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Forms to be Filled out for Each Interview FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
FORM A
Circumstances of Interview
STATE New York
NAIVE OF WORKER Vivian Morris
ADDRESS 225 West 130th Street
DATE April 19, 1939
SUBJECT HARLEM BEAUTY SHOPS
1. Date and tin c. of interview
2. Place of interview
3. Name and address of informant
4. Name and address of person, if any, who put you in
touch with informant.
5. Name and address of person, if any, accompanying you
6. Description of room, house, surroundings, etc.
(Use as many additiona1 sheets as necessary, for any of the forms, each
bearing the proper heading and the number to which the material refers.)
FORM C
Text of Interview (Unedited)
STATE New York
NAME OF 'iORKER Vivian Morris
ADDRESS
DATE
SUBJECT
225 West 130th Street
April 19, 1939
HARLEV BEAUTY SHOPS
FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
The largest and most profitable profession indulged in by
the Negro women in Harlem is the beauty shops. Beauty Culture
takes care of over fifty percent of the Negro professional women
as well as supplying jobs for a goodly portion of the male popu-
lace in the role of salesmen, advertisers and in the actual field
of male beatuicians.
The most widely known of the persons who took advantage of
the knowledge that Negro women desire beautiful hair and soft
attractive skin was Mme. C.Ji Walker who cleared over a million
dollars, through the sale of her skin bleaches, hair pomades, etc.
The better known systems that are used by the several hundred
beauty shops that are sprinkled through Harlem are The Apex, Poro,
Nu Life, and Hawaiian Systems and the money make by the owners of
the schools conducted by these systems contributes greatly toward
the economic life of Harlem, and were they stopped it would leave
a big vacuum in the community's budget.
There are four general headings under which the shops of Harlem
may be listed according to clientele. From 135 Street down to 110
Street known as lower Harlem on Eighth, Seventh, and Lenox Avenues,
may be listed as the shops where the "average Barlemite" gets her
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work do4, from 135-138 Streets on Seventh Avenue may be cataloged
as the section where the theatrical group gets its hair "done",
from 138 Street North on Seventh and Lenox Avenues to "Sugar Hill"
which is above 145 Street is the location of the shops that cater
to the Negro elites who dwell in fashionable "Sugar Hill" section,
the numbered streets contain beauty shops which draw the bulk of
their patrons from the particular locality from which the operators
come; if the operator is from Columbia, South Carolina then the
persons who are the clients in that particular shop are from that
section of as close aspossible. Hence there are four Classifica-
tions of shops, "Average Harlamite", "Theatrical", "Elite", and
"Hometown."
I happen to be in a shop in the "Average Harlamite" areas
on a Thursday just before the afternoon rush of the women who do
domestic work and stay on the premises where they work and get
a half Thursday off. I heard a grumbling conversation going on
between two apprehensive operators. "Well it's Thursday again,"
says the tall one. Soon the place will be so crowded with "kitchen
mechanics" you can't move."
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"Yeh,k it wouldn't be so bad, sighs the stocky one looking
at her feet reflectively "if you didn't have to work sobng. We
won't be able to leave this shop until two o'clock tomorrow morning."
"The Union did do a little bit of good by saying that we had
to close the doors at 10 pm because we used to get out at five and
six in the morning before," said the first speaker.
"One of these days," said the stocky speaker, "when this place
is full of people who come in just before closing time, without an
appointment, I'm gonna "jump salty" (fly off the handle) and "Throw
up both hands and holler."
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"It's sure no bed of roses," agreed the tall operator. We
learned beauty culture to get away from sweating and scrubbing
other peoples floors and ran into something just as bad scrubbing
peoples scalps, straightening, and curling their hair with a hot
iron all day and smelling frying hair."
answers the short woman, nand you sweat just as much
or a dem sight more and most of 'em are in a hurry but I think
it's a little better than housework it 's cleaner and you don't
have no white folks goin' around behind you trying to find a spec
of dirt."
"Oh here comes one of my calkeener broads" (a woman who
cooks in a private family). If she mentions her madam I'll choke
her. You'd think on their day off theytd forget their madams.
"Hello Miss Adams. You'r on time," said the tall operator.
"Yeh," says Miss Adams popping chewing gum and all in a
dither. "Got to make time. Me and my boyfriend got a little
matter to straighten out this afternoon. He's got to tell me one
thing or another. Then, we're gonna "dig that new jive" (see the
new show) dawn the Appllo; then we'll "cut out" (go) to the Savoy
and "beat out a few hoof rifts" (dance) till the wee hours then
I'll fall on back to the "righteous mansion" (job) "dead beat
for shut eye" (sleepy) but willing to "carry on" (work.).
