that came and went . . .

. . . through the Beauty Shop.