We're two sisters who are craft book publishers and found ourselves in the midst of an avocado grove. We bought this house where we planned to conduct our publishing business and in the deal got 4 acres of avocado trees thrown in. Now we're not only publishers but ranchers as well! This blog is all about avocados and anything else that strikes my fancy.

Friday, July 11, 2014

Sepia Saturday #236 Hair Dryers of the 60s


This is our photo prompt for this week's Sepia Saturday. Wow, doesn't this hooded hair dryer bring you back.

But the hair dryers I remember most are the bonnet style ones used outside of the beauty parlor. This type you could use in your own home. They looked like this in case you're a man and never used one or you're too young to remember the 60s:


It was such a revelation. You could pin up your hair on those giant plastic rollers that you attached to your head using a big metal hook trying not to stick the end through your scalp. 

I used to wash, then pin up my hair at night and then intend to take the rollers out before I fell asleep. But there were nights when I was just too tired to do that. I'd turn off the hair dryer and then fall fast asleep with the giant rollers sticking into my head. How on earth did I sleep? Then if I left that plastic bonnet on all night - Horrors - I would wake up the next morning just before getting ready for work and my hair would be completely sopping wet. The plastic bonnet acted like a steam chamber and I was cooked!  

I would have to call my work place and say that I wasn't feeling too well because I couldn't go to work looking like this:



But the nights when I did remember to remove the rollers and bonnet I would look like this the next day:
I think the wet dog look was cuter. And look at that coat. OMG, where did I get that? Don't worry the collar was faux fur (I think). And what's that bouquet of feather dusters?

But you must admit I did get great height on that hairdo. But I didn't get the optimum hairdo height. That honor goes to my mother-in-law's friend (I've posted this photo before) but doesn't it work nicely here as a finishing touch to this hair raising story?



For other dryer stories, click here sepia saturday.



16 comments:

  1. There is a lady who lives down the street from us who still uses one of those bonnet hair dryers - every Sat morning. Recently it stopped working but an enterprising family member found her another one in an Op shop

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    1. I saw a few of them listed on Etsy. It's amazing they're still around.

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  2. Great photos. We visited the Isle of Man last year which was like travelling back three decades and I was amused to see a hairdressers which still had those big, olf fashioned hair dryers.

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    1. Amazing that those old fashioned hood dryers are still around.

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  3. Oooh, yes, tall hair. I remember that look. And I had a bonnet dryer for awhile too. Fortunately, I never slept in one.

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    1. I don't know how I did it. I'm such an insomniac now - it's hard to believe I used to get such a deep sleep with rollers sticking in my head.

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  4. I had a hairdryer, but I never had or wanted the high teased hair look. Your mother's friend is scary!

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    1. Yes, that's the highest hair I've ever seen. Could she have been serious?

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  5. I remember those caps, not so much the whole unit, but we did have so silly stuff back then. Or rather my sister did. She was seven years older than me and I got most of her leftovers! Cute, adorable wet puppy!

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  6. I'm so glad you posted the photo of the hair dryer! I so remember these and was hoping I had a photo somewhere of one.

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  7. That last photo is a scream! How high can your hair go? But I think I have photos of my mother--in-law with bee hive hairdos like that too. Yes, yes, yes I remember the bonnet hairdryer. I used to hate having to sit around in them looking ridiculous. I'm glad we've moved on from there.

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    1. Those old bonnet hair dryers were ridiculous looking. I didn't post a photo that I found of an ad showing that you could walk all over your house with the hair dryer attached to your waist. How ridiculous is that?

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  8. Wow that is tall hair!

    Many years ago, a colleague called in sick because her hair colouring had gone wrong and she had bright orange hair!

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  9. Do you think she had a "rat" in there....or whatever we called those things that you'd wrap your hair around? I have to double take when I see photos of you with dark hair. Were you living in S. California when you had that coat? It looks like something we'd wear in Canada. Very funny.

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  10. I love the coat...well, it and the bee hives were part of that era. But the bouquet of colored dusters does take the cake. Never saw that before. Cool post!

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  11. Your mother-in-law's friend's hairdo is way over the top, as they say. I looks like it is just sitting on her head, more like a wig than real hair.

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