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Tuesday, July 1, 2014

The Perm

Here's an unusual shot for you. The back of my head...my new perm. Wow, big hair again. 



No one wants to see the back of my head I know, but better the back than the front. 

It was back in the mid 1950's. I was in seventh grade and was spending a week with two of my favorite cousins, the twins Ruby and Rachael...


Ruby
Rachael
Not too far up the road from their house there was a little beauty shop and the name of the beautician who ran the shop was Myrtle. Well, I wanted a perm. Back then we called it a "permanent". Seriously! So Ruby and Rachael's mom Mary got me an appointment with Myrtle. 

Now Myrtle's shop was there in Seagrove, North Carolina right next to the Luck's Pinto Bean facility. Seriously again! Myrtle's beauty shop still had one of those old contraptions that looked like an old timey hair dryer on a stand. It had a hood with lots of electrical cords and each electrical cord had a metal curler dangling from the end.  Thank goodness Myrtle did not use this electrical piece on me. I mean, what if I had heard thunder while my head was connected to that mass of electrical wires. Who knows what would have happened!

Now I'm here to tell you that Myrtle gave me a perm that day! As we left the shop I remember her telling me not to brush my hair for a few days. Getting home and brushing my hair was all I could think about and that is exactly what I did. The more I brushed the bigger my hair got. Folks, my head would not have fit into a bushel basket. As the days and weeks passed the perm relaxed and I loved my hair. Today I still like permed hair. I like big hair, and lots of hair!

Thank you for visiting my blog. 

Love,
Henny Penny



26 comments:

  1. So funny! And in our house, big hair is the enemy most of the time. My daughter's crowning (look at me! A pun!) was last month when she shelled out for a pricey keratin treatment to try and tame her waves. So few of us are satisfied with what we started with!

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    1. Oh and I would probably think your daughter's hair is beautiful and has just the body I try to get with perms.

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  2. Hey Henny! I had big perms in the 80s with hair the length of Lynn's! Look out! I might get another one, I think permed hair is easier to take care of myself. Looks great! Looking forward to seeing what you are growing in the garden,besides a big Eli doggy! Love Terry

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    1. Terry, are you serious! I'll bet your hair was beautiful! Permed hair is easier to take care of, and style. Love, Henny

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  3. Hello Henny, I had been elsewhere for a bit and hadn't read my favorite blogs. So I just finished about a weeks worth of yours. So much happening in your part of the country, my goodness, and topping it all off with a new perm! Last one I had was in 1986, and I did it to myself. Couldn't blame it on anyone else. My mother gave me "Tonettes" whenever she could when I was growing up, and I finally refused at 15. Now my hair is white, chin length, and pretty straight, and I just blow it dry. Yours looks so full and luxurious, and I was sure it was natural! Little secrets!
    You have definitely found your voice in your stories about Eli, the garden, green beans, your Mama, and the red stain for the cabin. I could just hear you plain as day. We were just in Highlands, North Carolina to see some friends who have a home there, and some of the long time residents have the most amazing accents! I was charmed, and I bet they sound like you. I was only disappointed to find how far we were from Louisburg! It would be nice to see your place in person some day, and what we did visit was so beautiful. Hope you get a moment to stand back and enjoy that nice red cabin!

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    1. Hey Pam, It is good to hear from you again. And you were in North Carolina! I would have been so happy to have met you. I've heard of Highlands, but not sure where it is. If there is a next time, hope you can visit us. We are adjusting to the red cabin. I forget that it is red and don't even look back when I go outside. I've got to get busy painting all the trim around the windows. I picked a walnut brown paint. Thank you for leaving me a comment. I am canning beans again today!

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  4. I got mom to put a perm in my hair one time and it went bad and could not get it in a bushel tub either. It was so embarrassing. I have not had a perm in years I use to love big hair!! I will have to post some sometime.

    Love you!

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    1. Perms must have gone out in the 80's and here I am still getting them! Post some pictures of your perm. That would be fun. I've had my head really frizzed up several times! Love you Vicki

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  5. It looks like it's taken well, nice curls not the frizzy kind I usually end up with :)
    It's an easy way to enjoy a little volume especially in humid summer weather.
    ~Jo

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    1. Thank you. Oh it is the volume I love. This humid hot weather is awful on hair-dos.

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  6. Perms used to be the thing to do when I was a kid. When I finally got my long pigtails cut off I got a perm every year. Now no big hair here. Short and straight.

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    1. Bet you were adorable with long pigtails. I wore pigtails once too.

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  7. My first perm was at 16. Instead of big beautiful curls in my hair, it came out in ringlets! I wore my hair in pigtails until it grew out.
    Jane x

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    1. I think most women have experienced getting a perm that turned out horrible. I've had three bad ones, that I can remember! And keep going back for more! :)

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  8. Just talking about them brings back the smell! And memories. I dreaded it when I was a kid, and then did it to myself in the 80s. I bet yours looks nice from the front too! :-)

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    1. That smell! I don't think the smell is quite as bad as it used to be. My husband hates it! I didn't have the nerve to take a picture of the front. :)

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  9. Your hair is gorgeous! I think that the apportionment of hair is soooooo unfair! I see people every day walking around with more than enough hair for three people (not length but amount) and just shake my little thin, limp-haired head in dismay. What was God thinking anyway! I bet he has a full head of the stuff! Not fair!

    Just teasing----but I do look with much envy at full thick heads of hair and wonder why.

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    1. Your hair does not look thin and limp! It looks so beautiful in this little picture.

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  10. You are looking good with big curly hair! I have not had a perm since grade school:)

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    1. Thank you. I keep saying no more perms, then change my mind.

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  11. Just watching the news about the hurricane heading you way. Hope you come through it damage free. Don't know how close to the coast you are but even inland it may pack some good size winds and rain.

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    1. I appreciate your thinking of us. We are about two hours from the coast. I am hoping we will get some rain from this storm.

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  12. I don't think I've ever had a perm, and when I was finally given permission to grow my hair long, it got just past my shoulders and then quit. I was sooo disappointed. It looks good on you though, but all that hair would drive me crazy now:)
    I did have a hair style that looked just like Ruby and Rachel when I was in school:)

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  13. A big head of hair is terribly hot in the summer. Like having a blanket around your shoulders. I keep my hair up most of the time now anyway. :)

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  14. I used to love getting perms, but my thick hair has never worked right with one..no matter how much I fussed with it. When I discovered the flat iron I was in hog heaven...no more thick hair (well it's still there, but I flatten the mess out of it! )

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