A Hair-Raising Experience

Upon entering Carol Tanner Beauty Salon in Watsontown, PA, the potent aroma of chemicals in the hair products attacks the nose. A small white Bichon dog, Duke, joyfully greets you. After receiving an abundant amount of love and attention from all the clients, he goes and relaxes in his little dog bed (see figure 1).

Figure 1

Two beauticians, mother and daughter, styling or cutting hair while the other clients patiently await their turn in the compact salon. "I always end up playing musical chairs when I come to get my hair done. I love when Carol sings to us as we switch chairs." says Miriam, a weekly client. Customers move from seat to seat due to the fact that there are only two styling chairs, two dryer chairs, and one shampoo chair.

The homey and cheerful salon offers an escape from the old, small, quaint town of Watsontown. All of Carol's clients love the joyful atmosphere of the salon as the vibrant green walls with a heart border scream with delight. Shiny black marble counters cluttered with hair products fill the tiny salon. Above the black marble counters hang large mirrors for the clients to watch the process and admire the final result. Along the other wall sets a small electric fireplace that holds all the products used at the salon available for purchase (see Figure 2).

Figure 2

"I am truly blessed, not many people can say that they have done the same job for the past 49 years like I can; and I still love it." exclaims Carol, an average build, short dark haired, 67-year-old woman. Carol started doing hair her senior year of high school. Her very unique salon is connected to her home. She has owned her own salon for the past 43 years in two different locations, both of which were attached to her home at the time. Most of Carol's customers are elderly women who come to the salon weekly and have been with her for over 25 year. Miriam, an elderly lady with snow white hair, has been a client for about 40 years.



"Friends are like family one finds along the way," reads the sign hanging above the doorway (see Figure 3) To Carol, this sign means the world. Her cheerful and outgoing personality has allowed her to make many friendships through her business. One thing she really loves about her job is being able to see the generation of families come through the salon. There are many families that have three generations that see Carol. Since she treats her clients like family, she gets to experience all the ups and downs of their lives. She loves to be able to hear family stories and even meet new babies. Carol also takes the honor of doing the hair of clients who have passed away one last time in preparation for their funeral.

Figure 3

Amy, the other beautician, has been in the practice for the past 30 years. Amy looks like her mother with an average build and short, curly, brown hair.  When going to work, she always dresses in the latest fashion, wearing an apron to prevent from getting stains on her stylish clothing. Unlike her mother, Amy never planned on becoming a beautician. Growing up she had always wanted to be an interpreter for the deaf, but as she grew older, she realized school was not her strong suit. She decided something more hands on would be better for her and began attending Empire Beauty School in Sunbury, PA. She has not always had the privilege to work at her mother's salon. Carol refused to let her work there until she learned the ins and outs of salon work before being self-employed.  In order to gain experience, she worked at Holiday Hair in Selinsgrove, PA for four and a half years. After finally feeling comfortable in Amy's skills, Carol invited Amy to join her at the salon.

Figure 4

Unlike Carol's clients Amy's average customer only comes in every four to six weeks. Although the majority of Amy's clients consist of middle aged women, she does have a handful of elderly clients that come weekly. Many of Amy's clients get their hair colored, but she mostly does haircuts. "I love giving haircuts, it is my favorite thing to do," states Amy. The salon offers many different procedures, such as shampoo and style, wet cut, dry cut, color, double process (meaning you get two types of color), perms, and brow waxing. The low prices set this salon apart from many others in the area (see Figure 4).


Amy has had her fair share of interesting stories throughout the years. She recalls one incident in particular. "Many years ago, I was standing on my white anti-fatigue mat coloring Kim's hair. Kim is a regular for me at the salon, and that day she had brought in her 8-year-old daughter, Sarah, and her 6-year-old son, Ryan. The kids were impatiently waiting for their mom to be done and went off to the bathroom alone. We didn't think much of it until they were in there for way longer than should have been. When they came back, Ryan had a new haircut. His new haircut was not given by me but of course by his sister. Kim was not thrilled about this new haircut! I found it pretty amusing and told her 'Kim, look on the bright side you are already here and it's an easy fix. He will just have a buzz cut for a few weeks!'"

Although the salon appears old fashioned at first glance, both Carol and Amy work hard to maintain modern techniques. Both women attend seminars on up and coming trends in order to stay up to date with the changing times. "While most women my age are retiring, I'm still going to seminars and learning new techniques" says Carol enthusiastically. Both beauticians work hard to welcome clients of all ages into their salon.