Employment Opportunities for Women in

BEAUTY SERVICE

I. OPPORTUNITIES IN BEAUTY SERVICE

The desire to improve personal appearance is a universal human trait, present among all peoples, in all parts of the world, and in all periods of history. Hair ornaments such as decorated metal hairpins may be seen in museums of bronze-age relics. Soldiers with rows of curled locks are shown on ancient Assyrian stone tablets, and protective metal head coverings were designed with curls. Even the use of henna is not of recent origin; it was employed in ancient Egypt.

The cosmetic arts were associated with medical practice for over 5,000 years, when healing the sick and all forms of personal care were household arts carried on by the women of the family. In Egypt and other parts of the ancient world, women were often given beauty care by slave girls. Methods used at home for compounding creams and lotions were described from early times. The Greeks emphasized beauty in every phase of life. Some of their beauticians were personal attendants with specialized training who worked under a general director of beauty culture. In the Middle Ages, hairdressing is referred to as one of the trades of women in France. It was not until about 1600 that beauty culture became distinct from the sphere of medicine. As the newer specialists in coiffure gained prestige, the annals of the times hint that they had lively competition from maids who were accustomed to making expert arrangements of their ladies' hair. The preparation and use of cosmetics long continued as a household art, while hairdressing and barbering were developing into distinct trades. As occurred in numerous occupations, men were entering what had been almost exclusively a woman's field. In 1763 it is reported that a hairdressers' guild was established in France by royal order, an indication that male hairdressers were then predominant.

The more modern innovations and inventions were introduced by men, including the marcel wave developed by Marcel Grateau. The permanent-wave machine was devised by Charles Nessler in 1905, but was not perfected sufficiently to be widely used for some years. By the 1920's, the popularity of the permanent wave was firmly established and short

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hair was coming into vogue.

Both these developments in hair styling

required professional skill and equipment.

Beauty Culture an Expanding Field

It was not until very recent times that women received beauty care so generally in commercial shops. The modern beauty-culture business is an extensive and important industry. The total receipts of beauty shops in this country were reported at almost $500 million in 1953, an increase of nearly one-fifth over a 5-year period. At the same time, the majority of individual shops are in the "small business" category, many being owned and operated by one individual. In 1950 the census reported 190,000 women employed in beauty occupations. This total includes beauticians, manicurists, and barbers, as well as managers and proprietors of beauty shops. (See appendix, p. 50, for complete list of jobs covered in the census report.)

The growth of the industry over the past 5 years indicates continuing opportunity in this field. The State Board Cosmetology Guide reports an increase of over 16,000 in the number of licenses issued to men and women operators in the States reporting. There were nearly 10,000 more beauty shops in 1955 than in 1950. (See appendix, p. 47.) Several States reported at least 1,000 more shops in 1955 than in 1950 (California, Florida, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas).

The employment trend varies widely among different localities and, of course, the larger cities and more populous States are likely to need more beauticians than smaller places. The number of licenses issued by each State board in 1955 is shown in an appendix table (p. 48).

Reasons for Increasing Opportunity

The favorable outlook for the beauty-shop business is confirmed by other factors. The growth in population and the increasing employment of women point to a steady flow of customers. There were almost 7 million more adult women in the population in 1955 than there were in 1945. Furthermore, in 1955 there were more women workers than in even the expanded wartime labor force of 1945. Continuation of the demand for beauty services is indicated by the fact that women are increasingly entering types of occupations in which their appearance and good grooming are important.

Changing hair styles and the development of new beauty processes and methods stimulate the demand for skilled beauty operators. Continual introduction of new cosmetic products also causes more women to use the services of beauty shops. Moreover, women tend to visit beauty shops more frequently as they advance in years, and the average life span of women is longer than it used to be.

Location and Variety of Opportunity

Beauty culture is not restricted to a limited geographic area. There are beauty shops in all localities, from the smallest shopping center to the largest city, with an accompanying demand for beauty operators, technicians, and specialists of various kinds in the field of cosmetology. Operators work in a variety of settings. The individual may be the only operator in a small shop, or she may work in a beauty salon having 30 to 40 or more operators and assistants.

