A Look at 1950's Hair Care....

[vendethiel]

I found this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lao3GaYXLjs) video about 1950's hair care and thought I would share it. I have to admit that the way she washed her hair made me shudder and the idea of your hair squeaking scared me a bit. However, I thought it was interesting to see what they thought about hair care back in the day. I hope some of you find it interesting as well. :blossom:

[aisha.christine]

This video made me smile. :) Although, agreeably, the way she pulled on her hair to make it squeak sent a bit of a shiver down my spine. *eek*
I thought the comments below about washing your hair once every two weeks was hilarious, since some LHC members stretch their washes for longer than that and have lovely hair.

[Columbia River]

That was fun...and I enjoyed the other vintage "beauty tip" clips too.

[misspriss]

With the exception of the squeaking, I thought that was pretty good. 'Hair should be washed every two weeks or a little more often', and a lemon juice or vinegar rinse to reduce residue. Brushing every day like that is a bit much, but they do caution you to be careful not to tear the hair and brushing is good to distribute the oils and remove dirt/dust. Pretty interesting if you ask me :)

[C.H.]

You've got me on Youtube looking at all kinds of vintage beauty videos now. :) Fun!

[owlathena]

I like how many of the comments on that video are like "No way could I go two weeks without washing my hair!" If they only knew about CO or WO! hahah

[The_Redhead]

Sometimes I'm a bit squeaky after washing, but I use shampoo bars. I dry just fine though. Soft and fluffy.

Shannon

[C.H.]

I've gotten squeaky clean with CO. Is that bad?

[SarahKayfa]

I love these videos. I could watch for hours.

[supbanana]

Thanks for sharing!

My great-grandmother only washes her hair every week to every other week, and uses the same soap she uses for her body. When I stayed with her as a child she would wash my hair this way, harshly wring it and until I wanted to cry, and then she'd do the 'squeak test'. For a while I thought that was the right way to do it. :)

I was explaining CO to her daughter, my grandma, just last week and she said, "well, I know my hair's clean when it squeaks!" But then she looked puzzled and said, "I don't know why I think that, I just always have."

[Kyla]

My mother taught me that hair is clean when it squeaks when I was twelve and not rinsing properly, resulting in a greasy scalp. Sometimes, to test if my scalp is free of shampoo, I still test it like that before I think about it...

[FrozenBritannia]

How on earth did we get from washing every two weeks to every single day in less than 50 years? (Yes, I know it has been more than fifty years, but it was fifty years when I was in highschool, and if you didn't wash your hair every day you were shunned in my school)

[VikingVampChick]

I think it was on another thread - shampoos were a bit harsher, hence the washing less often. At some point, someone came out with a shampoo 'gentle enough for daily use'. Don't remember seen that happened, though.

[misspurdy06]

Check out this one! 2:10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=684n8FO68LU&NR=1

[FrozenBritannia]

Check out this one! 2:10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=684n8FO68LU&NR=1

My goodness, their hair is gorgeous! So thick!

[C.H.]

Check out this one! 2:10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=684n8FO68LU&NR=1

Whoa! I wasn't expecting that after all those heavily be-hatted ladies.

[Melisande]

I think it was on another thread - shampoos were a bit harsher, hence the washing less often. At some point, someone came out with a shampoo 'gentle enough for daily use'. Don't remember seen that happened, though.

There were no shampoos (or if there were, not everybody used them). People washed their hair with soap and soft water - from wells or they collected rain water. Hair was not stripped totally of its natural oils.

Shampoos were invented as byproduct to the development of synthetic detergents. They worked well with the harder tap water but they stripped hair of its natural oils. So hair fought back and became oilier more quickly. thus a vicious circle was born which made the shampoo industry very happy.

Other factors: the rise of visual media like movies and TV made exterior beauty more important, an evolving beauty industry made it (seem) more accessible than before. Shorter hair styles had to be set, and that was best possible when hair was wet. Industrial pollution made hair and body dirtier more quickly, especially when hats and head scarves went out of fashion.

All these factors played out in the Western world differently in different areas.

I worked in a old people's home for a while and was surprised to see that many of the old women were afraid to wash their hair. they felt that they might damage it. although they had showers and running waters at home, some of them still used two bowls and two pitchers to clean their hair. They hated it because it made their necks hurt. I had to teach some of them modern hair care techniques like washing hair under the shower. These were rural women.

And others, the urban types, were simply used to go once every two or three weeks to the hairdresser and have the hair "washed and set" there. They tried to preserve the style as long as possible. They had their hair cut in styles that were fashionable before Vidal Sassoon developed the modern layered cut that falls into place on its own. They still needed curlers, needles etc.

The development of modern hair care is a reflection of many other social developments...

[vendethiel]

You've got me on Youtube looking at all kinds of vintage beauty videos now. :) Fun!

Yay! I love looking at vintage beauty videos. There's something so fun about them.

[vendethiel]

Check out this one! 2:10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=684n8FO68LU&NR=1

Gorgeous! I always thought they were super short bobs! :o

[MissManda]

You've got me on Youtube looking at all kinds of vintage beauty videos now. :) Fun!

