http://digitalharlemblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/beauty-parlors/ News and analysis of the web site 'Digital Harlem: Everyday Life, 1915-1930' Mon, 03 Jun 2013 20:55:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://digitalharlemblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/beauty-parlors/#comment-329 Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:07:42 +0000 http://digitalharlemblog.wordpress.com/?p=482#comment-329 [...] Domestic service represented the main occupation open to African American women in New York City, in part because white women increasingly shunned it in favor of factory and sales jobs, an alternative largely closed to black women.  Dillard continued to live with her sister, rather than her employer, Mrs Watt,  notwithstanding employers’ preference for live-in staff.  She was not alone in doing only day work; many black domestic servants were married and had families, making them unwilling to live in.  Housework generally took black women to different parts of the city than those to which men traveled for laboring jobs: Dillard ventured from Harlem to the Upper West Side and midtown, whereas laborers like Morgan Thompson went to Lower Manhattan, the East Side, and the outer boroughs.  In private homes, domestic servants usually performed a multitude of tasks, such as laundry, ironing, cooking, cleaning and serving. The hours were long, the status low and the supervision tight. Many black women complained that the work was too hard for the wages they received, and frequently changed jobs in search of higher wages, or pursued alternatives like work in beauty parlors. [...]

]]> http://digitalharlemblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/beauty-parlors/#comment-152 Wed, 22 Sep 2010 17:20:24 +0000 http://digitalharlemblog.wordpress.com/?p=482#comment-152 The modern incarnation of this is the hair braiding salon, of which there are an almost countless number in modern Harlem. They do braiding but also straightening and hair extensions, the latter two services being extremely popular, if the women on my morning commute are indicative.

]]> http://digitalharlemblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/beauty-parlors/#comment-140 Sun, 12 Sep 2010 13:37:21 +0000 http://digitalharlemblog.wordpress.com/?p=482#comment-140 This is very interesting history to read about. I am a Licensed Filmmaker, Live near Hollywood ca. Thank You for Blogging this.

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