"You sure are making the most of your day off," avers the
operator, covering tle woman's head with a bubbling shampoo and
dousing her head in the sink scrubbing vigourously with a stiff
brush.
"I didn't tell you what my madam said hey take it easy
on the "top piece" (head), yells Miss Adams as the operator scrubs
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vigorously and looks at the other operator meaningly as Miss Adams
mentions her madam.
"My madam" resumes Miss Adams, "asked me what I had done to
my hair last Friday when she saw it all curly and pretty. I told
her I'd been to the hair dresser. She asked ms how much it cost
and when I told her she just looked funny and started to ask me how
lc ould afford it. She needn't worry 'cause I'm dead sure I'm gonna
ask her for a raise 'cause this little money she pays me ain't a
"drop in the bucket." (not much).
I dropped in one of the "hometown" shops and saw a breezy
well groomed man enter and make his way to the back of the shop
saying"They're at the post. Don't get left."
The operators excused thmnselved handed the man a piece of
paper which he copies. "Hey Ann", he asks "Is this 517 or 511?
Your figures are so hard to figure out."
"517" retorts Ann, "you can't read. Better get them num-
bers right, "cause they're hot."
"Is that the number man?" asks a customer, "Give me 370 for
a dime. I dreamed about my dead uncle and everytime I dream about
him 370 comes out."
The mentioning of the "number" as a dream "number" causes
most of the customers and the operators to play it because they
all believe in dreams. When the "writer" leaves his book is
"loaded" with the 370 which thereby becomes a "hot number" a
number favored to come out which seldom does)
In another "Hometown" shop I found operators selling tickets
to a Beauticians Ball, -while the customers sell them tickets to a
supper for the church or their awn house rent parties.
When I entered a shop in the 1Theatrical" area a male op.
erator washing a person's hair whom you assume to be a woman in
slacks. When the person turned around it was a man. Yes, the
theatrical men and a few non -theatrical men get their hair
straightened and waved.
The conversation wa., about a currently popular star. The
fellow who is getting his hair mashed says, "Chick Webb sure pulled
some "hep jive" when he signed Ella Fitzgerald up. I hear from
good source that Benny Goodman offered gangs of money for her con-
tract. Chick said "no can do." (no).
"Yeh," answers a dreamy eyed girl getting wavy ringlets pre-
ssed over her entire head. "I remember Ella when ain't changed
a bit towards little Fifi."
"The Swing Mikado's been sold I hear", says one girl as a
hot comb is pulled through her hair.
"The actors think that's "weird jive" (bad) says another,
"They ain't commin' up to that tab." (Don't want to work for a
private owner.)
I know what the jive is. W.P.A. says the sale is left up
to the cast. They want to put us back on relief. Too many of us
on Broadway at the sane time. 110 of us in "Hot Mikado" and 75
of us in "Swing Mikado." They'll either take us out on the road
or fire us here. If Equity takes us in t#en we have some protect-
ion, but they'll ditch us before Equity gets around to us. that
the hell is the difference anyway? They got the money and they'll
keep you right where they want to, unless we have a God damn riot,
and now much good would that do? A hell of a lot don't fool your-
self. Didn't we get jobs on 125 Street after the March 19th riot?
In the "Sugar Hill" area I found well dressed women pulling
up in big cars. Their topics are the grave international situation,
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the latest plays, the teachers discuss schools. I see where
"Address Unknown" was a best seller for last month. The copies
were sold 'almost as soon as they reached the book stores," says
one.
"Oh yes," remarked another woman (wearing two diamonds and
an imported wrist watch), from under her application of bleach
cream. The author was very fortunate. At another time it would
just have been another book interesting reading of course but
the story then the book was published at the precise, psycholo-
gical time when the "Madman of Europe" was shedding blood all
over Germany. Result? A best seller."
Suddenly a man darted in the swanky shop with a bag and made
his way to the rear, with signifioant nods to each other. The op-
erators went to the rear singly. He was peddling "hot stuff"(stolen
goods). The operator's make their purchase and hurried back to
their customers. A nosey customer asks *Nhat is he selling? Last
time I was here I got some lovely perfume very cheap."
"Lingerie" says the operator.
"Reasonable2" asks the inquisitive one. "They have ten dollar
ta\g s. He sells them for three," answers the operator.
"Please tell him I want to see them," says the customer jump-
ing out of the chair, with her beauty treatment half finished. With
the apron around her neck she goes to the rear of the shop followed
by more interested customers.
INTERESTING PLACES THESE BEAUTY SHOPS.