This. :)

My hair squeaks when I CO, but since it doesn't feel stripped once it has fully air-dried I don't think it's anything to be worried about. I just thought it was because the conditioners I use have lots of slip and when one combines that with already slippery hair, it's bound to squeak.

It did scare me the first time it happened, though! :bigeyes:

[C.H.]

Yay! I love looking at vintage beauty videos. There's something so fun about them.

It's fun to see how some stuff seems just totally absurd and you would never dream of doing it today, whereas some advice is so classically and timelessly true and remains great advice decades later. And you think, wow, I wish more people hat that attitude today.

[Orangerthanred]

Their hair is so pretty..

[irishlady]

I love it! If only I could stretch my washes to every 2 weeks :)

[terpentyna]

Wow, thanks for sharing this!

[Kaelee]

My hair always squeaks after wash it. No big deal really! (my hair is in great shape btw)

[Yozhik]

Great video! Thanks for sharing.

I loved the part where they advised using lemon rinses. :)

If only people now were more open to some of these ideas...

[archel]

My hair squeaks no matter what, wo rinses, CO, CWC, sulfate-free shampoo, doesn't matter. It's just squeaky!

[Libbylou]

You all are talking about the squeaks, I thought the young lady brushed a bit too aggressive in my opinion. Maybe I baby my hair a bit much. lol

[PixxieStix]

There were no shampoos (or if there were, not everybody used them). People washed their hair with soap and soft water - from wells or they collected rain water. Hair was not stripped totally of its natural oils.

Shampoos were invented as byproduct to the development of synthetic detergents. They worked well with the harder tap water but they stripped hair of its natural oils. So hair fought back and became oilier more quickly. thus a vicious circle was born which made the shampoo industry very happy.

Other factors: the rise of visual media like movies and TV made exterior beauty more important, an evolving beauty industry made it (seem) more accessible than before. Shorter hair styles had to be set, and that was best possible when hair was wet. Industrial pollution made hair and body dirtier more quickly, especially when hats and head scarves went out of fashion.

All these factors played out in the Western world differently in different areas.

I worked in a old people's home for a while and was surprised to see that many of the old women were afraid to wash their hair. they felt that they might damage it. although they had showers and running waters at home, some of them still used two bowls and two pitchers to clean their hair. They hated it because it made their necks hurt. I had to teach some of them modern hair care techniques like washing hair under the shower. These were rural women.

And others, the urban types, were simply used to go once every two or three weeks to the hairdresser and have the hair "washed and set" there. They tried to preserve the style as long as possible. They had their hair cut in styles that were fashionable before Vidal Sassoon developed the modern layered cut that falls into place on its own. They still needed curlers, needles etc.

The development of modern hair care is a reflection of many other social developments...

That is so interesting! My great grandmother had a permanent time at 10 AM every Thursday with her hairdresser for, oh, 30 years or so? where she went in once a week to have her hair washed and set. Did it up until the day she had to move into an assisted living center due to a stroke. She loved my hair more than anyone else on the planet, because her mother had red hair, and it got passed down to me and brother, but skipped her, my grandmother, and my mother's generation. I can't help but think how happy she would be if she was still alive to see my hair coming back in now.

Very fun video, and thanks for sharing!

[prairiegirl]

Love it!
Interesting about the bar soap... once you think about it though it probably would be gentler than SLS...

[starlamelissa]

I thought the video was cool, and I think the wash routine was fine....

Except for two things.... Washing hair in the sink would cause my hair to snarl something fierce, and washing every two weeks, with the fairly short hair they were sporting, and the massive amount of hair spray they are using... Yuck.

[Barniie]

I LOVE the 1950's. I just think that was the most awesome time ever. And the hair :D I love that kind of style so much!!!

[TheBluffs]

Call me crazy but, my hair does 'squeak' a bit when clean. :shrug:
I like their advice on stretch washing though!

[pepperminttea]

I love how they said about more frequent hair washings and then said every two weeks. :lol: Ah, good times.

But it does make me very, very grateful that I have a shower, and don't have to deal with post-wash tangles from washing in a tiny sink.

[einna]

I love how they said about more frequent hair washings and then said every two weeks. :lol: Ah, good times.


I loved that one too!
And also the use of brushes to distribute the sebum. Nice to se the same kind of advice we get here =)

[GRU]

If I had to wash and rinse my hair in a tiny sink, I would only be able to do it every two weeks because it would take me four days just to get it rinsed fully using that method, then another ten days to get it fully untangled, and then it would be two weeks later and time to wash it all over again! :lol:

(Seriously, why didn't they just rinse in the bathtub, mermaid-soak style? My neck and back ached just LOOKING at that rinsing method!)

[GRU]

And I just have to say it...

Did that same man narrate EVERY film and slide-show (old-fashioned version of PowerPoint presentations, for you younger LHCers) from the 50s until the 80s???

[GRU]

Check out this one! 2:10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=684n8FO68LU&NR=1


I want that motorcar that you can store in your house and unfold! :lol: