Way back in March 2007, I was bold enough to share all my school photos from first through twelfth grades, and in the comments to that post, I also published this photo:
It can ONLY be the fumes from that Lilt perm making me grin like a fool, because WHYYYY did my mother give us home perms? So our hair could look like this?
Dopey looks a little noble with his head up like that, though it’s possible he’s trying to communicate to Debby: The young one: She is strangling me.
Meanwhile, David (holding Daffy cat) sports a smile that’s almost a grimace. I don’t know what he had to be distressed about. Oh, wait. We’re in our PJs and he’s looking all cool kid. Probably he was forced to pose for this photo with his little sisters as a condition of going on a date. Could have been worse. He could have had his scalp tortured with Lilt perm rods.
Well, I think your hair is pretty all curlified like that. We had one of those vinyl-hood hair dryers too. I bet you were grinning because of all the warm air whooshing around inside that cap.
Thank you, but I think we both could use a good hairbrush!
I still remember the plastic-y smell of that dryer–the base, hood, and hose, and how much stronger the smell was when it got hot. However, there is something relaxing about those hair dryers–or the big ones at salons. Haven’t been under one of those in years!
My mother always did the Toni Home Perm for special holidays with my two aunts. My father always escaped the toxic smells by going down in the basement and doing something important like straightening nails and hammering back into the workbench. Thankfully he let his sons help.
Oh, the smell! Smart man, your father.
When I was growing up it was a lot more important to have curly hair than it is these days. My mother or grandmother sometimes even put stockings through my hair at night to make long ringlets. These days even at 9 years old kids like Jazzy are sneaking into their sister’s rooms to use the hair straightener most days. 🙂
Curls for girls when I was little. When I was in my teens and twenties, our hair was supposed to be perfectly straight. Then we all went curly again, and I laugh at all the photos of my over-processed hair–burned by perms, gone brassy with bad coloring jobs.
My sister’s hair curls naturally now, and sometimes I envy its fullness, but I’m so glad to just let my own be trouble-free straight now. Though of course, I do keep covering the gray of my roots.
It’s funny how trends come and go, and what our hairstyle choices say about our times.
I well remember Lilt perms! (And those hair dryers. I had one with a pink bonnet and case. I loved it!)
I am picking back up with my vintage photograph project, tomorrow. I have missed doing it – so back to that I go!
I love seeing your photographs and hearing your stories…
Thank you, Cari. I’ve checked your blog periodically to see if you were posting again yet. I love your old photos and stories, too. I’ll be reading!
I was naughty.
I forgot to do my photograph entry, today.
Oops.
The times that I remembered I was re-starting it – I could not attend to it, then. So. I, uh. Forgot.
I have to get in the habit.
I really don’t know how you keep everything so straight and organized! (Though. To be fair . . . things have been emotional since the death of a friend. So part of my sense of feeling scattered can be attributed to that. But, still. After writing (for work) through the day – I find it *very hard* to get motivated to write during my off-time. I need to work through that.)
As always –
I remain in awe of everything you do!
🙂
I’m sorry about your loss. I understand. After Aaron’s death, it took me a while to be able to write here, and I’m not sure I’ve hit my stride again yet. Also, I’m barely present on Twitter, my reading is a lot slower, and I’m not painting. Writing here is what keeps me tethered to any kind of routine and consistency, and there are days I can barely manage to put it all together.