Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Futuristic Hairdo Hits Women Like New Atom Bomb (1948)

As we see over and over again, the abstract concept of "the future" has been sold many different ways over the years. An article from the September 27, 1948 Daily Register (Harrisburg, IL) titled, "Futuristic Hairdo at $35 Per Do Hits Women Like New Atom Bomb," seems to describe post-War hopes and anxieties for the seemingly undefined "future."
Men, the women are at it again. This time it's nothing as mild as demanding the vote or wearing pants.

In a shuddering world, "modernism" has reached the feminine hairline.

From Broadway to Park Avenue, the girls have gone slightly mad over something called "the futuristic, non-objectivism" hairdo. It's in six different colors and at $35 a do.

The creator of this hair-raising hairstyle is a diminutive, red-haired coiffurist who has a booming 200-pound voice in 100-pound frame. His trademark is Mark.

"Women," Mark said with a majestic wave of his thin hands, "need, positively need, to be lifted from the slough of sameness they have fallen into in the past century."


See also:
Fashion Wired for Sound in Year 2000 (1957)
Miss A.D. 2000 (Chicago Tribune, 1952)
Waitress of the Year 2000 (1939)
Evening Fashions of the Year 1952 (1883)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, this is such a tease, without any pictures.

Anonymous said...

This is just all kinds of wrong. From the atom bomb reference (too soon?) to the hilariously chauvinistic lede to the...well, what the heck is a "non-objectivist" hairdo?

And yeah, no pictures...how could they?

Antonio said...

For those curious, according to http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ $35 in 1948 equals $305.28 in 2006.

Anonymous said...

Mark was fabulous before his time...