Of the women employed as beauty operators, all but a small number work in beauty shops. Some manicurists work in barber shops. Some beauticians are employed in department-store salons, a few in hotels and resorts, and on ocean liners and transcontinental trains. A very few work for governmental units such as Army posts, mental hospitals, and detention homes and other institutions.

Today, as has always been the case, small beauty shops outnumber large shops. The owner-operator frequently works alone, or with the assistance of one to three employees. Most of the larger shops naturally are located where the population is concentrated--in the great cities.

The cosmetology board in Michigan reported that the average shop in the State in 1954 was composed of three persons, including the owner. This board considered a shop to be a large salon when it had 10 to 40 “all-round” beauticians, with possibly 2 to 5 hair stylists and 1 or 2 facial operators, hair dyers, manicurists, and electrologists in addition.

Effects of General Conditions

Changes in economic conditions may have a marked effect on beautyshop employment. They influence both the number of women seeking beauty services and the number entering the occupation. Women usually attach great importance to beauty services, but if their income is reduced this is likely to be an expense that will soon be cut. On the other hand, when their incomes increase, even moderately, women quickly seek additional beauty care.

Many women workers left beauty-shop occupations during World War II, because large numbers of other jobs were available at good pay and, in addition, shortages of supplies and equipment made beauty-shop operation difficult. Also, some girls who might have become beauty operators entered other work instead.

After the war, some of the girls who might have entered training did not do so, because they found cosmetology classes in some public vocational schools filled with men veterans—about 37,000 of whom took such training under the GI Bill of Rights. Many of these were not permanent additions to the beauty-service field.

When the 1950 census was taken, the figures showed that the number

of women employed in beauty-service occupations was 8 percent smaller than in 1940. There was a decline of similar proportion among men employed as barbers or beauticians. In the same period, total employment of both women and men had increased substantially.

The introduction of inexpensive home permanent-wave kits, while it helped women meet the shortage of beauty services, was probably not an important factor in the decline in beauty-shop employment. Later figures reported by State cosmetology boards indicate the employment decline as short-lived. The number of beauty operators' licenses increased between 1950 and 1955, although not in every State.

At present, the proportion of men among beauty operators is small. For example, of those having licenses in an eastern city in 1955, about 3 percent were men, and, in a large midwestern city, 2 percent of the operators were reported to be men. For the most part, the men in beauty services are in management or the more highly specialized occupations, for which the cosmetology boards of many States require beauty operators' licenses. Many large and exclusive beauty shops in cities are owned and operated by men, and national chains of beauty shops often employ male hair stylists.

Beauty Work for Women at Various Ages

A woman at almost any age can be successful in the beauty-service field. In many States a woman must be 18 before she can obtain a beauty operator's license; only 3 percent of the women in the occupation are under 20. In some localities, shops prefer beginning beauticians to be at least 20 years of age, and women up to 50 years of age may enter some schools as beginners.

The age distribution of women beauticians is shown in the table that follows:

Age distribution of women barbers, beauticians, manicurists, 1950

Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census. Decennial Census of Population. 1950.

There is good prospect that the beauty operator can continue in her occupation as long as she has the ability and desire to work. The trend

over the past decade toward an increase in the average age of the total population has been reflected among women beauticians, as among other workers. The midpoint in the age of women beauticians was 35 years in 1950, compared to about 30 years in 1940.

Among beauty shop owners the average age is likely to be higher than among employees, since it takes time and experience to establish a business. Many women, in the course of long careers in beauty work, become shop owners and concern themselves chiefly with managerial duties, employing operators for customer service.

An experienced beautician who has been out of this type of work for some years can usually obtain employment without difficulty after a short "brush-up" course in a beauty school. Older women patrons sometimes feel more at ease with an operator who is not conspicuously young, and mature women are in demand in some of the more exclusive beauty shops.

A public adult-education school in a western city recently reported that half the women who enrolled for beautician training were 35 years of age or older, the oldest being 52. The majority of the women 35 and over were new to this field of work, and some were new to the labor market. Others were re-entering after

Figure 2.-Mature women are in demand as beauty operators.