Town’s salon a cut above
RETRO LOOK WILL PROVE A SNIP AT BEAMISH’S NEW SHOP
SPECIALLY-TRAINED staff at Beamish Museum have been brushing up on their skills ahead of the February launch of its latest development - a 1950s town complete with a period hairdresser’s shop.
They have been learning how to create classic fifties hairdos and soon will be taking appointments from visitors keen to try out the retro look.
The kitted-out salon, set to open alongside a chippy and a cafe in the main street of the newly-built town, is a replica of Elizabeth’s Hair Fashions - a former end-terrace business from Bow Street in Middlesbrough which ran for 37 years.
Following its launch, the plan is to give visitors an opportunity f to have their hair styled - 1950s-fashion - during their visit to the salon.
The Remaking Beamish team at the County Durham museum has been working with Elizabeth’s owners Betty B tt and Ian Macpherson who, although they did not buy the shop until 1973, remember the earlier decade as well as Betty’s early career and these memories have fed into the new project.
Hair at that time was big - quite literally with the likes of updos adding volume - and it was an era of new-found independence with shampoo adverts targeting those with a bit more money in their pockets and salons going for a modern pastel or chrome look.
While for men it would be a trip to a barber for the likes of a flat-top crew cut, ducktail or pompadour and perhaps a spot of Brylcreem, fifties hairdresser’s shops became social havens for women who made regular visits - some even joining ‘perm clubs’.
In this world of chatter, hairspray and dryers they could also take advantage of other services which some salons would offer, such as manicures, hand massages, makeup and facials.
When the Beamish’s 1950s town opens, visitors will be able to learn all about hairdressing during the decade, including where people trained, and about women’s fashion and beauty. Elizabeth’s is in the Front Street terrace of the 1950s town alongside a cafe, fish and chip shop and a replica of late miner artist Norman Cornish’s first home in Spennymoor.
The opening of all these is planned for next month and it is expected the first customers will be able to have their hair styled at the salon from March.
They first will take their place in the shop’s typical 1950s waiting area and after their hair makeover will be able to capture their new look with a photograph taken under the row of 1950s hair dryers from the museum’s collection.
The idea is creating huge excitement among the followers of Beamish Museum’s Facebook page, where comments about the upcoming opening of Elizabeth’s sparked some fond memories of its original.
One said: “I used to go to Elizabeth’s with my mother when I was a teenager” while another remarked how ‘Betty’ had introduced her to eyebrow plucking, adding she still had the tweezers she had been advised to buy.
She also wrote: “Betty was my hairdresser for many years. She used to make your appointment the highlight of your week or month.
“The hours of laughter, the hair decisions made and some regretted and the stories of boys discussed.
“It was the centre of our community and Betty was the heart and soul of the party.
“Cannot wait to sit in one of those seats again and be a teenager.”
Other comments included “cannot wait, would love a hair style” and “cannot wait to see this. As a hairdresser and history lover it is rare to find things like this”.
Already on-site is a nearby 1950s welfare hall and a newly-built farmhouse while future development of the town will include a working cinema and a trollybus service.
The museum’s ongoing £20m Remaking Beamish project - the biggest in its history - was awarded a £10.9m grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to support the ambitious development of its openair site.
The project is to include more 19th-century development toowith the idea to convert properties near near its 1800s Pockerley Manor for overnight stays.
For more information about what is on offer at Beamish Museum, which is currently open only at weekends until February half-term, go its website.