Friday, November 16, 2007

Hairspray, bell bottoms, the Twist, go-go boots, The Monkees, mini-skirts, fishnet hose...

Remember when? If so, you were a child of the '60's. Were you a flower child? Here are two, Smookie and Charlene Allen, of Clan Allen fame. Charlene is one of Susan's best friends and a cousin (Nathan Allen's younger sister). Bonnie explained the hair fashion of that time to me. Tease, flips, bangs, et.al. Apparently this was quite the "in" coiffure. I remember huge aersol cans of Aqua Net hairspray and jars of Dippity-doo in our bathroom. Mom and Sis kept it next to my butch wax and Ipana toothpaste. Those were the days.

10 comments:

Susan C said...

This photo makes me weep for so many reasons.

Charlene is just a year older than I am, but look at the way her hand is touching mine so tenderly. That speaks volumes about her. She is still about the most tender, nurturing person I think I know.

We were opposites in almost every way. She was orange-haired and freckled. I was raven-haired and olive. My nickname was Stick. Hers was Club. I loved books. She loved boys. But there was nothing opposing about our affection for one another.

Mrs. Duck said...

I remember those days! But after I cut my hair and got a Toni Home Permanent (and ended up looking like a poodle that had stuck its tail in an electrical socket), my mother told me I couldn't tease my hair or use hairspray! I was in seventh grade, and I spent the year looking like a humiliated dweeb, instead of Sandra Dee (which was what I'd had in mind). Not even Dippity Doo could help. (Although I used a ton of it!) So I used to console myself listening to the Beatles' First Album over and over and dreaming of meeting the Fab Four one day on a streetcorner! The worst was sleeping on rollers at night. (Remember that?) Oh, those were the days!

Anonymous said...

I sure remeber those days..I have a photo like this one
I did my hair in barrel curls with the explosion bang..named after the atomic age 50s' and that velvet clip on bow in the center. Yes and AquaNet
too..oh that smell..don't forget Noxema for the pimples...went to a dance with a black light and my face was aglow from whatever is in Noxema.
Mary

Susan C said...

I had the poodle look too! I'd forgotten about rollers, the ultimate female torture devices. They were even barbed like wire. And Noxema. That's so funny about the black light, Mary.

Remember the Poor Boy, ribbed tights? Now those I loved, almost as much as Davey Jones.

Karen said...

That's such an adorable picture! I had a childhood friend named Joanie who looks a LOT like Charlene. She was orange-haired and freckled, too.

My mother and aunt subjected me to so many of those godawful home permanents (remember the stench!?!) I would look like I had a terminal case of the frizzies for six months afterwards. And this was in the late 60's when long, straight hair was "in," so I'd be completely out of style. The horror!

Lilli said...

I just saw the movie Hairspray, and this photo could be an advertisement for some of the girls on the dance show. Smoky and Charlene had great hair, as good as the girls in the movie who, we know, had professional hairdressers.

My sister, who graduated from high school in 1970, tried to have hair like this, but I don't think she ever achieved such a high poof over the back of the headband. She would be quite jealous of you girls.

In our house, we had the pink sponge rollers that we would sleep on in the days before electric rollers and blow dryers. Remember the hair-dryer hat that looked like a shower cap?

But my sister achieved the giant flip by rolling her hair on empty frozen orange juice cans, probably a tip she got out of her steady subscription to Seventeen magazine.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

Piper Robert said...

I remember coming home from playing baseball and thought I'd grab a Miracle Whip sandwich. Upon entering the kitchen, I smelled this pungent, toxic odor. You were seated in the dining room with a big bib around your neck and clutching a towel that was wrapped around your neck. You were getting a perm and several neighbor ladies were over. Perms must have been an excuse for a party or whatever. I'll never forget that smell or seeing Mom pouring this liquid stuff on the rollers. How did you guys survive all that stuff?

Anonymous said...

Susan, what a beautiful smile!!!!

Unknown said...

This photo instantly transported me to the day before "Photo Day" when I was in 6th grade. I was determined to have that "Jackie Kennedy" flip, so I rolled my hair according to a layout from Family Circle (or some similar magazine). My hair was stick straight, and just below my shoulders. But, horrors, when I combed it out in the morning, I had a sausage roll around my neck, and no height whatsoever. It was a disaster! There are no pictures of me extant, thank goodness, but I have the image in my head forever.

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