Table Of ContentStyle Status
&
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Style
&
Status
Selling Beauty to
African American Women,
1920–1975
Susannah Walker
T U P K
he niversiTy ress of enTUcKy
Publication of this volume was made possible in part by a grant
from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Copyright © 2007 by The University Press of Kentucky
Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth,
serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern
Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College,
Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University,
Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University,
University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University.
All rights reserved.
Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky
663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008
www.kentuckypress.com
11 10 09 08 07 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Walker, Susannah, 1970-
Style and status : selling beauty to African American women, 1920-1975 / Susannah
Walker.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8131-2433-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8131-2433-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. African American women—
Social conditions—20th century. 2. African American women—Race identity.
3. Beauty, Personal—Social aspects—United States—History—20th century. 4. Beauty,
Personal—Economic aspects—United States—History—20th century. 5. Beauty
culture—Social aspects—United States—History—20th century. 6. Beauty culture—
Economic aspects—United States—History—20th century. 7. Popular culture—United
States—History—20th century. 8. African Americans in popular culture—History—
20th century. 9. United States—Race relations—History—20th century. I. Title.
E185.86.W338 2007
306.4’613--dc22 2006033478
This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the
American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Member of the Association of
American University Presses
For my grandparents
Dorothy Brigstock (1916–2005)
Robert Brigstock (1910–2003)
Marion Duell (1917–1999)
Charles Walker (1915–2004)
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Contents
List of Illustrations viii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction
Why Hair Is Political 1
1. “The Beauty Industry Is Ours”
Developing African American Consumer Citizenship in
the 1920s and 1930s 11
2. “Everyone Admires the Woman Who Has Beautiful Hair”
Mediating African American Beauty Standards in
the 1920s and 1930s 47
3. “An ‘Export’ Market at Home”
Expanding African American Consumer Culture in
the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s 85
4. “Beauty Services Offered from Head to Toe”
Promoting Beauty to African American Women in
the 1940s and 1950s 115
5. “All Hair Is Good Hair”
Integrating Beauty in the 1950s and 1960s 143
6. “Black Is Beautiful”
Redefining Beauty in the 1960s and 1970s 169
Conclusion
Why African American Beauty Culture Is Still Contested 205
Notes 211
Selected Bibliography 229
Index 239
Illustrations
Walker advertisement: “What a Change a Few Years Make” 34
Hi-Ja advertisement: “Could This Girl ‘Vamp’ Your ‘Sweetie’?” 37
Palmer advertisement: “Choose Your Own Complexion” 39
Walker advertisement: “Glorifying Our Womanhood” 42
Golden Brown advertisement: “Pride in Our Race” 44
Walker advertisement: “You, too, may be a fascinating beauty” 49
Walker advertisement: “A Haven of Hope for Millions” 53
Poro College advertisement: “Your Question . . . Our Answer” 56
Walker hairstyling demonstration booth, Chicago 57
Walker College of Beauty Culture graduating class, Chicago 59
Ru-Lo Academy beauty salon, Washington, D.C. 61
Apex advertisement: “Don’t Fear the Beach” 69
Plough’s advertisement: “Beautiful Josephine Baker” 73
Negro Market Organization pamphlet 91
Royal Crown advertisement: “Beauty begins with Smooth, Glossy Hair!” 102
Walker advertisement: “Now I’m Going Steady . . . with Glossine!” 103
Silky Strate advertisement: “No Rainy Day Blues” 106
Nadinola advertisement: “Don’t Depend on Daisies!” 108
Walker advertisement: “Your Own Natural Beauty” 111
Murray’s Superior Products advertisement: “For Natural Beauty” 112
Cardozo shop, Washington, D.C. 116
Walker pamphlet: “Vapoil for Cold Curls and Cold Waves” 126
Walker Satin Tress demonstration, Kansas City 127
Apex advertisement: “A Mini-Dab Makes Your Hair a Swinging Beauty” 156
Supreme Beauty Products advertisement: “Which Woman Needs Raveen?” 157
Artra advertisement: “New Beauty for Women All Over the World” 158
Apex advertisement: “Progress” 159
Nadinola advertisement: “Black is beautiful” 177
Johnson advertisement: “Kama mama, kama binti” 193
Supreme Beauty Products advertisements: “The Beautiful” and “The Bold”
195
Supreme Beauty Products advertisement: “Sisters are different from brothers”
196
Tintz advertisement: “Natural or Straight?” 200
viii
Acknowledgments
It is probably cliché to mention that I never would have guessed, when
I started this project, that ten years would pass between the graduate
research seminar paper that inspired it and the completion of this man-
uscript. Then again, the acknowledgments section is as good a place as
any for clichés! I decided to write my dissertation on African American
women’s beauty culture during my second year as a doctoral student in
history at Carnegie Mellon University. I entered that research seminar
in the fall of 1995 with a variety of interests, including African Ameri-
can history, cultural and gender analysis, and the history of consumer
culture, but with little idea of what I wanted to research for the seminar
paper, let alone for my dissertation. Finally I settled on a project that
examined African American consumer culture during the 1920s and
1930s, primarily using black newspaper advertising and the records of
marketing professionals interested in African American consumers. The
preponderance of beauty product and service advertising stood out,
and the outlines of my doctoral project, which is the basis of this book,
began to take shape.
Therefore, I must first and foremost recognize the director of that
seminar, David Hounshell, for helping me to develop my thinking on
this topic at its earliest stages. I would also like to thank the members
of that seminar, especially John Jensen, Julia Roos, Jon Silver, Jeff Suzik,
and Carl Zimring, for contributing to the supportive and intellectually
stimulating experience of our coursework years. Other seminars that
shaped my intellectual development that I would like to particularly
recognize are Joe Trotter’s seminars in U.S. and African American his-
tory, Mary Lindemann’s seminars in European and cultural history, Kate
Lynch’s seminar in historical methods, and Judith Modell’s seminar in
ethnographic methods. In addition to my particular grad student co-
hort, I shared classes, office spaces, and teaching assistant experiences
with many others who became good colleagues, sounding boards, and
social companions at various points over the years, including Trent
Alexander, Jennifer Bannister, Tom Buchanan, Tim Haggerty, Rebecca
ix
Description:Between the 1920s and the 1970s, American economic culture began to emphasize the value of consumption over production. At the same time, the rise of new mass media such as radio and television facilitated the advertising and sales of consumer goods on an unprecedented scale. In Style and Status: Se
